All Things New

So I haven't kept a blog in a long time, and hopefully I will keep up with it this time around. A lot of you may know thet last time I had a blog, I was chronicling my journeys through Haiti, but after getting so sick, I abandoned my blog out of sheer frustration and disappointment.

This time around, the new changes in my life are going to be permanent, "for better or for worse." That's right, I'm getting married! And moving! And starting a new job! Ahh! It's like I grew up or something. :)

So I figured that I'd start with who exactly I am marrying and how we met. For starters his name is Brandon Myers (hence the blog title). He's turning 24 next week, and he lives about 30 minutes away from me and a mile from my grandparents. This first time I saw Brandon was at our home church in October 2011. I was standing in the choir singing and noticed a new guy on the front row. When my mom and I sat down for service, I leaned over and pointed and whispered, "Mom, that boy is really cute." And she said "Then why don't you go talk to him?" And I was so taken aback by her boldness, I quickly blurted out, "No! That's not my job! It's the guys' job to come talk to me!" And she just smiled and let it go.

That week at work, I was talking to my good friend about how long it had been since I had dated anyone (two years for those of you wondering) and she encouraged me to try to meet new people. I am very shy when it comes to dating because I'm extremely picky and very cautious about opening my heart to anyone. One of the other girls chimed in and told me about an online dating site where she met her boyfriend. Immediately I was thinking 'No way. Only very loney creepy people sit online trolling other's dating pages.' But this girl assured me that this site was for younger people and a lot of them just wanted to branch out and meet poeple; it wasn't all about dating. So I hesitantly went home and built myself a profile. And guess who's popped up in the first five people I met?

The funny part was that I didn't even recognize him from his picture because it was of him next to his motorcycle with his helmet on. It was more of his personality description that caught my eye. And so I sent a quick "Hey. How's it going?" generic message and almsot fell out of my computer chair when his reply was "You go to Urbancret Church, don't you?" I always joke that my first thought was 'See, this is why I don't do online dating! Stalkers are EVERYWHERE!' It took me a minute to realize the guy who had caught my eye the week before and the guy whose profile caught my eye that day were one in the same. Now tell me THAT isn't a God thing?!

We slowly began talking more and more, then texting. And our first time meeting was in a group of friends when I asked if he'd like to join us for a movie. And I was smitten. I probably walked around for the first several weeks with a silly grin on my face. Now this isn't to say I changed my rule about opening my heart, but for some reason, everytime I felt the need to pull back and turn and run in fear, God kept my feet firm right where I stood. I continually prayed and asked God if this was the right way He wanted me to go and my feet continually stayed glued on the path we were on.

After about two months of talking, we officially started dating the first week of December. We were sitting in my living room and he puts his hand in his pocket and pulls out a small ring. He said "I've got something for you. Have you ever seen one of these before?" I studied the small silver ring with two hands holding a crowned heart. "No, what is it?" I asked. He said it was called a Claddaugh ring and it was something that traditional Irish guys would give to the girls they were dating. Wear it with the heart pointed towards you , and it meant your heart was taken. He asked me if I'd like to wear it and I teased "Ok, but which was do you want me to face the heart?" And he just kinda backed down and said "Any way you want, I guess." So I slipped it on, heart facing me and said "So I guess this means we're officially dating now?" And he just grinned and said "I guess so."

I was still so cautious about being in a relationship again. To me, relationships hurt. They left you bitter and cold because they never worked out for me. But God had long before begun a healing process of my heart and brough this new guy into my life to continue to stich up the scars. And I am forever blessed.