The First and The Last

Like I've said before there are just some things that you think will never come true for you. Then one day when you least expect it something happens or someone comes into your life and changes it forever. 14 years ago this September at Camp Overton my life was changed. The day I realized I was living with an emptiness in my heart and there was only one person that I knew that could fill that void. His name is Jesus and He is very much alive in my heart today. Granted I've done what some Christians do in their walk, I sometimes took the other road and ended up completely lost and in the dark, but by God's promise Jesus was there to light my way and guide me to the path I needed to be on. Jesus has helped form me into something I sometimes doubt about, He helped mold me into a woman after God's heart, a woman who in her own weakness finds the strength through Him to help her achieve great things, a woman who was called into the youth ministry by Him and to this day still feels that passion for the calling.

Where is all this going, you may ask? 13 years and 1 month later I was introduced to Daniel at Camp Overton. (funny don't ya think?) In the previous blog, I talked about how we met so I will definitely spare you those details. This blog I wanted to tell you about our first date, in my eyes.

Amazing!

The whole day I had originally planned to bring my nephews and my cousins to the Smokies Stadium, but since we had done everything almost every night that week, I thought it would be okay if they just stayed home. They all had other agendas for that evening anyways. I had planned on meeting Daniel anyways that night, but when I found out I was coming alone, I told him. He planned our first date. Amazing! He started off by asking if I liked seafood. I am not a big fan, so I said no. I really had no idea what he had up his sleeve and he would not tell me. He knows I am into surprises, so with him not telling me anything made it that more Amazing!

We met at Bass Pro, I told him to meet me next to the aquarium. When I got to the aquarium I couldn't find him, I started getting really nervous, but then I finally saw him where he was looking pretty dang Amazing! We walked around for a bit then we ended up at the shooting range game thing on the second floor. Why I went first is beyond me, but I did and I did bad. I mean so bad my brother would definitely be ashamed. I call it being nervous, but my brother would call it an embarrassment. Daniel just laughed, he done so much better than I did, naturally.

Our next stop, well he never told me. We jump in his truck and he takes me thru Pigeon Forge, I am asking lots of questions like where we were going. He said "I was going to take you to Bubba Gumps, but you said you didn't like seafood." Since I had never been to Bubba Gumps, that is where I wanted to go. We had so much fun there, we talked, I laughed, it was a perfect date thus far and I was happy. As we are sitting there, he tells me there are three surprises awaiting. Bubba Gumps was the first of the three. All the hint he would give me was, we had talked about it before. Daniel and I have talked about a lot of things, Daniel and I had talked about so much I had forgotten all the things that we had talked about.

Surprise number 2: The Thomas Kinkade Gallery. I wasn't able to buy anything, but I did make a wish list while I was in there. I absolutely LOVE Thomas Kinkade and for him to think about what I liked and would like to do, meant a lot. Amazing!

Surprise number 3: Foothills Parkway, I believe is the name of the place. I'd never been there either,  for those around my area picture being on Viking Mountain at night, but with a more incredible view. It was beautiful up there. I am a sucker for star gazing and looking at anything God created, so again Amazing!

This blog wasn't as detailed as I am normally would do, but there are some things that I want to keep just between Daniel and I. This was the best first date I had ever been on and one that I will never forget and cherish for a life time. Nothing will ever beat this date. Each day with Daniel is a new experience. Daniel is someone I never want to disappoint and he helps me grow with my walk in Christ. Daniel is a very special man in my life. I was so blessed the day God intervened and brought the two of us together.  I also thank God that 14 years ago September, God made Camp Overton special in my life and then 14 years later, another special thing became a part of it too.

At last...

Ever imagined how many people are in this world that are the opposite sex? Well there is a lot and ever wondered how in the world God was going to set you up with that perfect match, that He crafted, that He created just for you? No? Okay, well I questioned it a lot. And if you know me pretty well, you know when I begin questioning, I begin doubting, and then that leads to worrying. It is like a downhill spiral. It's not that I intentionally do it, I just do. Part of it is from the relationships in my past. I started doubting God and His ability to create me the perfect man for me so that I could live out that princess fairy tale I had always dreamed of. You can ask anyone about me and my feelings about princesses. I longed for that prince, the feelings that all of the princesses had when that one prince, that one knight in shining armor would come and sweep her off of her feet. I even had signs in my room that I made that said "one day my prince will come." After one bad relationship those signs came off the wall and have never went back up. I am not one to completely ignore God and His choice of mate for myself, but you know how humans tend to be, we want what we want when we want it, regardless what anyone says. So therefore some of those relationships I was in was just because I wanted it and I thought I could see the future in the other person, but I wasn't seeing thru God's eyes. God had someone in store for me and I wasn't being patient at all. I am 100% sure, if I was supposed to be in those other relationships, He would not have sent friends or even family members to say things that caused me to question the relationship I was in, since I was completely ignoring His signs. I have always wanted that relationship where God was the center, I wanted the relationship where I wasn't the leader, I wanted a relationship where we would not argue about going to church together, or argue about not hanging out with family.  I wanted a God centered relationship, lead by a man after God's own heart, family - oriented, church going, kid loving, athletic, and someone who understood that people make mistakes. That isn't just something I thought I wanted, but it was something I needed. God knew that, my friends knew that, my family knew that, I knew that I was just being stubborn and believing the lie that even though I had dreamed of that fairytale ending, it was never going to happen to me. But now I am here writing to say, I am living my fairytale. It is better than any author could ever write about. Surprisingly this is better than I had ever dreamed of it being. I never knew I could be in a relationship this incredible. I knew it could happen, but never dreamed it would happen to me. So who is this prince that has made such an imprint on me and this post?

They call him Daniel.

See he even has a biblical name, now God is just teasing me for being so stubborn. :) Daniel and I have grown up in church since we both can remember, I was a little further behind with my walk in Christ just because his family grew up in church while I didn't start going until I was in the 2nd grade. We were both active in our youth groups going to State Youth Conventions, Youth Rallies, and Fall Retreats. We saw each other in passing, but never introduced ourselves. He was a kid to me and from a "city." He hates when I say that cause he really isn't, but that is what I thought of him at the time. So years pass, we both come in and out of relationships, we both still attend church, and then a big change happened to the both of us around the same time: His youth pastor left his church to follow God's new call on his life and joined the church I went to. As Josh arrived at our church, I was hesitant about Josh, but I finally warmed up to him and now I'd do anything for him and his family in a second and Daniel would still do the same. So you think this is how we met? nope. We actually, me included, really wanted one of my friends to get to know Daniel. I still thought he was a "kid" at this point. So at Fall Retreat, Josh would loudly say things that would embarrass this poor girl and Daniel being the outgoing person he is would just go along with it. Nothing ever came about the two of them, because as time would tell Daniel had a girlfriend. It wasn't until 2011 that Daniel and I officially met and that was solely because God wanted us too. I was asked to help at the Children's Fall Retreat held at Camp Overton, I was just going to help plan and not go, but when they sent out the registration forms and at the bottom it said co director beside my name, I thought oh hey, I should probably go. I am not 100 percent certain how Daniel ended up there, but it was something like his dad usually takes his little brother to Fall Retreat, but this one year, his father wasn't able too so Tim asked Daniel too. Tyanna went with me to help me out because I tend to get stressed easily, so of course we arrive late on Friday night to the retreat. Saturday, Daniel and I met. Ever since then, not a day has went by that we hadn't text or talked on the phone. December 29th, we went out on our first date and he made it wonderful, it was one of the best first dates I had ever been on. Daniel knew I loved surprises so everything was a surprise (I'll post our first date in a new blog) I just wanted to introduce him to you now.

Daniel is so different than any man I had ever dated: he is kind, loving, compassionate, God seeking, family oriented, church going, advice giver, helper, strong, supports me and my calling, and forgiving. I know this blog is a little wordy, okay a lot wordy, and I know I can probably write a chapter just about how I feel about him.

Therefore the main points: Be patient, everyone deserves the feelings that I have with Daniel. Your prince or princess is out there, just wait and let God bring the two of you together and He will in His timing. I am very blessed and very thankful that God has answered my prayers. And the saying is true, "when you know, you just know."

And there we are, I feel like one of the luckiest girl in the world.