The Broken Road

I was reading a girl's blog yesterday and when I did it brought forth a flood of memories and emotions. She was writing about her struggle with being single for so long....I think she was 30 when she got married. I went through the same struggle...even though I was only 25 when I met Ric...to me that was old!

Growing up, only I ever wanted was to be a wife and mom. I never had huge career aspirations. I went to college to get my "MRS" degree! HaHa! I just wanted to love someone and be loved. The journey to get to my hubby was definitely a broken road. One with many exits, u-turns, and major pot holes. I had failed relationships. Relationships that left me hurt and hopeless. I began to realize that my way was definitely not the right way...I wrote about it briefly here!

I began to dive into books and God's word to find out exactly what He wanted me to do in the area of dating. I began to pray for understanding, direction, discernment, and for my future husband. Some may think it is weird to do that, since I had not even met him, but I knew God would hear my prayer and eventually draw us together in His perfect timing. Here are some of the books I read and I just learned a lot from them.

I learned something different from each of these books that I started to practice in my life. I began to search out God's word to see what it said about my desire for marriage, how I should date, how to guard my heart.....and so many more things! I focused on my relationship with God and I fell in love with Him! I grew more in those last couple of single years because Jesus was my focus...and I was just waiting on God. Don't get me wrong...those days weren't filled with just peaches and roses. I struggled, I cried, I looked at friends that were married and felt sorry for myself. I struggled to find my place in our church....so I dove in and taught 4 year old Sunday School and spent time with single friends and family. I coached high school basketball and invested my life into those girls! All through that, I trusted that God had an awesome plan for me.

I remember reading about praying for God to guard your heart and to keep it....only for your husband. I remember beginning to pray that prayer on a consistent basis. I went out on dates, met nice guys...but I knew quickly when I went out with someone if they were the one or not. How did I know that. Because I had literally spent so much time in prayer over my dating life and my heart. I could go out with someone once or twice and know they were not the one. Not that they were bad guys...just not the one for me.

Ric and I were set up on a blind date by my brother in law and Ric's best friend. Ric happened to be here working at our church for Christmas break while I was still in Virginia. We, meaning Ric and I, were told of our impending set up right after Christmas...but he wasn't coming back to Virgina until the middle of January. I remember writing in my journal about Ric and praying for him before I even met him...spoke to him...anything. I just prayed that God would prepare my heart to meet him.....I knew he was cute...ok "hot lovin" (those were my exact words when I saw his picture the first time) ...so I wanted to pray REALLY hard that it worked out:) Seriously though, God had impressed that on me to be in prayer for Ric specifically!

The night I met my husband, Ric, I went home and told my mom that he was the one. I wrote in my journal that night..."God, you have finally opened my heart". I had prayed for God to hold it for so long...that when he opened it...I just knew. We talked about getting married on our third date...crazy right(and yes I was driving and almost ran off the road)! We got engaged within five weeks and were married about five months later. God had brought the perfect man to me in His perfect timing. I found a love that could not even compare to anything I had experienced before. It is so cool when you do things God's way and He knocks your socks off!

I went through a lot of heartache and tears to get to where I am today...but thankful for every step...God truly did bless my broken road....that lead me straight to my husband!

Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.