OH HEY FRIENDS.
I AM MARRIED.
I know I know, what a curveball it was for most of you. I definitely have been DYING to share all the details of the proposal and how God has led us to NOW.
From the beginning, before me and Drew started dating, we both were in a singleness season where we KNEW The Lord called us to. To stop trying to date or force any relationships and really focus on HIM and really be firm in our foundation of being a child of God.
I did not whatsoever plan or want to date anyone anymore after my dating “binge” I went through after my divorce. It was just something I knew needed to stop and my life needed to shift it’s focus on Him and not I.
I started going back to church and obeying The Lord in His command of not forsaking the gathering. I first started serving in the nursery a ton. Still hesitant to step into service and listen to sermons. I was still holding onto a lot of shame + guilt over my divorce. So I would watch sermons online and serve in the nursery every Sunday.
One morning I was in the nursery (June 27th to be exact), rocking this sweet little baby girl, and my soul was just hungry for Brother Terry’s sermon– for God’s Word to be washed over me. I headed closer to the TV that they had in the nursery and the moment I looked up…there Drew was. Getting baptized. I didn’t at the time know who he even was or what his name was. I asked the lady in there if they knew him, but they didn’t hear me (LOL). He was cute OBVIOUSLY. But what he said before he was baptized was what really drew me in & I couldn’t shake it or him. “You don’t just surrender one time to Christ, it’s an everyday surrender.”
I just knew from those words he was a man of God. BUT I was like “no Lord, I can’t start having someone I have my eyes on. I just stopped dating and focusing on You.” but my heart + eyes were pretty much set. He was then known to my family as my “church crush”. I did creep on FB to see if he was single (because I definitely didn’t want to crush on someone else’s man) and really wanted to request him but I didn’t until about a week later.
With shaky fingers, I pressed the request button on FB. He accepted. But nothing came soon after that. I remember praying over and over again “Father, don’t let my crush on this guy get in the way of my relationship with You. If nothing even happens, I’ll be okay. I know you called me to be single.”
All this happened in the month of June.
Fast forward to July and we get the first Facebook message from Andrew R. Hill…..YES I FREAKED OUT SO HARD ON THE INSIDE. He shared a David Platt sermon with me dealing with singleness. I had typed about the season I was in and he felt led to share that sermon. Not even knowing who I was but he did know I went to the same church as him.
Another incident- I was serving in the toddler room one morning and he had happen to walk past and our eyes met. Just not going into ALLLLL the details, I do wanna share some from that morning because your girl was struggling lol (remember he was just my church crush)- I have never been so nervous or shaky around someone. My face was red, my palms got sweaty, and I was so tense as he was conversating with me. I barely remember what the dude even said. But I do remember him leaving and saying, “hope to see you around more.” (LIKE YES OKAY I AM ALWAYS HOPING TOO) but always drawing near to The Lord praying “don’t let my heart’s intent on coming to gather be because I get to see him”.
Every now & then, he would message me through Facebook. But nothing consistent until I was in Nevada in August. He began to ask me more personal questions and then he asked me out to coffee and I screamed so loud- my best friend was a witness to this reaction. When I got home, our coffee date was set to be on the 6th of August.
I drove to The Bean in Fondren. So very giddy. Nervous. Excited. Constantly talking to God and saying “Your Will be done. I don’t need to date. I don’t want to date him if it’s gonna push me away from You.” I didn’t know at the time, but he was praying the same heartfelt prayers.
I wish you guys were a fly on the wall for this “interview”. Many laughs, lots of questions, and Drew ended the conversation by saying, “if this doesn’t work out or if it gets in the way of our relationship with God, then we don’t need to pursue it.” That statement just made me like him even more. I think since I was so overwhelmed with nervousness, I felt like that would be the first and last date we would have. But, his sister invited me to their small group, he invited me to check out the youth, and we would hang out every now and then around his friends from church that I was meeting. He called me one night asking how I liked the small group and since he got my number from the group chat (I still will mess with him about that every now & then haha), we started texting one another and every conversation was all about The Lord, our walk with Him, and it was just so fun. I can’t even explain how equally yoked we are & all the amazing conversations we had about our Father and His Word.
I asked him out on the second date. He would “bid” me goodbye saying “well if you ever wanna hang out again just hit me up.” and I knew he wanted to make sure I was interested in him too and not just being nice to him. IF HE ONLY KNEW HOW OBSESSED I WAS. Hahaha.
I took him out for his birthday. We went to throw axes & eat dinner in Fondren (which is now our favorite place to go!). That date we set up a date bucket list, assured one another we definitely wanted to date, and really everything was set. That was mid August.
He asked me to be his girlfriend August 27th after we did a little mission work in some trailer parks in our town and he also read Ephesians 5 over me before he asked me…….that’s when I knew I wanted to be with him for good. That I could marry this man. He said that was the day he knew he wanted me to be his wife.
Our dating adventure was the most pure and adventurous season. It was set in firm foundation. It pursued holiness and righteousness. It was according to God’s design. It was a fairytale. Something I always knew wasn’t real, but it’s what it felt like and even though we are now married, it still feels like a fairytale. Whoo, glory to God.
Him coming into our lives was the easiest transition and it felt like it was always supposed to be this way. The girls adored him like crazy. They quickly grew fond of him and he is SOOOOOO so good with them. They were always asking, “where’s Drew mama? I miss Drew. I love Drew!”. This mama’s heart was definitely worried about introducing him, but at the same time The Lord reassured me just as quickly about Drew as the devil tried to make me second guess.
THEN- Drew proposed to me on December 5th. Man oh man. If you were to tell me I would meet the love of my life and be proposed to in just 5 months of us knowing one another, I would’ve straight up called you a liar.
(will post a separate blog post of the proposal details soon!)
& now, January 26th, 2022, we have been married for almost two weeks!!!! and it has been a DREAM COME TRUE. As everything else has. It all felt so right and I’ve never in my life felt so aligned with God’s Will.
This blog doesn’t do the details justice but I would have a novel if I wrote about everything. (which I do journal a good bit about our story).
Drew has captivated my heart in a way no one else ever has or will. (except my SAVIOR). But Jesus takes a whole other level than any human will. I rest in knowing The Lord has chosen Drew to be a child of God, led him through all of life’s circumstances, to be able to enter into this holy covenant with me. We are so equally yoked it’s almost hysterical and I am in constant awe of God and what He has done through Drew & I’s relationship.
Our heart is to serve God, obey His commands, and share the Good News (matthew 28:19-20) and we’ve been given another platform to do just that. (marriage).
He’s my best friend, my husband, our leader, and the cutest and goofiest dude I get to be ONE with.
AHHHHH, if only I can give you every part of this story.
I am so abundantly blessed.
Absolutely beautiful. Our Father makes no mistakes. Trust in his will! May He strengthen your marriage and love for one another, while also strengthening your obedience for Him. “We love, because he first loved us.” Amen, xoxo.