Happy 9 Years!

Nine years ago today, St. Patrick's Day 2000, I was getting ready to take my philosophy final at Cal Poly.  It was my last final on Friday before spring break during my sophomore year.  I was excited to be done because my roommate Lori and I were going to go up to San Jose during the break to visit our friend Andy.  I liked him and was pretty positive that he liked me too even though we had mainly been hanging out with friends in groups during the previous quarter.  

Before the final started, Ben Earl, our mutual friend that was in my class, gave me a flower and said it was from Andy.  Just as my face lit up, I saw it was a single yellow rose and my face fell knowing how yellow roses were always a sign of "just friends."  The handwritten card read "A friend loves at all times." Proverbs 17:17.  My eyes got wide as I read the back of the card that directed me to see Lori for another surprise.  I could hardly concentrate on the philosophy final wondering what would happen next at my apartment!!

When I flung open the door to my apartment, Lori was grinning and gave me a single white rose.  I immediately read the verse, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Romans 8:1 and thought of how Andy and I had talked about our pasts and how we had been forgiven by our Savior Jesus.  After reading "Meet me at the park across from Grace Church," I shouted to Lori, "I'm going to see a boy and he likes me!"

Even though I could have walked to the park from the apartment, I drove and parked on the other side of the street.  After a truck narrowly missed hitting me when I jotted across the street without looking for cars, I ran to meet Andy in the park.  He was standing alone with a single red rose.  We hugged a long close hug for the first time and he said that this rose represented the love that he would like to grow into with me and would I do the honor of being his girlfriend?

I said yes about a million times and then we hugged some more and laughed about how Ben Earl was supposed to wait until after the final to give me the rose, how Lori was almost as excited as I was and how our good friend Steve Dauphin had suggested to Andy to wait to officially ask me until we were truly ready saying "Do want a nickel now or a dime later?"  We laughed about how disappointed I had been when Andy rejected my homemade chocolate chip cookies the week before while he was secretly fasting and praying about asking me to be his girlfriend.  Then we prayed together and asked the Lord to bless our relationship that we were entering into with the hope of marriage someday.

Looking back, I am so amazed at the way that God has brought us together in marriage, made us stronger through trials, given us such joy and fun and now allowed us to parent our daughter together.  Andy is the kind of man that I am praying that God is preparing for our daughter to meet and eventually marry when she's older... a man like Andy who cherishes her so that he would take up a paper route on top of his other two jobs in college to save up for an engagement ring... a man like Andy who loves to throw his head back laugh out loud (sometimes at himself) and is her best friend all the time, no matter what, even when things aren't perfect... a man like Andy who sees God's amazing power and creativity and teaches others about it through the discipline of science... a man like Andy who honors his family and works hard to provide for them... a man like Andy who serves his church body by teaching others to love the Lord and his word for pure joy even when it is a sacrifice... a man like Andy who has such passion that it is contagious.

Andy, I love you and I'm so glad that you liked me first and pursued me...wink, wink!  About a month before all this happened, Lori told me, I think Andy likes you, what do you think about him?  My exact response was, "He's cute, but hello- call me in a year!!"  I can't imagine life without you, my Love.