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!!!!