They say there's nothing more romantic than a Nicholas Sparks book.
I beg to differ.
Maybe it's because I'm biased about our love story - or maybe it's because something like this could have never been orchestrated by man. Only God could write a story such as this.
"Before you were formed
in your mother's womb,
I knew you..."
Jeremiah 1:5A
When my mom was a single, 24-year-old baby Christian, she attended a church revival meeting. In this meeting, a woman went to the alter, asking for prayer that the Lord would grant them the ability to have children.
The leader of the meeting prayed over them, and then said out loud to everyone in the room, "together they will have one boy, and will have one girl." Everyone cheered, receiving that word from God as perfect truth even before it came to pass.
Six months later, my mom went to the grocery store, and saw that very same woman in the distance - the woman, too, was shopping for groceries, but with a cute little pregnant belly. Mom never saw her again, but what a testament of faith it was for my mom, who was praying to have her own husband and family one day, too.
"For I know the Plans
I have for you,
declares the Lord..."
Jeremiah 29:11a
Fast forward to about 16 years later, when I was 12 years old. One of my elderly aunts sat me down in her living room, with a very serious look on her face, to tell me about a dream.
She went to bed one night, and in vivid detail, the Lord showed her who my husband was. She described the way he looked, his height, his talents, and even his demeanor - a description that allowed me to paint a beautiful picture in my mind of who he could be.
Of course, my 12-year-old heart was filled with joy to know what God had in store. But, growing up as a teenager and young adult, it became easy to get blinded by distractions. Though, in the back of my mind, I would always look at any boyfriend I had at the time and think, "is this him? Is this the man my aunt saw in her dream?"
But no. There was always at least one thing that didn't line up with what she saw. So even as badly as I hoped and wished I'd found the one, I never did.
"...Plans to prosper you,
and not to harm you.
Plans to give you a hope,
and a future."
Jeremiah 29:11B
Seven years later, when I was a 19-year-old college student, this random guy named Blaine sent me a friend request on Facebook. He immediately messaged me, explaining he realized that we were both born and raised in the same hometown, but we had never once seen or met each other before.
I responded back sparingly, probably pretty short and rude to him - but he kept pursuing me on social media for years. He kept trying to talk to me, to reach out to me, and to even meet me - but I never gave him the time of day.
Finally, one day 4 years later, when I was a 23-year-old TV newscaster, he sent me a direct message on Twitter. And, in typical Blaine fashion, he said "Hey. You should really respond to me. I am around a lot of chicks all the time as a musician but for some reason I'm drawn to you and I don't know why. Just call me once."
Now, normally, I'd consider that a total turn-off, and it'd give me more of a reason to ignore this weirdo - but, I actually found it hilarious, and quite intriguing.
So, I did. I called him while driving home after doing the 10:00pm newscast at work. And the moment he picked up the phone and said "Hello," something supernatural happened to me.
"...My ways
are higher than your ways,
and my thoughts
are higher than your thoughts."
Isaiah 55:9B
I felt like I got struck by lightning.
My heart felt like it was going to pound out of my chest, my vision got blurry, yet a strange overwhelming sense of peace flowed through my entire body. I had to pull over on the side of the road to finish the phone conversation, because this physical feeling I was experiencing was by far nothing I had ever gone through - it was so different, so foreign, yet I knew it was something spiritual. I was utterly, and completely, mesmerized by Blaine's voice alone - the sound of the voice of a man I'd never met in my entire life.
The next day, I went to my mom's house (who is in her 50's now, married with 3 children including me), and I told her about Blaine. I told her what happened to me on the road that night - I told her how strange it was for me to feel something so overwhelming, because I had never been so swooned by anyone like that before.
As we went through his Facebook pictures, the second most unbelievable thing happened - this time, it was my mom who experienced it.
"...for God is greater
than our hearts,
and he knows everything."
1 John 3:20B
We suddenly came across a picture of Blaine's family. And the moment the picture appeared on the screen, my mom gasped.
I looked over at her, and she sat there - still, mouth wide open, unable to get words out for a few seconds. She then pointed to the screen at the woman standing next to Blaine. She said, "Hannah, honey, that's the woman I saw at the revival meeting. That's the woman who wanted children! How old is Blaine again?"
When I told her, she said "Hannah, when I saw that woman again at the grocery store a few months later, it was Blaine she was pregnant with! It was him! It's got to be!"
Mom and I then revisited the dream my aunt Evelyn had about my future husband when I was 12. We went through all of the features and characteristics of what she saw. All of the details, all of the mannerisms, the way he looked and the way he carried himself.
Blaine not only fit every single one of those details, he fit them to a tee. Perfectly. To the point that there was no question - this was him. This was my husband.
Blaine immediately booked a flight for me to come visit him in Fort Worth. As instantaneous as our connection was during our first phone call, so it was when we met in person at the airport.
He looked at me, and he knew.
I looked at him, and I knew.
This was it. We found each other.
In the most unbelievable way.
The fact that God brought us together after growing up in the same hometown - having the same friends - socializing with the same circle of people - with the same spiritual upbringing. And yet, we never once knew each other - never once saw each other - never once crossed paths, for that many years? If that's not strange, I don't know what is.
We got engaged two months later, married 4 months after that, and surprisingly pregnant 5 months after the wedding.
It's been a whirlwind to say the least - a blessed road, a difficult road, a road of so much love and many struggles, too.
But honestly, I wouldn't expect anything less. If the Lord so beautifully and intricately intertwined our love story in this way, even before we were conceived in our mothers wombs, it's because the plans He has for us are far beyond our own.
God is in control of every single detail of your lives, friends. His plan for you is just as thought out, just as special, just as important, and just as powerful.
Allow God to write your love story, too. His script is way better than "The Notebook," anyway.
