Today is our 10th Anniversary! Advice to anyone just getting married: it goes QUICK! When we first got married we had all kinds of plans for how we’d celebrate our 5th and then our 10th. But without intentional planning, the years come fast as life is full, and here we are with no plans aside from spending the day together.

Yesterday I showed our 5 year old our wedding album and read to her our “how we started dating” story. It was fun to reminiscence and hear the questions only a 5 year old could ask. (I also played our wedding music and she asked all kinds of questions about the lyrics, that honestly, I don’t know if I’ve ever listened to. Yikes!)

As I read her our story, I realized there are several more people who have come into our lives over the past 10 years who probably haven’t heard it, and it’s a story worth telling! So, in honor of our 10 year Anniversary, here’s the shortened version of how God brought us together.

Brenda:

Over the years, God has often stretched my faith by putting various things on my heart to pray for. In August 2008, at age 31, He put on my heart to begin praying for a husband.  I was incredibly reluctant at first, but since one can’t argue with God and win, I began to pray that God would prepare my heart to receive a husband. Somewhere in my praying I also got the impression that he was coming in a couple years. I wasn’t sure if I heard that right, so I held that with a very open hand. Thus began a new faith journey of praying for a husband.

August 2008 was also when Micah moved up to Spearfish, SD to finish his 4 year degree  at BHSU. I got to know him a little through our campus ministry, Campus Ventures. In May 2010, the CV students and I started a summer Bible study called Experiencing God and Micah joined. I got to know him more through the study, but all the while, I was only proud “of this student” who was growing so much in hearing God’s voice.

Micah:

 In the Summer of 2010, I joined the study, “Experiencing God,” and learned how to hear God’s voice. After learning how God speaks to me, I remembered in April when God told me to consider Brenda. I threw it out at the time as just a conscious thought, afterall, she’s not blonde. When I realized it was God speaking to me, I began to consider Brenda in the months of June and July. During that time, there were four things I observed about her that made me biased towards her:

1. She is smart academically. 
2. She truly loves college students and will cry over them if she needs to.
3.  Brenda is a faithful laborer of Christ.  She follows God every day.  She is very valuable and precious to God.  She has a deep calling for college ministry.
4. The biggest thing that stuck out the most, and I pondered the most, was Brenda’s fear of the Lord.   Brenda trusts God with every situation in her life, especially the hard ones.  Fearing the Lord is a part of who she is. It’s woven into her personality.

However, I have this thing for blondes.  I decided to mentally line up all the prettiest blondes in the world I could think of and then compare Brenda to them. I picked Brenda every time, hands down.  The way Brenda fears the Lord captures my heart over all the blondes.  Wow, that is an epic one liner.  I needed to save that one for a special occasion.

Yet, I am still not sure if God will let me have her.  He did just say consider her for a wife, not “go chase her; she is yours.”  (And if I could eventually chase her, how would I do it?)

Brenda:

On August 11, 2010 after Bible Study ended and everyone headed back home, I sat down to have my quiet time before bed.  I heard ever so quietly, but distinctly, “Micah Lewis is your future husband.” The next morning I woke up with the biggest crush I have experienced in years! That following weekend, several of us were going backpacking in the Big Horn Mountains in Wyoming. I decided to flirt a little with Micah to let him know I see him. He didn’t seem to notice.

Micah:

Oh! I noticed! I picked up on it right away.  I was watching Brenda all summer to see what would happen in regards to being able to chase her. “Alright God, I see it now.  I am totally going to hook up with Brenda.”  Any girl who flirts like that is just asking to be chased and caught.  I just don’t know when.

After the camping trip, for the next 3 mornings during my Quiet Times, God told me “you have got to tell Brenda the truth” of why you are biased towards her. All of it.

Brenda:

After the weekend, I was talking to God about three issues that weighed heavy on my heart. I asked God “what does Micah mean when he says he is biased towards me?” Another desire was for Micah to ‘see’ me. If he is “the One,” I want him to ‘see’ me, to see something in me that I don’t see. The third issue, was my disappointment that I didn’t have blonde hair (but I really do like my red hair). If anyone knew Micah, they knew he preferred blonds.

On our last Bible Study meeting for Experiencing God, Micah stayed afterward because he felt God asked him to tell me some things. I was shaking with excitement and ready to burst as he pulled out a piece of paper to read from. It was all I could do to stay calm. Micah began to list off reasons why he was biased towards me!  As I processed in my journal later that night the things Micah said, I realized that he “sees” me. He sees in me “a fear of the Lord that draws him in.” I don’t even see that in myself. And then he told me that my fear of the Lord is more valuable than hair color! Oh! My emotions were sky high after that conversation. I couldn’t believe it; he does like me after all! I couldn’t sleep that night!!  As I prayed, I could sense God sharing in my joy. I heard Him speak several things that night.

“Remember it is my love being poured through Micah. What he sees, I see.”

 “I love you both. And I have a mission for you both. Something only the two of you together can do that you couldn’t alone.”

“Wait, Daughter. It won’t be too long.”

Micah:

When I started to consider Brenda in June, I felt like she was way out of my league, but now I see she is reachable. Nevertheless, Brenda isn’t just any girl.  She is at the top of the ladder.  She is smart.  Cheesy one liners will never work on her.  She is a valuable laborer. Her fear of Lord makes me want to climb right up the ladder and capture her heart. It would be like an epic challenge with many rewards.  As I pondered this, I asked God, “if I could pursue Brenda how would I do that?”  God told me “love Brenda like I love my people.”  I instantly got a peace over me that signaled go chase her and pursue her like God loves his people.

On Monday, August 23^rd, we shared our stories and I was completely blown away that I was answering Brenda’s prayers.  All I knew was that I was doing what God told me to do.  Well, since obviously God wants us together, I think we should start dating.

Praise God, she was definitely worth the wait!