We're getting married!

I am blessed to be able to say that I am the Lord's child, because he has made me his own. As his child, I can trust that he will have his sovereign hand on my life as I walk with him. Although I have had the desire for marriage and family for a little while now, God's wisdom has kept that out of my life until now. As I was walking with Him and waiting, a few specific convictions about marriage were forming in my heart. 1) To apply Matthew 6:33 and Proverbs 3:5-6. To seek first the Kingdom of God, and to trust the Lord with all my heart, knowing that He delights to give good gifts to his children and will provide all that I need. 2) To pursue a relationship with a woman who was already pursuing Kingdom work on her own, so that we could begin working together towards spreading his Glory together. While Lauren and I had been friends for several years, the actual amount of time we spent together wasn't consistent. That changed a little bit at the start of 2017, and I enjoyed that very much. Some of the character traits that I had seen in her from the beginning of our friendship were solidly there and had grown over time, increasing my respect for who God was making her as she walked with Him. The fact that we got along very well and enjoyed each other's company, as well as thinking she was gorgeous, had me hoping and praying for the opportunity to ask her out. After thinking it through, I decided to wait until after her Nurse Practitioner exams were completed before moving forward, which would take place at the end of March. Along the way, other, um, life events led to me not asking her out until the beginning of June. I felt confident that I was pursuing a relationship with someone the Lord had sovereignly placed in my path, as well as with someone who was consistently pursuing Kingdom work with her life.

Over the course of seven years of singleness, the Lord did much to prepare my heart for Jeremy Mefford. Having left a damaging relationship, I went from not ever wanting to be married, to seeing the terrifyingly beautiful mystery of marriage on display in marriages around me—and being totally taken back by this as a new believer. Over the years, the Lord has healed and redeemed me in ways that eventually led me to see marriage as a good thing for me; and to pray that the Lord would send a godly husband. He taught me to pray and fight for faith through seasons of deep longing, became a dear friend to me, and never let me forget that He saw the most intricate places of my heart—and heard me. Through different experiences, He helped me see what definitely would not be good for me. Through my closest friendships, He allowed me to experience the challenges and joys of walking alongside people who were much different than me. Eventually, I realized that I absolutely need and treasure those who have different strengths and ways of thinking than I do. “Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame” (Psalm 25) was one verse that I carried with me as I went on a trip to Africa during spring 2017. I felt my limits throughout the trip and absolute need for a partner in ministry. I prayed that He would bring this man sooner than later, and that He would have His way in His perfect wisdom. Little did I know how soon He had in mind, and how unexpected (and absolutely wonderful) of a gift this man would be to me...

Our first afternoon spent together after I (Jeremy) asked her out involved a few hours of walking and talking. Neither of us shy away from deeper conversations, so we were quickly talking about the convictions and desires that the Lord had been putting on and forming in our hearts over the last few years. While it was a very deep conversation for a first date, it led to us both very quickly moving past feeling like we had to try and "figure each other out" or check any boxes, and instead were soon just enjoying spending time together, and letting our friendship, affection, and understanding of each other deepen. Our dates looked like dinners, various kinds of exercise, early trips to both Ooltewah and Hendersonville to meet families, and plenty of walks. It was only about a month before I (Jeremy) openly told Lauren that I was fairly confident that my search for a wife was over. While we knew we needed to keep letting our relationship unfold, we were both also very aware of what a good thing our relationship was, and had few doubts about what the Lord was doing in bringing us together. While still in the dating phase, the Lord allowed us to laugh together, pray, study his Word, and wrestle through things in ways that strengthened our bond and trust towards one another. We have both had opportunities to show Biblical love (sacrificing, committed, patient, etc.) to each other, and for that we are grateful.

Jeremy: While both of us knew that a proposal was due at some point soon, I had every intention of making sure Lauren didn't know it was coming. So to make the evening appear spontaneous (the evening of September 28 to be exact), I asked a good friend of Lauren's to make plans with her, and then cancel at the last minute. This allowed me to step in with a suggestion that we get outside and go on a local hike, since we both conveniently had the evening off. This hike would take place at House Mountain, which was where we had gone with a small group of friends as soon as Lauren had returned from Africa/Europe back in May, & right before I had asked her out. We had both enjoyed each other's company on that hike, & that event "kick started" our relationship... Lauren: I knew that Jeremy would ask soon, but wanted so bad for it to be a surprise! I wasn't sure if he could pull it off--but he did, oh so cleverly. He had a crazy week at work & had to work later than usual, & I had plans to babysit for a friend one night that week. That morning, my friend texted me and told me she was sick & needed to postpone. I let him know, & he "suddenly" had the evening off & wanted to go on a hike since it had been a crazy week. Naturally, I was excited about this. Jeremy is a big planner, not the kind of person who would make a huge decision on the fly. So although crossed my mind that he might ask, I disregarded that option pretty quickly on account of that. Not to mention, he was acting COMPLETELY normal on the way up-also not something that I would have expected. At least until we got to the peak of house mountain, the place where it all began. Sun was setting (he did a good job), we laughed & talked, & he suddenly got quiet. Then a little shaky. As we turned around to go back down, he asked me sit down (like he did when he first asked me out), & proposed to me in the sweetest way. I was "stunned". I soon found out that he PLANNED to be spontaneous-He TOTALLY pulled it off! :)