Making the Most of Every Opportunity

I shared in Post 1 how Andy and I met and in Post 2 how we began dating, so today I’ll share how God lead us to be married! We started our dating relationship by setting some pretty steep boundaries. We had both been in unhealthy relationships that had not honored God and we really wanted Him to be the Rock and foundation of our relationship. We decided to wait to kiss until our wedding day . We also decided to set one day a week when we were intentional to meet with accountability (separately) who would ask us how we were doing. We both applied to join staff with Campus Crusade. We went to a prayer group in our student union. We lead the mens and womens ministry on campus as well as individual bible studies. We had SO much fun going on adventures, hiking, cliff jumping, driving all over the country to visit family and friends, and even just hanging out and ordering Chinese food and watching Gilmore Girls. God was growing us in Him and knitting our hearts to each other in such a s...

In my last post I shared that Andy and I were friends throughout our college years, but the friendship grew pretty deep our junior year and the boundaries became fuzzy to me. As summer drew near, I was placed on the same summer missions project that Andy was going to attend. It was then that I realized I really liked him and that would be a major challenge. He also realized I liked him. So, our first week on the project, he sat me down and said, “I think you like me more than I like you.” Um…. Ouch! Our friends came to visit- notice Andy's mohawk!  I spent much of that summer grieving and trying not to manipulate and place myself in his path. I did an awkward-at-best job, but God really so sweetly gave me new friendships and both of us grew so much more in love with Jesus over the summer. Part way through the summer, I sensed a clear call from God to join staff with Campus Crusade and “give back” some of the amazing teaching, discipleship, and love God had been lavishing on me...

I thought I’d take a few posts and give you a little glimpse into me. So in the next few posts I’ll share one of my favorite God stories: how Andy and I met, fell in love, and were married. Enjoy! Andy and I met in 1998 as freshmen at West Virginia University. We were both in Campus Crusade for Christ. Andy likes to say that he thought I was a senior, so he never talked to me. I was once asked to drive Andy and his girlfriend to a fall retreat. I quickly went and found two friends to invite so that my car would be full. Ha! Over the years, we ran in the same circle of close-knit friends and we became good friends. We even double dated once (me with my college boyfriend and him with his college girlfriend). Once, when I was thinking of leaving the ministry because I was steeped in sin, Andy said, “Ginny. I’m not your Crusade friend. I’m your friend. If you leave, you’re still in my life.” It was so thoughtful and so timely. God used it to encourage me to come back to the ministry an...