Hello from your long lost blogger friend! :) I can’t believe it’s been nearly a year since I’ve posted on here. The Lord has been showing me a lot and doing some pretty interesting things in my life here lately.
I will share the biggest one...since it’s kinda my favorite. haha
(drumroll please)
This past summer the Lord brought a very special man into my life. Chris and I have been in a relationship for over 4 months now and I can honestly say he has been one of the biggest blessings in my life! The Lord couldn’t have brought him at a more opportune or needed time. My family and I have been faced with several unforeseen hardships and life has just been kind of rocky lately. But Chris has been a strong shoulder to cry on, and his prayers and encouragement have made it a little easier to bear.
But enough of me gushing sappiness all over the place! You want to now the details of how we even got here in the first place, right?? (even if you don’t, I’m gonna tell you anyways...heh heh)
It all began 2 years prior. Chris was on the Israel Tour with Precept Ministries. They were sailing on the Sea of Galilee, and Kay Arthur had brought all of the “20 somethings” to the front of the boat to tell them about Precept’s summer camps (called Boot Camp) for teenagers. She encouraged them to get involved with these camps. Chris felt a tug at his heart, sensing that the Lord wanted him to ask her more about them. Well flash forward a few weeks and he was staffing for Boot Camp #2. I met him there, because I have been involved in Precept’s bible studies for years, and I had worked Boot Camp #1 and was back to visit. I don’t remember much about meeting him then...except that I thought he was very nice. And had one of the infectious laughs. Ever. But other than that, I really didn’t give him a second thought.
Well, this summer, on May 20th, I arrived at Precept Ministries to begin a nearly 3 month internship there. A lot of prayer had gone into me decided to spend my summer here. My family and I had just felt that this was where the Lord was leading me for this summer, and the Lord has provided abundantly through friends and family to raise the support money I needed to go. I had just had a tearful goodbye with my family...granted they were only 45 minutes away and I’d get to see them on weekends, but still...and as I pulled onto that beautiful campus, I said a prayer. “Lord, please help these next few months to be about YOU. I want to set apart this summer to seek Your face without distraction.”
I meant every word of that prayer. The months leading up to the internship had been really difficult ones for me. I had given up hope that the Lord was ever going to bring that godly man into my life, so I was reevaluating my “life” per se. It was really hard to let that dream die. It was painful, and made my heart ache, but it was something I had to let go of and surrender to the Lord. If I wasn’t ever going to get married, what was I going to do with my life? I had prayed a lot and since international missions have always weighed on my heart, I decided that I would look into that more. So no wife and mommy for me. I was going to live in a hut somewhere in Africa or India and adopt my own babies!
So this was my attitude when I started the internship. I really didn’t give any of the guys there a second glance. I had seen that Chris was going to be an intern, because we had an intern Facebook page for all of us to get to know each other better before we arrived, and I was excited to at least know someone who was going to be there. We all laugh now, because of what I commented on the post where Brooke announced that Chris would be joining us. It said:
“Yay!!! I love Chris!! I didn't even work
that camp, but I got to be around him
a little bit when I would come back to
visit, and he seems awesome!
Welcome to the group Chris!”
Kind of hilarious looking at it now! But yeah...I kinda do love Chris. ;)
So anyhow. As we all started our training and weeks started passing, Chris and I became really good friends. We connected first because we both love country music and he’s just as Southern as I am! We would torture the other interns with our twangy music. haha He was also hilarious and kept me laughing all the time. But I noted that he showed each of us girls equal attention...and that was quite a feat because there were six of us! So I felt safe being his friend, because he didn’t take it the wrong way.
As we became better friends, I started to note areas of his character that I really admired. One night, for instance, all of us girls were in the laundry room washing and folding our clothes. A couple of the guys, including Chris, walked in and started talking to us. But when Chris saw that we were folding our clothes, he just kinda eased out. A small thing, yes, but I noticed. I remember thinking, now there’s a guy who is guarding his eyes. Even from what could be perceived as not a big deal. But he didn’t want to subject himself to seeing some inappropriate clothing item. And I admired that. He was respectful to all of us, and in situations where he could have blown up and gotten angry, he remained calm and handled it like a man. His godly character was beginning to make it harder and harder for me to keep a watch on my heart...
I began to think “Uh-oh, I’m in trouble now...”
(All of us interns with Jack & Kay Arthur)
When the Boot Camps arrived for us to teach at, Chris ended up being placed in the classroom where I was co-teaching, as a table leader. Having him there was actually a comfort...because I was extremely nervous!! It also gave us more time to interact with each other and hearing his insights on how I did was very helpful. But during the next week of camp, where he was teaching, we were in completely different classrooms and teams. That was really the first time it began to hit me how attached I was to him...when he wasn’t there to talk to me. I would tell myself I was getting too attached, and this summer wasn’t about me finding a man! I needed to focus on why I was here: to teach these students to study the Bible for themselves. So I pulled my thoughts back into reality and tried my best to focus on my students.
After camp, we had a week off to go back home. He gave me a side hug before he left. And I remember thinking...that’s the first physical contact we’d ever had. (it was actually kind of awkward more than anything...haha) It was really sad to see him go for that week, but I resolved that I would not contact him, that wasn’t my place anyway. And I needed to focus on my family this week.
The day all of the interns came back into town, we all met up at our property to ride four wheelers and shoot rifles. I bush hogged (cut the grass) for an hour and a half trying to get rid of the nervous tension that was building up in my stomach waiting for them (*ahem* HIM) to get there. When they finally pulled in, I remember him walking towards me saying “COURTNEY!” and giving me a hug. It was kinda perfect. ;) And to top it off, he actually out shot me on the range...which I found rather impressive. Yet another quality to add to my ever growing list...
Things began to change after that. Chris wasn’t as good at not being partial with me compared to the other girls. We had several instances where it was just him and I and we were able to talk about our families and beliefs on big and small things. We never talked about each other in a romantic way though, because they had a no dating policy in the internship. I really admired that he stuck to that...because there were countless times he could have. I was actually really thankful for that rule, because it took the pressure off and created a safe zone for us to just get to know each other as friends.
As the internship was drawing to an end, I remember being scared for it to end. Did Chris only view me as a friend? Was I going to be sorely disappointed at the end of this...being disappointed by Christian guys’ lack of aggression in the area of pursuing girls was an all to familiar feeling to me. And even if he did want to take this to the next step, I knew it would be awhile. Because Chris is very calculated, and has to “crunch the numbers” before making a decision. I’d be content to wait, because I had decided this guy would be worth it.
The day the internship ended, Chris and I went driving around...exploring. We ended up at Wal-Mart...yes Wal-Mart. Don’t judge. So we sat in the parking lot, talking about random things. Somehow the topic of “feelings” came up, and he cautiously asked, “So do you want to talk about feelings?” I swallowed my stomach that had suddenly jumped up my throat, and squeaked “Sure.”
He then began to tell me how he felt about me (after a few minutes of groaning...trying to put his feelings into words...which was SUPER adorable by the way...), and how he wanted to get to know me better and come visit me. I echoed his feelings, and we awkwardly sat there in silence, until I looked at him and said, “Good talk.”
The next day I drove home and talked to my family about what had happened. They were so excited, because they had gotten to know Chris this summer as well. We had the interns up several times and he and my dad had really hit it off. So I told them that Chris wanted to get my dad’s permission to date me, and we planned on having lunch at the house with them after church the next day. Seeing the way Chris was handling the situation, and showing respect for my father’s authority in my life by wanting his permission to pursue me meant the world to me. There are no words to describe the relief I felt when he and dad returned from talking at the barn the next day. My dad had heartily said yes. It was official now!
(Dad and Chris talking at the barn)
So that’s our story...but this is just the beginning! Through the 3 months of the internship, and the 4 months we’ve been dating, Chris has become my best friend and someone I look up to and admire. He earns my respect as each week passes. The Lord answered all of my prayers for a godly man, above and beyond what I could have asked or thought. I still have moments where I sit back and think about what the Lord has done...and I can’t believe He has been so good to me!!
We serve a faithful God, ya’ll.
(Love this man!)
“Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give
you the desires of your heart.”
Psalm 37:4
“You have given him his heart's desire,
And You have not withheld the request
of his lips. Selah.”
Psalm 21:2
