All of Grace: April 2011

Well. It was all in the works on my last post, but now it's official.

Josh will be a resident of Florida on Wednesday of this week!

Since he just graduated when we started dating- he was job searching in PA while maintaining his part-time job he'd had in school. After a little over a month of dating, he asked me about beginning to include Orlando as another location to search for jobs.

Then. A BUNCH of crazy and random (things are never random) situations and circumstances happened in just the way that increased his need for a job here immediately, OR that would commit him to PA through the summer. Out of no where, God miraculously provided him a job and a moving-time that...literally, couldn't be more perfect. (If I were to write details, this post would literally be categorized into "chapters" and would be pages and pages long.)

God made the situation look impossible. I knew it was because He wanted to build my confidence that 1. either HE was going to do something when I could do nothing else, and I would see it is HIS will, or 2. He was going to show us, "This is not my will- this is not my timing." Both would've been an answer to prayer...as we were praying God would reveal His will.

Time with the Lord has been so sweet. He is faithful to grow our love and affection for Him when He reveals our need to be fully dependent on Him for prayer, direction, and wisdom. The Gospel is beautiful.

Josh and I are going from 1,006 miles apart to 4.7 :)

GOODBYE LONG-DISTANCE!!!

I have a "random friend." (A few actually.) The one I'm referring to is named Danielle. I call her one of my "soul" friends. She's actually how I found out about the GAP Team and the opportunity to live in Wales.

We met at a conference 5 years ago and swapped email addresses. Many emails, prayer phone calls, and a few visits later, she invited me to her very small destination wedding in Highlands, NC the Monday before this last Christmas.

Through a series of dumbfounding providential events, I was able to go...when, by the looks of all circumstances...shouldn't have been the case.

I went to the wedding several days early to spend time with her and help with the "getting ready." When I asked how I could help, she informed me that the best man needed to be picked up from the airport. The groom's brother was supposed to be his ride, but had his appendix removed the week before and wasn't allowed to drive.

The nearest airport was a 3 hour drive away.

I called the best man on my way so he'd have my number in case his flight got delayed or something. He'd graduated earlier that DAY with a double bachelors in Biblical Studies and Business Administration from PBU. (Philadelphia Biblical University)

"Welcome to the wedding weekend!" was my pre-meditated greeting at baggage claim with no hand shake and no hug- also pre-meditated. I hate awkwardness. I wanted to be prepared.

Well, given his studies and my love for doctrine, and business experience...added to our shared love for other countries/cultures and travel overseas...conversation was easy. Very easy. The 3 hours flew. I'm a hairstylist-- I talk to strangers for a living. And he was a really seriously cute stranger. :) My mom told me the next day, "How was picking up the best man from the airport? Is he cute? I prayed he was cute..." Only my mother.

There was much hype over the weekend (ignored by both of us) with everyone and their mother trying to set us up; some were subtle, others blatantly obvious. We pretended it didn't exist. We were even independently reminding the bride and groom that it was THEIR weekend!

The cake pull and guarder toss were even rigged so we'd have a picture together.

World, meet Joshua Morrison.

I hoped he'd call.

He didn't.

For weeks.

But.

Then.

He did. :)

I wish you could've heard my scream and witnessed my jumping up and down. "EM! EM! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh! Guess who's calling?!" I couldn't answer the phone-- I was too excited. Emily was in the hallway hitting me telling me to get it-- I ran into the living room, cleared my throat and calmly and softly answered, "Hello?"

...and I'd missed his call.

Rang back right away and we set up a time to talk later because I was headed out the door...and he was asking if I had time to "talk."

Loved that. Loved his intentionality when we did talk later that night. His clear communication- his boldness, his intent.

He asked if he could start calling me regularly and we agreed to start getting to know each other over the phone.

...and then I drilled him with questions about his doctrine. And was surprisingly...very impressed. Both with his submission to Scripture and humility in how he communicates his perspective. His humility was (and is :) a noted strength. His love for Scripture obvious. And His affection for God contagious.

A week and a half of that turned into dating.

Which turned into him vising Orlando over my Birthday weekend. And me heading to Philly for a long weekend. And then me heading back to Philly again a few weeks later (my last wedding-free weekend until June!) for a road trip together to VA and then NC so he could meet my siblings, and I could meet the rest of his. (He has nine. Yes. NINE.) And I returned to Orlando this Monday.

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That is a very self-controlled, detail-free (can you believe it?) version of my side of the story.

Long distance is not-so-much-fun but skype has been a great help. Things are going well! I'm pretty crazy about him.

Here are a few more pics for your enjoyment :)