Our Love Story
How it all began…
Brian:
I first became interested in Jenny while at a gathering of young people hosted by church friends on June 15, 2007. She made a strong impression on me as a very beautiful and virtuous young woman who knew how to stand alone, and had a real ministry amongst needy children in the public school. It was a grief to my heart that I would only have a short opportunity to get to know her before my upcoming move to Pittsburgh. I began praying earnestly that God would provide further opportunity for me to get to know her better before I left Georgia or close the door completely if that was not His will.
Jenny:
Upon meeting Brian at the young adult gathering, my curiosity was piqued to find out more about who this new, friendly guy was. However, my heart was very guarded, and so I didn’t become interested in him initially. This greatly helped me to patiently await God’s perfect timing and follow His plan for my life without trying to manipulate events to achieve my desires.
Brian:
The next Sunday I was helping with the nursing home ministry by playing a guitar special. After the service, I learned from Stan (whose family had hosted the earlier gathering) that a surprise birthday was being planned on June 24th for none other than Jenny and that I was invited. That afternoon I prepared a gift I felt would be appropriate and provide insight into Jenny’s interest in spiritual things. After the service, I gave the gift to her dad because I wanted to secure his permission to pass it along to Jenny and provide the opportunity to reject it if he disapproved.
Jenny:
My dad wisely did accept and pass on the gift of the challenging book, One Thing You Can’t Do In Heaven. I took time to read the book right away because I was so interested in the subject matter of the importance of witnessing and the reality that life is short. Brian really encouraged me through his thoughtful gift.
Brian:
Several days later Jenny’s dad delivered me a very nice thank you note from Jenny confirming her interest in the book’s “challenging message.” Needless to say I was thrilled. I continued to pray along the same lines regarding God’s will in this new friendship, and out of the clear blue I received an e-mail from another friend, Bryan, extending an invitation to the upcoming Atlanta Symphony Orchestra patriotic concert on June 29th. Of particular interest to me was that the invitation list initially sent out by Anna included jennysr624. God was showing His power to orchestrate events. In attending the concert, I gained additional opportunity to see Jenny interact with friends and even had the privilege of getting to talk briefly with her on the way back to our cars after the concert.
Jenny:
Little did I know who would be attending this concert when I agreed to go with Anna. In later emails, I found out that Brian was also going to be attending. It turned out to be an interesting event because of the downpour of rain that occurred. You see, this was an outdoor concert. We were going to listen and watch as we picnicked on the lawn. Our plans were quickly changed as the rain started to fall rather hastily. We hurried under the cover in the last row and continually had to keep playing musical chairs to find new seats that did not get wet with rain as the wind blew it under the covering and people came to claim their seats. Each time we moved, we ended up sitting in a new arrangement; yet, Brian and I never ended up sitting near each other the entire evening. Brian didn't drop any hints nor seek to manipulate the situation to his benefit, so I still had no idea that he had any interest in me whatsoever!
Brian:
God continued to pack a social calendar that had been largely empty in comparison up to this point with the Fourth of July church picnic. I was praying that God would open up an opportunity directly for me – that I would not “make” something happen but that He would clearly direct. He did, as I was able to speak with both Jenny and her dad for a considerable length of time together and then speak with Jenny further out by the volleyball court. Furthermore, God opened the door for additional interaction when one of our friends, Ruth, invited us to a concert she would be playing in later that evening. This was really beginning to seem like more than a mere coincidence!
Jenny:
The 4th of July was truly a day of fireworks! After having much time in length to talk with Brian, I realized that God was opening my heart to such a godly, upright man. It was so easy and extremely enjoyable to talk with him. He actually asked me questions and tried to keep the conversation going, which was really neat that it wasn’t just me keeping up the conversation. He seemed to be honestly interested in learning more about me. I knew that this was a guy worth really getting to know.
After this day, I earnestly prayed for opportunities to spend time talking with Brian and getting to know him before he left for PA. The Lord did grant this as we were able to talk after church sometimes. When I knew it was getting closer for him to leave, I prayed that God would allow us to be able to say good-bye to one another. I thought that I had missed out on that opportunity the last Sunday he was at church, but God allowed for him to be able to come to church the following Wednesday even though he didn’t originally think that he would be able to because of packing for PA. It was a tremendous blessing to see him there at church! I continued praying that God would work some way for us to be able to talk to one another that evening. It was so special how the Lord answered that prayer. My dad and I were talking with someone nearby where he was talking with another person, and by God’s perfect timing, both of our conversations ended at the same time and we just naturally drifted toward one another and started talking to each other. While we were talking, a friend of mine came to talk with me as well so I couldn’t be in the conversation with Brian and my dad. My ears perked up though when I heard him ask my dad for his email address! Trying to listen to two conversations at once did not seem to work very well…though I did get to officially say good-bye to him. After I did that, I gave every hope of getting together with Brian completely to the Lord, knowing that if it was God’s will that He would bring it about and would bring Brian back to Georgia.
Brian:
Before leaving in July, I shared with many friends that I would try to send an update once I got to Pittsburgh so they could hear how things were going and catch a glimpse of my new surroundings. Jenny’s dad specifically mentioned to me that I could keep in touch with her after I left which was wonderful news to me!
Jenny:
Although the Lord kept me very busy on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic, starting a new school year teaching 2nd grade, and many other things, it was a long month later before I heard from Brian on August 28th…
Brian:
Once I finally got around to writing that promised update, I included at the end that I would enjoy hearing back from friends how they were doing, specifically wanting to hear back from one person in particular. It wasn’t long before I received a reply from Jenny. In my first two emails to Jenny, I purposely did not ask any questions, as I did not want her to feel obligated to continue the conversation. In addition, I was seeking God’s clear direction for whether He wanted our friendship to continue.
Jenny:
Because my dad gave Brian permission to correspond with me by email, we were given the opportunity to learn more specific details about one another and our interests in a few short months. Brian sincerely appreciated the level of trust my dad placed in him and sought to honor that in our communication. He caringly kept from defrauding me in any way.
Brian:
It was so exciting to learn through email how God was working in Jenny’s life and to see that we shared a very similar interest in reaching underprivileged children for Christ through mentoring– both spiritually with Bible studies and academically with school work. In addition, it was encouraging to find that God placed in each of us the desire and the boldness to be involved with the door-to-door visitation ministries of our respective churches.
As I shared updates with my parents and we discussed the matter further, it was exciting to see how one by one each of our questions were being answered. Ultimately, I secured their blessing to pursue this friendship further. The one thing I initially lacked was clear direction from Scripture beyond the verses in Proverbs of which I was already aware. God provided that to me Friday, October 19, as I read Luke 1 and the story of Zacharias.
Zacharias received a vision from the Lord, and God spoke directly to him regarding His will. However, Zacharias’ faith wavered and he questioned God’s ability to perform His Word. The question in my devotional reading was “In what ways have you questioned God’s message to you? When? How has God confirmed his message?” The application seemed obvious. God had provided multiple confirmations to me already with regard to Jenny; the question was whether I would take a step forward in faith.
This gave me the boldness to go forward. I believed God had led me to the point of pursuing a courtship with Jenny for the purpose of determining whether God would have us to marry. My understanding was that friendships between guys and girls should progress along these steps:
1)
friendship – getting to know each other
2)
courtship – a closer level of friendship with the stated purpose of determining
whether God would have each of you to marry the other
3)
engagement – a commitment by each of you to marry the other and sealed with a
ring
4)
marriage
I did not feel it would be healthy for either Jenny or myself to continue developing our friendship further without taking this step of clarified intent and so I sent an e-mail to Jenny's dad.
Jenny:
During this time of seeking God regarding me for Brian, I talked with my family about whether or not I should continue to write emails to Brian because I did not want a close relationship with any guy other than my future husband, and Brian had not indicated to me that he was praying about being that. God did not give me direction to discontinue the correspondence, so Brian’s soon after email to my father asking to begin a courtship with me was so timely and needed for clarification. When my dad told me about the email that he had read late that Tuesday night, October 23, I could not believe what I was hearing. God had placed an interest in Brian for me!!! What an incredible, unbelievable thought!!! I felt that upon going to sleep, I would wake up in the morning and it all would have been part of some sweet dream; thankfully, when I woke up, it was still real!!! God answered my prayers in such an amazing way!
Even though I had been already praying for this relationship, my dad and I took several days to talk and pray further about Brian and I beginning a courtship. During this time, God reminded me of a passage in Matthew 7 where God tells us to ask, seek, and knock, and consequently, if we do, we will receive, find, and the door will be opened. Additionally, in the verses that follow, God also reminded me that He is a giver of good gifts. He loves us so much that He would only give good things to those who ask rather than giving a rock when asked for bread or a serpent when asked for a fish. He was giving me this good (great!!!) and perfect gift of such an amazing man who is so godly and upright, not to mention incredibly handsome. I had asked and sought the Lord regarding Brian, and He had given and opened the door.
With this direction of Scripture and godly counsel from my dad and a few others, my dad and I prepared some important questions that needed to be asked before the official answer could be given. On Saturday, October 27th, my dad and Brian talked together on the telephone.
Brian:
For me, this had been a time of patiently and peacefully waiting for a response from Jenny and her dad. My part was already done. It was in God's hands.
How exciting it was though to receive a call that Saturday afternoon from Jenny’s dad!!! The moment I had been waiting for had finally arrived. After asking me several thoughtful questions and listening to my responses, Mr. Rice thrilled my heart by letting me know that I had permission to go forward with the courtship.
Jenny:
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!
Brian & Jenny:
In the days and months that followed, God confirmed His loving plan for us by directing us toward marriage. In so doing, God lovingly, in His perfect timing, truly gave us the desires of our hearts.
“Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory…” ~ Ephesians 3:20-21a
