Telling this story always makes me smile big! I just LOVE telling it and it gets better every time I do! 🙂 Some of you have heard it a million times and are probably tired of hearing it but not me! Not, I! 😉 It’s such a fun story because God made it up! And that excites me all the more! 🙂
Ok, so I first met the man of my dreams back when I was in my early 20’s I just didn’t know at the time this 17-18 year old would end up being my husband some day! I thought as I watched him play basketball with my brothers on our homeschool basketball team, from the bleachers that I would actually end up with this awesome, handsome (Zac Efron, look-alike!). Yeah, everyone used to call him that when he was younger, he looked just like him! Still kinda sorta does, but I think he’s WAY more attractive than any good lookin’ movie star ever was or ever will be. Just sayin’. 😉
I came home from work one day and my parking spot was taken up with my brothers car (who was married and living in his own home at the time), so yeah, kinda weird. SO I went in the house asking why was my parking spot taken up. My brother’s car was broken down and needed to be fixed and since my dad has more car tools than you can shake a stick at he decided to leave his car in MY parking spot overnight, or rather until it got fixed. (Not that I’m bitter about it… lol! J/K, just telling how the story was in my own words. 😉 )
A few days later I came home from work and noticed a BIG red truck parked outside our house (Gives me shivers down my spine every time I think about it!!). I thought nothing of it and drove on back behind the house where the garage is and parked behind my brothers car and I see, two of my brothers in the garage and one other head I didn’t recognize sticking up behind the hood of my brothers’ car. Hmmm… Then I recognized him as soon as I got out of my car! “Is this even for real??!!” It was Spencer Miller in my parents garage working on my brother’s car!!
I went inside quickly, hoping he didn’t notice my appearance. I was greasy and smelled like cooking grease. I was working at Curry’s at the time and worked with the deep fryer among many other things. Working with food gets messy at times. All I can remember is thinking what can I do? What can I do to go outside and “work” on something (After I have freshened up a bit)? So I thought! AH! I know! (You have to understand my car, if you don’t own a Dodge Neon, then congratulations! You are doing great! Neon’s have been known to burn oil…. that’s right, you read that right. BURN. So instead of changing your oil you just refill it every so often. 😉
So I quickly looked for some oil and a funnel. I asked the guys, if they had seen a funnel? All the while trying not to make eye contact with this good lookin’ man! Ha! Only looking at him, mooningly-like. (Mooningly=Dreamily). Hoping he didn’t notice.
I “fixed” the problem with some oil and then get done and then remember the interior in my car which has been falling apart decide to fix that too! 🙂 So I go quickly in the house looking for some glue and the only kind I find is Shoe Goo, yeah, I used shoe goo on my door interior! (Hey, it worked!). As I am finishing up, Spencer and my brothers get done on the car. Or at least for the night and as I get out of my car, my older brother Jacob, asks what I was doing and I told them, I can remember seeing a huge grin and chuckle coming from Spencer. Talk about making my day!!
Well a few days passed and my sweet friend Hannah and I went to eat out at our usual Chinese lunch date. I confided in her about my infatuation with Spencer. I told her how much I was developing feelings for him and that I didn’t know what to do about the guy I was in a relationship with at the time. Yes, I know, I was in a relationship with a young man at the time. It had been going on for about a year and nothing fruitful seemed to be coming out of it. I had known the guy for a few years before, met him at the Deaf camp I work at in Tn, a few summers back. The relationship was going really slow and I was beginning to think this was not what the Lord wanted for me. There was just too many things in the relationship to make me think this was not what God wanted for me. I didn’t have peace. Even my co-workers who had never met the guy knew I was unhappy with the situation I was in. Which, I never took my troubles with me to work. Or tried very hard not to.
I later confided in my mom as well about the situation. My mom said, “I’ve always wondered about, Spencer Miller.” Meaning, she thought he might would be a great match for me! I later found out a few other people in our church were thinking the EXACT same thing and were even praying about it!! 🙂
So just because you are in a relationship with someone right now, doesn’t mean you will end up with that person, so be careful, that is why it’s best to make sure you don’t give yourself away (physically and emotionally). I know it’s so hard not to.
After Spencer and my brothers fixed his car, Spencer of course stopped coming over, but the last night he came over he came in our house! I was there and he knocked on the door, I awkwardly opened the back door and he came in and I remember being so awkward and just kind of quickly went into the kitchen. I wondered, he must have thought I was a dork! He came in the kitchen behind me and helped Jacob order a part for his car and then came in and talked to my parents about his church and how it was having some issues there. (I thought, what great opportunity to invite him to come to ours… I know I would be happy for that to happen!).
He left and that was the last time he came over to help fix the car. I was a bit sad, especially since I had to go do something I was dreading. I had to end the relationship I was having and that was hard. Cause he was a sweet guy and I liked him a lot, but not like that. It was funny though, that night, I was a bit discouraged and so I got on Facebook, “The Happy Place” I call it. And as soon as I got on that night, a few minutes may have gone by but my fb chat popped up and Spencer wanted to chat with me!! WHAT??!! Was this REALLY happening??! Of course I asked my parents who were in the room with me, and I told them, they encouraged me to chat with him… obviously they both approved of this! Wow!! So, so happy!
I remember looking forward to each day after that and getting on that happy place and waiting for him to speak, I didn’t once initiate the conversation, I never asked to chat with him, I mean, it wasn’t like we were in a relationship or anything. So, duh, I’m not going to initiate it, I had already gone down that road more times than I wish to declare and all who know me well, knows how that all went for me. SO I simply got on and waited for HIM to ask to talk to me.
A few days of chatting with me he asked if he could meet me sometime at Starbucks and just talk, a get to know me better kinda thing. Of course I wanted to scream out YES!! But I calmly told him I needed to ask my dad if he would be ok with that. (I wasn’t about to ruin my chances with this one, so if he really respected and/or liked me at all he would be ok with me asking my dad for permission). He seemed ok with it. So I talked to my dad and he of course said yes! He said I was old enough now to go out with young men without a chap, unless it was a very secluded place. Since Starbucks was a place where many came in and out every day, that that would be the perfect location to meet. So we did….
Stay tuned for Part 2… next week…
The Homestead Artist 