Part 2

In case you missed it, Part 1 was about how I believe God created me to work with children and be a mom.

*** Just a little disclaimer, I am NOT pregnant. I don't want to start any rumors :)

I met my husband, Jake, while we were at college at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, OK. We were both very involved with the same campus ministry, the Baptist Collegiate Ministries (BCM). Our circles of friends overlapped and we attended the same church. But there were two definite events in my mind that made Jake stick out to me, way before our relationship began.

1) At a state-wide BCM event, Jake accepted Christ. He stood up, walked forward at the invitation and took care of his soul for eternity. Big deal, lots of us do this, right? The thing about this was that Jake was already an active member of the BCM and a church. He had been on mission trips and was a leader at the BCM. All these would have led us to believe that he was already a member of God's kingdom. But that night he went forward in front of all of us to make that life changing decision and he was baptized a few Sunday's later in our church. I remember thinking that night how much courage it must have taken to walk forward and show us that he was doing all of these things but still needed to humble himself before God. I don't know if I explained that well. But I just noticed him that night, ok :)

2) The youth pastor of our church and his wife, lost their youngest son when he was only 9 months old. It was tragic and from what I understand (please forgive me if I am wrong), there was never any real explanation, he just stopped breathing. This was an event that rocked our whole church and a good portion of the community we lived in. To help cope with their grief the youth minister, his wife and their two boys came to counseling at the BCM with our directors.

(A side note of background information - The BCM was open to students all day long. We could come in and do homework, watch TV, take naps, seek advice, meet with other students, play pool, etc whenever we wanted to. Several of us took advantage of this meeting place and spent many free afternoons avoiding homework there.)

I specifically remember one afternoon that the youth pastor was there with his family. He and his wife were speaking with the directors behind closed doors and their two boys were sitting in the main room of the BCM. Jake came in, saw the boys, picked up a ball and immediately the fun began. The ran all over the BCM, laughing and having a grand time. I watched them with a smile, knowing that those boys were having a good time despite what they were going through. And I thought to myself how great of a father Jake was going to make someday. He was having so much fun with them and he didn't even care that he looked like a big goofball!

I knew from those two things that he was a man worth getting to know. I knew that he was willing to put God before himself and that he would make a good father. It wasn't an easy road, and things happened that I am not proud of but in the end I found my best friend and husband.