August 6, 2008 was my first day at a small group close to where I live. I needed a group that was close to a bus route since I don't have a car. I had tried to
go to this group twice unsuccessfully; the first time I got lost and couldn't find the place. The second time I was working late and couldn't make it in time.
I jokingly thought “maybe there's someone at this group that God doesn't want me to meet”. Little did I know...
At my third attempt to go to this small group I decided to leave home half an hour early to give me enough time to find the place in case I got lost again. I
found the place alright, got there a few minutes early. Mike was already there, and since it was early, we got a chance to chat before group begun. In the
process I realized we lived close to each other (10 minutes walk). Mike then asked if he could give me a ride home after group since he figured out I'd taken
the bus. I had kind of expected to get a ride home from someone in the group, so I said yes.
All this time I didn't think anything special about Mike, I did notice he didn't have a wedding band. :) Long story short, while he was driving me home, he made
my heart skip when he looked at me with his blue eyes :) as we talked. I was like, what's this?! I'm too old for this stuff. By the time he dropped me off at
my place, the spark was lit. He is really cute and I couldn't stop thinking about him. I immediately e-mailed some of my girlfriends and told them, I've met
this cute guy that's making my heart go giddyup!
Shortly before I met Mike, I had joined children's ministry at Vineyard church of Columbus and was going to be teaching on Saturdays beginning September 2008.
I usually went to church on Sundays with a couple (Hannah and Samuel) from my old small group that had stopped meeting, so I was in kind of a dilemma as to
how I'd be going to teach on Saturdays-not having a car but I knew God would work it out, just didn't know He would give me a husband in the process. :)
After that first meeting, I learnt that Mike went to church on Saturdays which was perfect for me because I could ride with him to church on Saturdays and
teach the kids, then go to church on Sunday as before with Hannah and Samuel. Talk about God's perfect timing! I found out too that Mike usually hanged out
with friends after the Saturday night service to discuss the sermon among other things, so I went along since he was my ride.
I joined facebook in March and one Saturday night after dropping me home, Mike gave me his business card so I could send him a friend request on facebook.
After that we chatted a lot on facebook. My then room mate noticed this and asked me, ‘are you going to marry this guy?' I just laughed and shrugged it off
since at this point I wasn't sure whether Mike liked me or not or if he was seeing anyone. We started taking walks together (it was mid summer!) and in our
talks, I realized Mike was single-yay! Most importantly I found out through our interactions that he really loves God and has a deep desire to introduce
others to Christ. That's what I found most attractive in Mike-his deep love for God and the things of God.
In mid September, I invited Mike over to my place for Kenyan tea and chocolate banana cake. Then Ike (a hurricane) hit and took out power in most of
Columbus. Since there was no electricity, no TV, nothing to do, we took walks late into the night and talked some more. I started to think Mike liked me too,
coz of all the time he was spending with me . But I had to check with God first because my prayer has always been to be married to the man God has picked out
for me. :)
In August 2006 I had taken time to pray and fast for a husband. All I asked God for was a God fearing man. I had just attended my brother's wedding (he's a
Christian and definitely God fearing!) and seen how much joy and celebration there was and how God was clearly present at their wedding and I told God I
want a man that fears/loves God. When I started liking Mike and figured he liked me too, I prayed and asked God what I should do or if this was going
anywhere. God showed me a clear picture of me praying and fasting in my brother's house in August 2006 (I'd totally forgotten about it). I sensed God was
telling me your prayers have been answered. Mike is the God fearing man you asked me for.
On the morning of September 18 (1am :-), 2008, we officially began dating.
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I'm an active member (not just attender) of a really big church called Vineyard which has literally hundreds of small groups to help people feel like
they are in a real community rather than being just a person in a large group. (more info here) I was in one of these small groups because it met in
a house literally a tenth of a mile from mine. Well, the leaders moved to DC & the group collapsed. Several months past and several people from this
old group started going to another group maybe 2-3 miles from my house. I got an invite to check it out & decided to do so. Since the first couple of
visits weren't horrible, I decided to try it one more time. Not that I'm a baseball fan, but I kinda felt like they deserved three strikes. I was
talking with a friend on the phone & told him that on the way there.
In October of 2006, a Vineyard pastor told me to take a year off from dating & to take the DivorceCare class for men. It was not offered at my Vineyard
at the time so I'd have to go to some other church to take it. I was really frustrated with this but I really wanted Vineyard to bless my next marriage
if that would ever happen. So, I decided to take the year off from dating & luckily someone started up the DivorceCare class for men at my church.
After taking the class, my year off passed, I tried dating again & reached the point of telling God that he'll have to take away my desire for a woman
or to bring her to me. In Genesis, God saw that Adam was alone & made Eve & brought Eve to Adam. I decided that since God did that once, he could do
it again. I decided that I would not pursue a woman until God made it clear that she was the one. Friends balked at this idea but I stood my ground.
In August of 2008, on my third visit to this small group, I got there a bit early as I have a thing about being punctual. I was talking with a
couple guys when I saw someone on the sidewalk walking by & then that person came into the house. Now, I didn't think much about it but it was her
first time there. She said she was a student at Ohio State & I thought 18-22 years old so she wasn't a possibility. However, she lived close to me &
rode the bus there so I decided to offer her a ride home & let her decline if she felt awkward about it. She accepted the offer. Well, the small group
started off with some worship time, the leader taught us something, we broke into smaller groups to pray for one another, and then started socializing
in the kitchen. I noticed Catherine was standing under a spotlight. There's a spotlight on her? What's this?! The leader's wife & 3 year old daughter
walked through the room. When the wife asked the daughter if she had met Catherine, the daughter said “Yes, she's a princess.” I thought “WHAT?!”
God put a spotlight on this 18-22 year old woman & then called her a princess?! This is crazy! I found out later that she wasn't going for her first
degree, she was going for her third! She's older than I thought. At this point, she was between quarters and I was between jobs. We both had
lots of free time but not a lot of money. I had recently discovered Facebook & was learning how to use it & chatting with friends. Catherine & I
chatted a bit too. When Columbus got hit by Hurricane Ike, yes, a hurricane in Ohio, I was at her place for some cake & tea & didn't know the hurricane
was coming. I remember the walnuts being blown off the tree & hitting her roof. I remember watching a squirrel struggling to cling to the walnut tree
as it swayed! Then, the power went off. I figured no big deal. We usually lose power during storms. After calling the power company to report the
outage at my place, the recording said power would be restored Saturday! This was Sunday! Well, that week, Catherine & I spent more time together &
I learned her age and kinda got the hint that she was interested in me. When I expressed my interest, she expressed hers & we decided to start dating. :)
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