The Wonderfully Unexpected
Has
life ever surprised you with the unexpected? If not, expect it! :) The
last three years I have experienced many, mostly difficult, unexpected
things. However, 2018 surprised me in some wonderfully unexpected ways.
Jesus unexpectedly blessed me with a new relationship towards the start
of the year and a marriage proposal at the end of the year! Yes, you did
read that right! For those of you who have known me a long time you
will know how unexpected this is and yet this has been a God-story from
the start!
Let me start at the beginning...
“I
think I just met your future husband!” was the surprising text that I
received from my sister roughly one year ago. Sarah, who has never once
tried to set me up, had just met a local doctor, Brian, and felt a
strong leading from the Lord that we should meet. She asked if I would
be open to that. I laughed and told her it was fine with me if she
shared my information with him but I couldn't imagine him ever following
through on it. So I didn't give it a second thought. Much to my
surprise he emailed me and shortly thereafter we started talking weekly
on the phone/Facetime. We did this for about four months as I finished
up the school year in Germany. This summer, after returning back to the
States we met for the first time and things moved forward from there.
Over the last few months we have had the opportunity to get to know each
other, meet each other’s families and seek the Lord. Each step on this
journey has been a step of faith for both of us and we have seen the
Lord’s hand in such clear, personal and meaningful ways. On December
30th Brian surprised me with a song he had written and on the last verse
got down on one knee, handed me his grandmother’s ring and asked me to
marry him. I said Yes! :) It was simple and perfect!
Introductions
 Let
me introduce you to my fiancé. :) We are one week apart in age. He grew
up outside of Detroit and is the youngest of three boys. He is an
internal medicine doctor and 3 years ago the Lord led him to Saint
Joseph, MI to work at a Christian clinic. It is here that he first met
Sarah. The thing that most drew me to Brian, however, is his love and
hunger for the Lord accompanied with his desire to use his God-given
gifts to serve the Lord. Last year he spent two months serving at Galmi
Hospital in Niger and is headed back there for the month of March. His
love for Jesus is apparent in every area of his life!
What does this all mean?
Obviously,
this is an unexpected redirection not only in my personal life but in
my ministry. It has been almost a decade since the Lord first started
speaking to my heart about serving Him at Black Forest Academy. What a
journey it has been! I have been stretched and blessed in more ways that
I could have imagined. I unexpectedly fell in love with teaching and
middle school students! As this chapter of my life comes to a close I
feel so incredibly thankful to the Lord for the privilege of the last
eight years at BFA. I will return to BFA to say goodbye and pack up later this school year. This summer, after the wedding I will
be moving to Saint Joseph, MI to start a new season of my life! While it
is hard to say goodbye, Brian and I are excited to start life together.
We
don’t know what the Lord has for us in the future but He has been ever
so faithful in this journey and so we are joyfully putting our trust in
Him for the future. Would you pray for us as we prepare for marriage?
Would you pray that the Lord would be honored and glorified in this
season of transition?
Your love and prayers mean so much!
I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me! Psalm 13:6
(Thanks
to a wonderful friend and colleague at BFA I got to surprise some of my
students from last year with the news of my engagement)
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