It happened one December...Part One

I hope you all are still with me. I finally have time to sit and write. As I said before many important things seem to have happened to me in December so I thought I would share them with you. It will be a good way for you to get to know me a little better.

Part One...How I met my husband

One December many moons ago...1996 to be exact, my good friend Ida and her husband Ricardo decided to set me up on a blind date. The majority of single people I know don't love the idea of a blind date (I being one of them) but my friends were so enthusiastic so I went along with it. It was pretty safe, they invited me and my date Ron for dinner at their house so it was quite casual. It was a nice evening and we all had fun. After our initial blind date I went along with Ron and his college and career group to serve at a soup kitchen in Vancouver. Ida and Ricardo happened to be the leaders of the college and career group and I had been hearing great things about the group so I was happy to join in. I wasn't sure what I was thinking about Ron, I guess we were getting to know each other. That evening at the soup kitchen I saw a new face across the table. (as I type this I am thinking how it seems like just yesterday this all happened, crazy!) The new face was Ron's brother Doug who had just moved back to Canada after doing missions in Greece for 4 years. This next statement may seem lame or a bit fairytalish but here it goes. When I saw Doug from across the room even before being introduced to him, I felt God impress on my heart that he was going to be my husband. That was all fine and good but I happened to be there with his BROTHER!! Hmmm. Now you have to know there was nothing to validate the impression I got when I met Doug. He was not my type at all. Hockey hair, really bad eighties clothes, and really quite quiet. I know the clothes and hair thing sounds shallow but sadly, it is true. And there was also the fact that I was getting to know his brother!!! I tried to not think too much about it and continued to hang out with the youth group. Christmas Eve our college and career group had a special dinner at (if you can believe it) Ron and Doug's parent's house. Ron came to pick me up as it was snowing like crazy that night, and I think many of his family thought I was the new girlfriend. That night I watched Doug and was so touched by his servant heart. I knew then that I did not want to start a relationship with Ron. Ron was on the same wavelength and that night when he drove me home we had a chat and let each other know that we were just going to be friends. (Who knew we would actually become family) That all said and done I let my friend Ida know what had happened and that I might want to get to know Doug better. I also said not to say anything because it was a bit weird because of the Ron thing. We left it at that and then the day before New Year's Eve Ida asked me if I would come to a new years dinner where a bunch of singles were getting together for dinner. The only catch is that we would be set up with a partner for dinner. I was a bit hesitant but accepted knowing I had plans later in the evening so I could use that as my out. I arrived a bit late and everyone was there already so you can imagine my suprise when Ricardo introduced me to my date...DOUG!! You can imagine my embarrassment. Not only that but Ron was there and set up with another girl. I think Doug was as suprised as me. He was very gracious and dinner went well. We made small talk but we were both very tense. Thankfully I had plans so I couldn't stay too long. Needless to say Ida got it from me the next time I saw her at work.

(A little intermission. This might get a bit long so it you want to go for a coffee or have a pee break feel free.)

As the months went on I got more involved with Ida and Ricardo's college and career group. I still felt that there was something special about Doug but he was pretty distant. I watched him from a far and started to really fall for him. I was pretty sure he was not interested and I sure didn't make my feelings known. In the spring the college and career started to plan a missions trip to Argentina. It was set for August. We were put into teams of four. Can you guess who my team leader was? Yep...Doug!! Ricardo once again was trying to play matchmaker. Well, time went on and as we prepared for our trip we were getting to know each other a little better. I still didn't think he was interested so I wasn't getting my hopes up. Well August came and we were off to Argentina. We were having a great trip and our team was getting along great. I was sensing that Doug had changed a bit towards me but wasn't trying to read into it. By the last few days there was definitely some chemistry and I was psyched. On the plane home we had seats beside each other and I was on cloud nine. About half an hour into the flight we finally had ¨the talk¨. I couldn't believe it had actually happened. I knew right then that we were going to get married. That is for another post...

Doing drime in Argentina

Sorry for the long post. Hope you enjoyed it. One of my favorite movies is ¨While you were Sleeping¨ as the story is somewhat similar to mine with the whole brother thing. If you haven't seen it rent it. It is a great Christmas movie.

Happy Sunday friends.