A Testimony of God's Faithfulness

Since my last entry, I became engaged to a godly, wonderful man. Throughout our courtship, God's great faithfulness has proven itself to me again and again and I am so excited to share our story. Although this entry is not a typical "Bible study" post, it is my prayer that my testimony of God's faithfulness may be an encouragement to others who may also be clinging tightly to His Word as they trust Him with situations in their lives.

A God-honoring marriage has been the desire of my heart for many years. Upon high school graduation, I chose to live at home with my family and prepare for, Lord willing, my future as a wife and mother. I was not interested in wasting my time dating guy after guy in hopes that the right one may come along, so I decided to allow God to entirely script my love story. I was waiting for a man to come into my life who would be willing to pursue me with intentionality, and most importantly, with my father's blessing. Living in a small farming community without many likeminded families nearby often made my years of waiting discouraging, but the Lord continued to give me the strength to trust Him and His perfect timing.

In 2007, I began a blog with one of the main purposes being to encourage younger girls to embrace their season of singleness by striving to serve their families at home, as I was also learning to do. I would have never guessed that the Lord would use this avenue to bring my future husband into my life! Providentially, in September 2009, a young man stumbled upon my blog through a fairly random Google search. He wrote about how he was struck by my life choices in regard to living at home and desiring to be a homemaker instead of pursuing our culture's more typical path of a college degree and full-time career.

During a week of emailing, I decided to Google his name to make sure his story added up and to possibly learn more about him. However, as I came upon article after article expounding on this young man's exemplary character and impressive accomplishments, I became very hopeful that the Lord may be causing him to find the slightest interest in me!

While I was enjoying getting to know him, and through his emails it became evident that he most likely was interested in me, I knew it was unwise to continue unsupervised correspondence with a young man I met online. I asked my family for their thoughts regarding this situation and decided to email Stephen telling him that I would like to get to know him better, but only with my family's guidance and approval. I was not interested in carrying on a long-term guy/girl friendship with him and felt it was important for our relationship to be intentional.

I was pretty certain that he would think I was extremely presumptuous and archaic and I would never hear another word from him. However, I was shocked and thrilled when I read the email he sent my father the following night! I was so amazed and felt so undeserving of this godly, amazing, and brilliant man's interest.

Over the following four months, Stephen and my father corresponded over the telephone and email, discussing Stephen's walk with the Lord and convictions that are of importance to our family. As I continued to read Stephen's letters that were sent to my father (I checked my parents' email address so often that I usually read Stephen's emails before my parents did!) and his incredible testimony of God's saving grace in his life, I began to desire more and more that the Lord would cause him to be the man for me.

At times this felt like an unbearably long wait. I was so eager to know what the Lord's will would be and struggled to maintain an open hand, willing to let go of Stephen if the Lord should close the door for a future relationship with him.

In my journal entries from this time, I cried out to the Lord for wisdom and acceptance of His will. When I became impatient, I was encouraged by scriptures and godly friends that encouraged me to press on and to trust that my father would clearly discern the Lord's will. The scripture that brought the most encouragement to me through this time was Colossians 1:9-12:

"For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light."

Two friends first prayed this verse over me, then the following Sunday, the pastor preached on this passage, and then several weeks later, at a different church, this passage was expounded upon yet again. I was given a new confidence that the Lord saw my often impatient heart and was using many avenues to show me He was in control. This verse became my prayer; that I would have the "knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding" (i.e. "Is Stephen the right man for me?"). Would Stephen, as my husband, lead me to live a life worthy of the Lord and pleasing to Him in every way? Would I continue to bear fruit and grow in the knowledge of God as Stephen's wife? This scripture put the looming situation back into perspective. I was reminded that my purpose was ultimately to glorify God with my life, and I just needed discernment as to whether or not Stephen was the man God had chosen for me to join together with in fulfilling this great purpose.

In early January, Stephen flew from England (where he is studying) to Virginia to meet my family and me. This was when our courtship really began to progress. We spent a week seeking the Lord's will and getting to know each other better.

I can't really even begin to describe how impressed I was! We began to have a great peace about our future and, after much prayer and consideration, my father gave Stephen his full approval for pursuing marriage.

Over the following two months, our relationship grew much deeper and our hearts became closely knit as we corresponded nearly every day, discussing our hopes, convictions, struggles, daily happenings, and much, much more. My love and respect for Stephen grew abundantly and rapidly. I was so eager for his next visit.

In mid-March, Stephen flew back to Virginia to spend another week with my family and me. It was the most perfect, wonderful week! On March 15, 2010, Stephen took me on a lovely trip to Monticello (Thomas Jefferson's plantation). After we toured the home and strolled the grounds, Stephen led me to a peaceful wooded sitting area, got down on one knee, and asked me to marry him!

We are so excited about our future serving the Lord together. God used His means to bring His man into my life in His timing. All glory goes entirely to the Lord. Contrary to what many advised as necessary, I did not have to put myself out there or date an endless string of guys to get the man the Lord had already chosen for me! I simply had to live the life to which the Lord had called me. My somewhat counter-cultural life as a twenty-two year old living at home, striving to serve her family, and preparing to be a wife and mother is the very thing that Stephen says first attracted him to me.

The Lord has answered my prayers for a godly husband with a man so much greater than I ever could have imagined. I am not marrying the "man of my dreams"-- my dreams were nothing compared to what God had in store for me! It is so evident that the Lord has been preparing both of us for each other for many years, shaping each of us into the one who perfectly suits and complements the other. Our vision and hopes for the future correspond beautifully.

I am so blessed to be marrying a man with a desire for us to carry out our biblical roles in our future home. He encourages me and is proud that I want to be a homemaker and helper to him and a dedicated mother to our children. I could not possibly be any more proud to be the girl at his side. I can't wait to be his wife! Stephen prays the sweetest prayers over us and will be such a wonderful spiritual leader for our future family. We both pray that the Lord will use us mightily as a couple; that we may leave behind a Christ-honoring legacy. I pray nearly daily that the Lord will mold me into an excellent wife for such a godly man.

I hope that this miraculous story of God bringing together a stay-at-home daughter from a small town and a godly man with a bright, exciting future will serve as an encouragement to you! God is so faithful and He truly will do what is best for us and brings glory to Him if we simply trust Him!

"Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name be the glory, because of Your love and faithfulness." Psalm 115:1

"Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides You, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him." Isaiah 64:4