I was incredibly nervous to meet the guy I'd been hearing about for the past nine months.  I mean that's a lot of hype—nine months worth—and he'd been hearing about me too, which scared me.  Would either of us be able to live up to the hype?  I'd heard that he was some kind of tall, handsome, Marine, that traveled the world and was very close to his family.   I don't know what he knew about me, but my sister had shown him one of the best photos ever taken of me, which probably set his expectations a little high.  To take my anxiety to the brink, I kept replaying the last blind date I'd been on—a complete disaster that had almost been fatal.

My sister was setting me up.  She was persistent for all of those months and I was finally single and somewhat willing, but maybe I just wanted to get her off my back.  I was a sophomore in college and I had decided to put love on hold.  I decided I was too young and I just wanted to travel to far off places and "find" myself.  I had my first trip all lined up and everything.  But, I'd thought, "Who cares?  It's not going to work out.  It's just a stupid date."  Despite my calm and cool self-talk, I was having a slight panic attack waiting for this guy to show up.  I wasn't alone, which was good, even though I was assured that he was safe.  My sister and her husband were waiting with me. 

I remember David Gray playing in the background of the busy restaurant, and then I saw him.  As he weaved his way through tables to join us, my sister giddily whispered, "That's him!"  He was really tall, handsome, with wild hair, and he was smiling while looking me right in the eyes.  I'll admit; I was quite captivated.  I hoped that once I saw him and had no interest in him that my anxiety would fizzle, but it didn't.  He was very attentive, interested and calm, and that made me more nervous.  When I'm nervous, I can't eat.  I ordered a meal and didn't eat more than two bites.  Yep, I was that girl.

After we said goodnight on that first date, I called my sister and she said, without hesitating, "You guys are getting married."  I was unsure.  I really liked him, but he was coming into my life at a really inconvenient time.  How dare he!  But that's the thing about life…We make our plans, and God laughs at us and then drops a bomb (or a future husband) in the middle of them.