The Significance of March 10th

So, on January 24th, I shared with you how Bradley and I met. 

You can check out that post by clicking on this link right HERE.

Today, is March 10th.

Another super special, amazing, milestone date for us, that I will never forget! 

And I want to tell you why!

This is how we actually started talking.

So, in my last post, I ended by saying that Bradley left our church to go home, and we left our church to go home. Which is all true, except there was a very important split-second that I left out. 

I remember getting into our vehicle.

Dad had gone back inside to show Bradley and his pastor a map, and a different way that they could go home. 

I was waiting outside with my mom.

Dad came out, and we get ready to pull out.

As a side note: for some very odd reason, I normally sat behind dad's seat.

For whatever reason, without thinking, I sat behind mom on this day.

Right as we are fixing to back up, "someone" comes dashing out the door of the church, and literally flies down the stairs!

Now, there are a good ten steps there, probably more.

And they were all covered in ice.

I'm not sure that this person hit more than 2 steps, yet he never even slipped or anything 

(thank goodness)!!!

He comes running over the icy ground, to our car.

On mom's side.

I figured he had a question about the directions dad had just given him.

Turns out, NO!

That wasn't it!

Mom rolled down her window, and he wasted no time in saying that he wanted to ask dad if it was okay to call me.

ME?????????????

WHATTTTTTTTTT???????????

I am SO, SO, SO, SO, SO glad that I was sitting behind mom.

Because he could not see me AT ALL.

Which was just the blessing of God, because I'm sure that I have never been that shocked, surprised, and embarrassed at the same time in my whole life!!

I don't even think my dad blinked or anything.

He just calmly, casually says,

"We'll pray about it."

Bradley says "okay, thank you."

Dad says "bye. have a safe trip."

Bradley walks back inside.

We drive off.

A weirder thing has yet to happen to me!

I found out much later on, that my mom and dad had somehow picked up on a few things here and there over the course of that day, and had wondered about him and I. I, however, must have been totally oblivious to the entire world around me, because I had NO clue.

Anyways, you're probably thinking that me and my parents had this grand talk on the way home?

Or maybe that evening?

The next day?

No, no, and no to all of the above!

Nothing.

My dad acted like nothing ever happened!

I didn't know what to think. 

It was all a blur to me, and I was still in shock!

Being my usual optimistic self, I naturally concluded in my mind that something so crazy and so random could not be happening to me.

And further more, it DEFINITELY could not be God's will, right?

Yes, He works in mysterious ways and all that...I knew.
But not in my life, thank you!

Over the next several weeks, I began to question my theory just a tad.
If I was right about "God's will," then why on earth could I not get this random person out of my mind!?
Why couldn't I pray without thinking about him?
And why did I even want to talk to him in the first place?

I'm not an out-going talker-type. Why was I struggling with this so bad?

So I spent a large portion of the month of February,
trying to figure out what God would want me to do.
I was perfectly content where I was, doing what I was doing.

Maybe even too content.

Could this really be God's will?

Now, a lot of people don't agree with this, and that's fine, because they don't have to live my life. 

But I wasn't 15 at the time. 

I wasn't out looking for a friend, just for the sake of having a friend. 

I had never had a "boyfriend" and I was totally fine with that, because a "boyfriend" for the sake of having a "boyfriend" was no where on my life's to-do list. 

A lot of people have come and gone in my life for various reasons, and I didn't want to make myself vulnerable enough to trust someone else, only to be hurt yet again.
I remember thinking all kinds of things, like....
What if this guy is a jerk wearing a suit?
Maybe he goes around to all kinds of churches and places and asks to talk to all kinds of girls.
I wonder how many he has broken up with?
Better yet, I bet his Pastor (who was with him at the time he was here) put him up to this!
Yep, that's it! It was just an off-the-wall, match-making-gone-bad thing. By now it's been weeks, and I'm sure he's already forgotten about me. Which is perfect, because I'll never see him or hear from him again, and therefore I won't have to make any decisions! 

God will have made it for me! 

WhooHoo!! 

Thank you, Lord!

At the same time, God seemed to be showing me so many verses, and every message I heard at church seemed to be just for me. All about waiting, being patient, trusting that God is in control, etc.

So that's what I tried to do.
I still thought about it...everyday.
But I stopped worrying about it.
If this was not of God, He would take care of it.
If this was of God, He would take care of it.

(As a side-note here, over the course of this time, my dad talked about Bradley to me a total of 1 time. ONE! After I finally cornered him about it!

But if you know my dad, then that probably doesn't surprise you!)

About 6 weeks after that fateful Sunday, mom and dad left for a business meeting in New York. The morning after they left, a "little birdie" (who will remain nameless for privacy purposes), tells me about a conversation they had overhead that morning, between mom and dad. Something about mom asking dad if he was going to tell a certain "her" that a certain "he" had called. 

Evidently the answer was no, because I knew nothing.

So that weekend passed, and mom & dad got home late Tuesday evening.

I had gotten dinner ready for them, and was cleaning things up, when Dad randomly comes up to me and says
"So, I got a phone call."
(which, incidently ruined my theory about Bradley forgetting about me!)

During the "one" conversation that we had about Bradley, I had mentioned to dad that if I did do anything, I would prefer to e-mail him. Talking on the phone to people I know terrifies me for some reason, much less people I don't know at all!

So dad tells me if I was fine with it, then Bradley wanted to e-mail me.

When he said that, I had this sense of peace that I don't know how to explain! I was nervous, because I didn't know what on earth I was going to say or what I was getting myself into, but at the same time, I was also completely, totally fine with it! I knew that, for that day, that is what God wanted me to do.

So on March 10, 2015, I received my first e-mail.

And I got an e-mail every single day after that, for months!

We talked about everything, and just simply got to know each other!
It was amazing and getting his e-mails were the highlight of my day!

(Another little side-note here to help you understand our e-mails:
I printed all of them out, and put them in a folder.
It was 60+ pages....printed front and back!!!)

So that's how it all began!

March 10th became the date we officially started dating...Bradley used to mail me a gift every month to celebrate one more month together!

I can't believe it has been two years ago today, since I received that first email!

It seems like so long ago, because so much has happened since then, but yet, it also just seems like yesterday!

I guess that just goes to show that miracles can happen when you reach out to someone!

It has to be done in the right way, and with good, unselfish intentions. But it really is amazing, how Bradley reached out to me, and it changed my world in a way I never, ever dreamed!

Stay tuned, because I will be sharing the rest of our 2015 dating story soon!