Journey to the Altar

Peter

So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, He took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib He had taken out of the man, and He brought her to the man.
– Genesis 2:21,22

This is a good description of how God brought me to the altar. Previously to meeting Laura, I was very closed off to and even cynical of marriage. Many of my friends met their future spouses and got married, but I was very skeptical that it would happen to me. I would always hear from people that “you’ll change your mind when you meet the right person”, but I was decidedly doubtful of that.

I wanted someone who would be my best friend, someone I would love spending every waking moment with, someone I worked well with, someone I could love, care for, and understand (well, as much as man can understand a woman). I am blessed to be raised in a Christian home and have met many Christian, godly women. However, none of them captured my heart … for God still had me in a deep sleep.

When I came to China and got to know Laura, for the first time I felt a tug at my heart. The first thing I noticed about her was how beautiful she was and how kind and caring she was. Everyone was drawn to her … including me. I was hooked. When people were happy they would come in and excitedly share the day’s exploits, when they were worried they sought advice, when they were sad they came for consoling, comfort, and a shoulder the cry on.

As we became close friends, it become quickly apparent that there was something new at work, something I sometimes doubted truly existed: I was in love. Not the little tingly feeling in your stomach type of love, mind you; the head over heels ready to burst love. And I plan on staying that way. God has finally awoken me and presented Laura, his finest creation and precious gift.

Laura

Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:4

Lord, if my first love isn’t going to be my only love, can we just get my heart broken sooner rather than later and get it over with? Thanks.

I used to pray this on occasion, only half-jokingly. Before Peter, I had never dated (the boy who sat next to you on the school bus in kindergarten and shyly kissed your cheek that one time doesn’t count:-). Oh, I’d been attracted to a few guys (four to be exact…and seriously liked two of them), but I knew they were not for me. I hoped and prayed and knew deep down inside that when the time came, God would bring us together, and that contrary to the reigning opinion among some, I would not have to go out looking for him.

At 25, out of college, working full-time, and surrounded by great friends, a part of me was growing more and more restless. That part of me that deeply desired to be in a relationship, to be married, to belong to someone, was rearing its hopeful and expectant head – often. Lord, I want it to be in your time, to do it your way – but couldn’t your time be now? But there was also a part of me that didn’t want to feel as though I was sitting around twiddling my thumbs, just waiting for the Lord to drop him on my doorstep. I wanted to serve, to be useful, to meet a tangible need, to do something that was bigger than me. And maybe even forget about all this relationship and marriage stuff. I know, silly…but that’s how I felt. Enter my journey to China here:-) I could experience life on the other side of the world, serve the Lord, and meet a real need teaching English to the Chinese English teachers. I really wanted to do what the Lord wanted me to, and He gave me peace, a surety that this was His next step for me. And what happens when I get there? Peter:-)

We got along from the beginning. Gravitated toward each other, actually. He was shy and a little quiet, really funny and witty and smart and thoughtful and sweet. And handsome too, can’t forget that. An experience like ours tends to bond people quickly, and you can get to know someone pretty well in a short amount of time. We talked a lot, learning about each other, realizing just how much we had in common – kindred minds and hearts. Eating ice cream together after meal times; taking walks; the hours spent lesson planning and grading journals – quality time, my friends. I felt totally comfortable around him a lot sooner than I thought I would, and I had a feeling that he would be one of my best friends – little did I know:-) I remember thinking at one point that it seemed he was being a little nicer to me than to everyone else. Which got my mind going in the direction that all girls’ minds go to when a boy is nice to them. I mean, Laura Naudus didn’t sound half bad. But of course I brushed it off. Seriously, Laura? You don’t have time for this. He’s just really sweet to everyone, you know that. No time for daydreaming.

And then came the evening, mid-September of 2008, barely 2 months after we’d met, that he told me how he felt about me. I was shocked, then relieved, then wondering how the heck this was going to work. The original plan was to wait until the following May to begin dating. Well that didn’t happen, haha. What followed was a lot of conversations, honest and tough and intense and awkward and funny and wonderful, and a lot of prayer. I was becoming more and more attracted to him. Was this the man God had for me? Was I the one God had for him? Neither of us are the kind to jump into something lightly, and I certainly hadn’t waited this long for a relationship to change how I operate. We’re not fans of the word dating, haha…at least not the common, secular definition of it. “Courting” didn’t quite fit either. But we were not going to say that we were “dating” unless, or until, there was a commitment to each other towards marriage – and God would have to be the one to squash the whole thing if it wasn’t what He wanted.  We like to call that time between Peter’s declaration and our officially dating (January 18 2009..I’m a girl, of course I remember the day) our “friends with intent” period. That’s what we were. And still are, I guess:-) Best friends with intent to marry. When I told people at home that I’d met someone, they knew it was serious. And the fact that it happened so quickly? Well, when it’s the right person it usually happens that way, they say. And the fact that the Lord gave me peace helped too:-)

Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of  your heart. The Lord has taught me a lot about, and through, this verse. When you delight in Him, you want for you what He wants for you; your desires become His desires. It’s a win-win. I followed Him to China, and He gave me more of Himself. And because He is so unfathomably, ridiculously good to His children, He also gave me one of the other deepest desires of my heart – Peter.

The Lord has taught me sooo much through Peter – about His love, grace, patience, forgiveness, kindness, and goodness. Peter is everything I ever wanted, and then some. He pursued me; he was sure of himself, was always honest about how he felt about me,and wasn’t afraid to tell me how he felt. The Lord is like that with us, you know – pursuing us, loving us, telling us how He feels about us in His Word. Peter is a physical, living and breathing expression of  that love for me -and it’s pretty wonderful. I am continually humbled by how much the Lord has blessed me through him, that He would give me someone this amazing, and that I will truly have a ‘one and only’. God is faithful, and He answers prayer. REALLY.

I often tell Peter that he’s stuck with me because I’m not going through this again, with anyone else. He tells me that if I ever leave he’s coming with me.

Works for me.

And this is way longer than Peter’s is. Sigh. Oh well.

  Comments? Jot a note in our guestbook!