Washed with the Word

I sat down tonight to write about the Lord has been teaching us lately and before I started to write I asked the Lord specifically what he would have us share. He quickly reminded me that the best thing to be shared is His Word and he also reminded me how it has been
His Word that has guided Jacki and I every step of our journey thus far. When Jacki and I decided to start down this road a few LONG months ago, we asked the Lord to never let us lose sight of him as our first love. We asked him to build us a foundation in him that would not waver like the house built on the rock. We asked him to hold our hands and guide us and never leave us and he has so graciously answered our plea. Jacki and I cannot imagine what our relationship or lack thereof would look like without the Word of God and time in prayer, seeking his Spirit to guide our every step. It really has nothing to do with us and everything to do with him and it's such a blessing. He is teaching us that to have a Christ-centered relationship we need to keep our eyes firmly fixed on him and never let our gaze wander. It has been hard at times as even wise counselors have advised us that seeking the Lord together and reading the Bible together is not healthy and or appropriate for two people in a courtship. While we understand and completely agree that in many cases, reading Scripture and praying together can lead to an intimacy that is premature and misleading, we cannot deny what Christ has done through His Word in us. His Word has been the glue that has held us together and grown us in him. When we get frustrated or confused and don't know where to turn, running to him and His Word has rescued us every time. Christ daily reminds us through His Word of His goodness and daily shows us our need for Him. Below we have shared just a few of the Scriptures that the Lord has used to draw us closer to Him and to lead us in our relationship. Through all our trials and all Satan's attacks, the Lord has delivered us through His Word and truth time and time again. We are so very thankful and hope that you will be encouraged through what He has taught us so graciously.

• Psalm 18:1-3 "I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies."

Jacki and I are on a journey that the Lord has so graciously blessed us with and is leading in a really hands-on way. One of the things that he has reminded us time and time again is that he is our Rock and our Fortress and he will ALWAYS deliver us. He is our shield and salvation and stronghold. There have been and will be many times when we encounter trials and yet when we call upon his name he is ALWAYS faithful and forever worthy of our praise. He will never fail to deliver us from our enemies and in him we can always rest. What a blessed truth this has been for us and he never fails to remind us of this even in the most dire of straights.

• Psalm 18:37-39 "I pursued me enemies and overtook them, and did not turn back till they were consumed. I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise; they fell under my feet. For you equipped me with strength for the battle, you made those who rise against me sink under me."

The Lord has taught me a great deal through this Scripture, and has extended those lessons into David's and my relationship. I have struggled throughout my life with eating disorders (bulimia and partial anorexia) and while I no longer am falling into these particular external behaviors, my mind is still a battlefield on a daily basis to take every thought captive to Christ and not obsess over food, working out, and being thin. The Lord has been teaching me a lot lately about how with His help these attacks from the enemy really can be thwarted. I don't have to keep living in constant bondage, with my enemies always rising to harass me only a short time after I thought they were gone. Instead, with the Word of God and prayer (the weapons of our warfare!), the Lord really can demolish these strongholds and make it so that they rise no longer. David prays this Scripture for me a lot in relation to these struggles.

• Proverbs 21:1 "The kings heart is a stream of water in the land of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will."

As David and I had been praying about when we were supposed to get married, we had been asking the Lord if it might be sooner than we originally thought. My parents, however, have always had the rule that I could not get married until we both had college degrees. While we were asking Him about this a lot and getting to a place where we were willing to step out in faith even if my parents did not agree, the Lord used counsel from David's parents and this Scripture to really confirm to us that He wants us to honor my parents in this. I am under the umbrella of their authority, so my responsibility is to honor them in this, and they will be accountable to the Lord either way. I trust that if their hearts are like a stream of water in His hands and that He can choose to change it or not, according to His desire. He's AMAZING!

• 2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."

When I was five years old I was admitted to the hospital with a severe asthma attack and thinking that my life had come to a quick and sudden end, I told my dad I wanted to get saved so I could go to heaven. While I prayed that night and asked Jesus to come into my heart, my relationship with him did not become a reality until much later in life. Because of this I walked for many years very far away from Christ and suffered the consequences of that through many decisions. I spent many years living for myself and trying to do things on my own. I tried to stay pure in my relationships on my own and quickly found out that it was entirely impossible. I refused, however, to give control of this area to Christ and because of this I suffered great consequences. I struggled growing up with pornography and this struggle led to sexual impurity in my relationships which resulted in me losing my virginity. I didn't realize how far-reaching my sin would at the time and it was only as Christ really started pursuing me a couple of years ago that I realized the cost of my sin. Instead of resting in the Lords grace I fell into a deep despair and carried shame with me for a very long time. I thought to myself that there was no way I could ever attract a Christian woman because of what I had done. I thought that for sure once she found out about my past that there would be no way that she could love me. I even struggled with the fact that Christ could forgive me for turning away from him for so long. The Lord began to use this verse to show me the work he had done in me and to show me that I was a new creation in him. I began to release the shame I had been carrying for so long and thought I had released it completely. When I met Jacki and the Lord made it clear that he wanted us to enter a courtship I was ecstatic but at the same time in the back of my mind doubt began to creep in. I spent many sleepless nights wrestling with my past and my worth. As hard as the Lord tried to show me and remind me of the work he had done, I still had trouble believing that I was worthy to get to lead a woman such as Jacki. I knew at some point I would need to have a conversation with Jacki about this and that conversation came a few weeks ago. The conversation actually lasted about three days and the Lord blew me away with grace during this time. The first night I couldn't get any words out of my mouth and Jacki so graciously let me know that I didn't have to say a word, though we both knew that wasn't the end of the conversation. The second night the Lord led Jacki to ask me if I was a virgin and as I replied "no" the Lord once again showed me his grace through Jacki's reaction. Though I had peace that she finally knew, I knew the Lord still had work to do. The next day as I was in job training I was miserable, and Jacki ended up spending the whole day crying out to the Lord. It wasn't by any means easy for her and though she knew the Lord had made me a new creation, she still had to process through it with him and find peace in his healing. That night the Lord led us to sit down and talk about it and he led me to walk through everything with Jacki. It was truly an amazing time as the Lord used that time to heal both our hearts and reassure of both of his forgiveness, grace and love. Though I didn't want to tell her at first, I knew that if she didn't know, I would always question whether her knowing would've affected her love for me. The Lord showed me a greater picture of grace and forgiveness through Jacki than I had ever seen in my life. He took away the shame that I was still holding onto and gave me joy boasting in the way he has truly made me a new creation in him.

When I was younger, I had wanted a boyfriend so badly. I recall even getting mad at the Lord for not bringing me a boyfriend, because I couldn't at all understand His purposes. Yet He was gracious enough very early on to give me a desire to be faithful to Him and also to my future husband in the area of sexual purity. Through various books I had read (like "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" by Joshua Harris), the Lord made very clear to me that a woman who fears the Lord "does good and not evil [to her husband] all the days of her life" (Proverbs 31:12). He impressed upon me that doing good to my husband and being faithful to Him did not start the day we got married, or even the day I met him! "All the days of [my] life" meant in 9th grade, the beginning of college, every single day. And while the Lord was jealously guarding my purity, I hoped and prayed that He would be doing the same in my future husband. I related so much to Rebecca St. James' lyrics, pleading with her future husband, "I am waiting for you, praying for you darling. Wait for me, too...wait for me as I wait for you!"

When I met David, I was completely astonished that a man like him actually existed. He is so humble, gentle, kind, passionate, zealous, intelligent. He adores the Lord and seeks to give Him glory in everything. I did know, however, that he hadn't always been following the Lord as closely as he has been for the past two years. When David and I discussed his past, I found myself faced with something I hoped I'd never have to face. Yet I prayed that the Lord would help me to have the mind of Christ as I responded to David and processed through it myself. Thankfully, the Lord showed me grace in this. He has taught me so much about forgiveness and how He can make one of His children dead to sin and alive to God. Through this the Lord has made Romans 6 a huge reality. Seriously, these are not just words on a page. David has repented of these sins, and they are now as far as the East is from the West. The Lord keeps no record of wrongs, since He is the fulfillment of 1 Corinthians 13. David's "old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin" (Romans 6:6). These truths were shown to me with such clarity. I have seen the man that the Lord has shaped David Miller into, and he truly is an amazing new creation, shaped after the image of his Savior. I praise the Lord for the amazing work He has done in David, and am SO THANKFUL to be his girlfriend!


These are just a few of the Scriptures the Lord has been using. We actually have a separate word document with 2 more pages of Scripture (haha, get it? WORD document? haha...okay I'm done) that we are going to blog about sometime soon. We just figured we should put something up for you guys reading this! We love you all!!!

How it all started

First of all, this is David and I will be typing in green through out this blog while Jacki will be typing in the color of her choice. That way we can go back and forth and let you guys know how the Lord was speaking individually to each of us through the various lessons he has taught us.

The story of how Jacki and I met is truly a miraculous one and to properly explain just how amazing the Lord is, Jacki and I will go back a few months before the day we met and tell you just what the Lord was doing in our lives.

For those of you who don't know, at this time last year I was living in San Francisco California and I had no clue at that point when or if I would even be coming back to Texas. It was only through much prayer and affirmation from fellow members of the body that the Lord made it clear to me I needed to come back to Texas. It was a very hard choice at the time as from a practical standpoint, my decision to move home was a very poor one. The Lord was so good however and he knew exactly what he was doing. I learned a lot about obedience through moving home and the Lord has continued to give me a crash course in obedience ever since. When I moved home I stayed at my dads house throughout the summer and worked a summer camp at the local YMCA. Through that time, the Lord continued to wreck me as he had started doing in California. He continued to prune me and cut away the dead branches that were blinding me from his presence in my life. John 15..... I had been a Christian since I was 5 years old but I had spent the majority of that time running away from the Lord. I ran as hard as I could but he showed me so much grace and mercy in pursuing me relentlessly. It was the two years that I spent away from UNT that the Lord had done his greatest work in me. He took hold of me and slowly changed my heart and my desires towards him. He washed me clean and held my hand as I began a new and exciting journey with him.

So that brings me to this past semester at UNT. Throughout my time in California and my summer at home, the Lord had given me a beautiful contentment in him. I was completely content in him and what he was doing in my life. I had once longed for a woman who loved the Lord to share all his blessings with and while I still longed for this, the Lord had given me peace knowing that his timing was perfect. Little did I know that in the moment I was most content, the Lord was going to bring into my life the greatest blessing I could ever imagine. That blessing was of course, Jacki!!!!!!!

Yo, yo, yo! It's Jacki, the aforementioned blessing. Haha...er...anyway, here is my color of choice: PURPLE!!

So, yes...as David was saying, the Lord had been doing AMAZING things in is both in the months leading up to our first meeting. I was just beginning my last semester of classes here at UNT. The Lord had burdened me a great deal for this campus and for unity in the Body of Christ and praying that He would get His people praying! Needless to say, He had been answering and pouring out revival and intimacy on His children while simultaneously bringing us all together. In a step of faith the Lord had me move out of my house from last year and wait on Him for both a place to live and people to live with for this year. Now when he says that if we seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness that all of the other things will be added to us, He's not kidding around! He provided abundantly more than I could have ever asked or thought in terms of a house and roommates and friends and fellowship. So the semester was off and running, with an amazing Body surrounding me and about a billion classes.

At this point in my life the Lord had really cleaned house where relationships were concerned. The Lord had given me a desire to hold fast to Proverbs 31:12's description of a godly woman who "does [her husband] good, and not harm, all the days of her life"...meaning that I was to do my husband good all the days of my life, not just when I met him. This meant that I shouldn't be dating around or compromising my emotional, spiritual, or physical purity with meaningless relationships. While He had guarded me (probably more than I even wanted at times), I found that I was still looking around at guys and wondering, "Could HE be my future husband?!" There came a point where the Lord just really stilled all of those questions and got me to a place where I really was content with Him and HIM ALONE. In fact, I was nearly positive that it would be at least another 2 years...and possibly another 10...before He would bring me my man. But you see, the Lord firmly established in my heart the fact that marriage truly is a picture of Christ and the Church (Ephesians 5) and that Christ truly is the substance while an earthly husband is only the shadow. He let me know that if He had let the shadow come chronologically before I was deeply experiencing intimacy with the substance, idolatry and sin were going to be the result. I'm SO THANKFUL for the Lord's timing and how He won my heart as the true Love of my life.

Well here's how it all started. One of the things the Lord had been teaching me early in the semester was how to hear his voice. He had slowly began showing me when he was speaking to me and it hit me especially hard one day as I was leaving class to go take a nap at home. I was already on my way home when the Lord told me to go to a nearby coffee shop instead and do homework. I was really tired and it first I ignored it and kept on riding but the Lord turned me around and I am so glad he did. I turned my bike around and rode to art 6 which is a local coffee shop by campus. I walked in a found a spot to sit and do HW and little did I know that in the next few minutes Jacki would be walking into the same coffee shop.

My turn! I, likewise, had been planning to go home and take a nap! Funny, right? Well, so instead of taking a nap, my friend Emily convinced me to go to art 6 with her. That alone was a task, since I usually didn't like studying in coffee shops. The Lord is definitely sovereign, though, and He made sure that I ended up at art 6 that morning.

I hadn't been there long when three girls walked in and sat nearby me. I didn't think anything of it at first until they all proceeded to take out their bibles and start talking about the Lord. At this I became very intrigued and was determined to start a conversation with them. Being terrible at starting conversations I decided I would ask one of them (it just so happened to be Jacki) (...he thought I was so super cute...that had to be it:D) to watch my computer while I was going to the restroom. Great first pick up line I know. So I got up and asked Jacki if she would watch my computer. Her reply was incredible and instantly I knew that this woman was unique in the best of ways.

...And here is how he was first given a tip-off that I was "unique in the best of ways" (which is David's very compassionate way of saying "WEIRD" haha): when he asked me if I would watch his computer while he went to the bathroom, I said, "Sure, I'll watch it like a hawk!" Now, that wouldn't have been altogether too strange, but when he turned around something came over me and I put my hand into a bird-like formation and screamed, "CAWWWWW!" Yeah, I know, not exactly the most common first line. But hey, it worked, so don't knock it 'til you try it:).

When I came back from the restroom I started to talk with all three girls and it wasn't long before we realized we all loved the Lord. Not only did we all love the Lord but we had been burdened by many of the same things as well. We all realized we had the same passion for prayer and so we decided that we would meet up at the local house of prayer sometime soon. It was a great and edifying time and I was truly glad the Lord had led me to the coffee shop that day. I didn't know it at this point but in the days to come the Lord would start to form a love for Jacki in me that was greater than anything I could have ever imagined.

(AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!)

When I look back at how specific the Lord was in leading us both to art 6 that day I am overwhelmed by his goodness. Yeah! He's so goooooood! I am so glad by his grace he allowed us to be obedient and in doing so he brought us together in a miraculous way.

Thank you Lord for you grace and timing. Amen!!!!

About this blog

Dear Everyone-who-is-reading-this,

Well, hello there! David and Jacki here! We just wanted to tell you a little something about what we hope the Lord will do with this blog. He has blessed us and taught us countless things over the past few months, and we feel it is our responsibility, nay, privilege to share those lessons with anyone and everyone we can find! Also, we would love for any of you who feel led to commit to praying for us as individuals, as a couple, and also for our various ministries and friendships. As Ecclesiastes 4:12 says, "a cord of three strands is not easily broken". Imagine what a cord of 10 strands of people interceding for this relationship would be like! Or...25 strands! Or 35...hundred! 3500! Ahhhh! That's a crazy strong cord, eh? That's what we're going for here. Lots of strands, lots of strength, and lots and lots of Jesus.

We sincerely hope that you are as encouraged and blessed by what the Lord has done and is continuing to do in our relationship as we are! We truly hope that as we discuss our joys, learned lessons, and even struggles that you will truly be uplifted and be burdened to pray. The enemy does not enjoy when the Lord creates something beautiful, so he is going to continue to pace and prowl around this relationship like a roaring lion for all of our days. But as we were reminded a few weeks ago, he prowls LIKE a roaring lion, since the only true lion is the Lion of Judah! Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4).

"You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks
on our behalf for the blessing granted us through
the prayers of many."
2 Corinthians 1:11

YEAH! Not only will we be blessed and strengthened by your prayers, but we will all be able to give thanks because of the Lord answering all of us! Please join with us on this amazing journey!

With lots of love and all of our thanks,

David and Jacki :)