Two years and seven months ago, I came home from a summer stint in Madras to the news that a new family was moving from Ohio and that they were going to attend our church. It was so odd to me that I asked Andy a couple times if it was actually going to happen. In all my years at Hopewell that I could remember, nobody had ever moved from back east and started attending our church. It'd mean new people in the youth group, new faces at church, perhaps new friends.

I wasn't overly excited.

I should have been.

But how was I supposed to know that in that family of seven that traveled across the US in a U-haul and a van was a boy who would turn to a man before my eyes and that that man was the one whom I would marry?

I had no idea. . .

Maybe the fact that he had to ask me my name three times when we first met should have been a hint. Maybe the fact that one of my closest friends paired us from the start should have clued me in. Maybe the fact that the more I learned to know him, the more he fascinated me should have cemented it in my mind.

The only thing eventually cemented there though was the fact that I wanted to date and eventually marry him, and I started asking God to that end. And He answered.

He answered with YES.

And two years and four months after Eric and I first met in our school gym at a volleyball game was the day I joined my life to his for "as long as we both shall live."

Many, many thanks to our families who pitched in in various ways and helped make our day beautiful. . . and continue to make our life beautiful.

The Ceremony

The Reception

They sang great, laughed a lot, and made our pictures look pretty awesome. 🙂 Thanks to our amazing bridal party.

And rain or shine, there were those smiles and that white dress and a joy given straight from the Father. . .

[Photo credits: Kristiann Photography]

And to think it all started with. . . well, who knows where it started. God knows. And He knows where it ends. And He knows all that will come between then and now. He is good.

He is so, so good.

"But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken Him." 2 Chronicles 13:10.