I will never look at April Fools’ Day the same way again!
Eleven years ago today, our family was in Swansboro celebrating Easter as we did when we could (ministry families sometimes have a hard time getting together). My family was down and we were all visiting Matt’s family (our families are very close, but that story requires more time). And Swansboro is a particularly special place because it’s where we met when I was 15 years old and through some really hard times in my life, it was my refuge. That particular day we were all out letting Anya fly a kite and playing near the beach. You know, just family stuff. Everyone decided to head back to Maw’s house, and let Matt and I stay to take a walk on the beach. As a single mama, that didn’t happen very often. We’d been dating for about 6 months maybe but I really didn’t think anything of it. It was that day, on that beach, in the town where we met, he asked me to marry him. And of course I said yes!
But I was also very nervous because of Anya. I prayed for days before I told her. I prayed that if this wasn’t best for her then I begged for the strength to put her first. When the time came to tell her, she got so excited and said “now he’s OUR Matt”! Oh what a precious gift of confirmation! We’ve had ups and downs (we now have a teenager and a 1st grader) like anyone but I’m so thankful for this precious man who was my friend first. He loves me in all my imperfections and leads our family with grace. He loves my daughter (but respects her relationship with her dad) and our son.
Young ones, if you are still reading this, take this as the best advice I can give you. I speak from the experience of many mistakes before I got this one right. Chase after God without distraction and one day you just might see someone running beside you in the same direction. It was only once I lost myself pursuing HIM that I found him. ❤️
Abundantly 