My Romantic Courtship

I want to tell you all a beautiful story. 

A story that has been miraculously unfolding before my very eyes. 

It is the story of my heart, each line tenderly fashioned by God's divine pen. 

In April of 2011, I met a man named Scott Willis.
My family fell in love with him; my parents asked to adopt him, the Little's smothered him.
 He spent a week in our home, a week filled with sweet fellowship.
He was instantly part of our family, as if he always had been.
 And when he left, it felt as if our family was left incomplete.

While he was deployed overseas, he wrote letters and emails to my parents and to me.
As we corresponded, I truly began to cherish his friendship.
His brotherly encouragement I found to be invaluable.
His honorable character and his love for God were evident in every letter and email.
I was filled with admiration and respect for this great man of God.

It was not long before my female heart was swooning.
 Never before had I met a man so godly, honorable, and charming; and my heart was easily inclined to fall for him.
By God's grace alone, I was very aware of this tendency, and on my guard against it.
I knew I needed to keep a careful vigil over my heart.
This man was my beloved brother, my dear friend,
I would not make him out to be more than that in my heart.

I began to pray earnestly for God's grace as I sought to consider him only my brother.
I wanted to interact with him as if he were my brother in every way.
I prayed for his future wife, asking God to bless her and fashion her to complete him.
It was hard and painful to do something so completely against the whim of my heart,
but God called me to do it.
There were times when I failed to keep my heart in check,
and returning it to a safe resting place in Jesus was an even harder task.
I did none of this on my own strength, God carried me and supplied grace.

In December Scott returned to the US, and came to visit our family once again.
I was struck more than ever by his vision, his heart, and his immense charm.
There was no missing the strong vibe between us as we spent time together.
I had fallen for him completely.
By the end of his visit I was convinced that I could follow this man to the ends of the earth,
but still, he was my brother alone,
and guarding my heart against the dreams that wanted to spill forth was more difficult than ever.

As Jane Austen so truthfully wrote:
"A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony, in a moment." 
- from Pride and Prejudice

I had been so sure that something was happening in both of our hearts, but as the days and weeks passed our friendship and our correspondence remained the same, much to my woe.

In early February I could feel God pulling on the strings of my heart.
 I was very convicted that I needed to be truly content to be Scott's sister in Christ, and nothing more.
I didn't want to give up my hopes and dreams where Scott was concerned, but God didn't let me go,
He brought me to a place where I was willing to submit to His plan for my life, and I was finally able to surrender my attachment to Scott completely to Him.
I cannot express to you how painful this was for me,
Scott was exactly the kind of man I had dreamed of and prayed for my entire life,
he fulfilled every list of qualifications I had ever written, indeed he rose above all of them.
My fists had been clenched shut in rebellion against God's call on my heart,
and it was agony to open them in surrender.
But what freedom and joy there is after the pain!
I could finally sincerely love Scott as my brother, I could write to him joyfully and honestly as his sister.

Only a few weeks later on March 9th I received a letter from Scott.
A beautiful letter, expressing how God's hand had been moving in his heart,
confessing his love for me, and asking to court me.

I lack words to describe what took place in my heart over the next few days.
Complete astonishment and utter joy swept over me; I wept and smiled in turns.
Do you see that God had something better in store for me then I had?
Once my hands were open in surrender He filled them to overflowing with His good blessings.
The story that He wrote for Scott and I is so glorious, the story that I had imagined and I had held onto so tightly cannot compare.

Our courtship has been absolute joy and bliss as we watch God write this story.
I stand in awe of His work, the absolute beauty of the way He brought Scott and I together leaves me speechless. He has filled us both with love for Him and for one another. 

He has poured out His blessings upon us.

 On May 12th Scott Willis asked me to marry him.
And I said yes.
We are joyfully looking forward to
November 24th 2012
when we will covenant together before our friends and family in marriage.
I still can't believe it.
There are many moments when I am absolutely overcome with joy and amazement,
God is so good. It makes me giddy. :)

God writes beautiful love stories, I am so blessed to share ours with you.
If you would like to hear more of how God has been working in our courtship feel free to email me,
I would love to share more.

May God pour out His rich and bountiful blessings on you today!