The story of us

Oh, how I lie! I promised vacay pics today, but I can't do that today. It's my 14th wedding anniversary and in honor of this day, I'm going to write the story of how we met.

Lance and I met in the fall of 1990 at Columbus Avenue Baptist Church in Waco. I was but a mere freshman girl and he a senior at Baylor University. We were involved in a college handbell choir together and neither of us really paid the other much attention. I was dating a boy from high school and I don't know what his reason was. :)

The director of our group would drop hints about each of us to the other occasionally and we'd both laugh (separately of course. She never did this in front of the other one)

By the spring semester, things weren't going well with the boy from home. I wasn't interested anymore. Fast forward to Easter Weekend...our college group went on a mission trip thru various prisons in Texas. We sat by each other on the bus a few times and began to talk. We had lots in common and some things not. I liked him, he was older and seemed to have things more "together" than the guys my age.

One of his friends, Brian, wanted to date one of my friends, Julie and convinced Lance to ask me to double with them. We did and Lance and I are still together. That was Brian and Julie's first and only date. They took us to various locations around town and campus for different courses of dinner. It was fun!

Lance and I spent the last month of his time at Baylor together everyday. We went dancing, walking, whatever, we just spent every evening together. I will never forget the first night he kissed me - we had been dating several weeks at this point. When I got back to my dorm that evening, I told my roommate that I would marry him. She laughed, but took my picture and it's wonderful to remember that moment that I "knew"!

Before he graduated, he asked me if I'd be interested in dating long distance. See, he was going to spend the summer travelling thru the Panhandle and then he was starting Seminary at Ft. Worth in the fall. I said yes and then began our 3 year 3 month long distance courtship. That summer of 1991 we saw each other only 3 times - once for a wedding, once for a funeral, and once for him to meet my family for the first time (which did not go well at all). I had a few doubts about the future of our relationship in August and early September of 1991, but then things changed. His paternal grandfather was tragically killed in a farming accident that fall and it deepened our relationshipo. He began driving to Waco every Saturday from about 8am to 10pm and we would spend the entire day together. It was great, but hard to see each other only once a week!

We did this until he graduated from seminary in May 1994 and moved to Odessa Texas. I had completed my classes in Waco by this point and was doing an internship in Dallas to complete my degree and graduate in August. I graduated on the 13th and on the 27th, we were married! My dad told me I had to finish college before I married and I did! I'm very thankful for this now!

Oh, how things have changed since this day 14 years ago. We've gone thru many hard days together and many joyous ones. We've served in 3 different churches and lived in 5 different homes. We've welcomed 2 beautiful children into our family. We've matured in many ways, but we still have our struggles. It's a continous journey. It's not a sprint, it's a marathon. There are days we don't like each other much, but in the end, we are one another's best friend. There is no one else I would have chosen to go on this journey with. I know long after the kids are gone, we will still enjoy being together!

I love you, Lance!