Movin' Out - Part 3: The Morning After

So, yesterday, we closed on our house [insert excited squeal here]!

For those who missed the previous episode and are interested, you can catch up on part 1 and part 2.

I was a bundle of nervous energy all day, but I not only worked one of my jobs, but both. Everyone asked me 'How can you even work today???' It definitely helped me to stay productive distracted me from being nervous - and, well, if I don't work, I don't buy a house.

Everything went without a hitch. The lawyers were great, the owners were amazing (one of the nicest couples I have ever met...an older couple around 65-70 years old)...and there in the lawyer's office surrounded by a cloud of witnesses, James and I signed our life away for the next 30 years.

We went out for dinner to celebrate (yes, we still actually had a little something in our checking account) and then headed over to our house.

It was surreal as we pulled in, and I said to James, "Hon, this is our driveway... to our house..."

We went into the house, and inside the fridge was a bottle of wine from the owners. There really wasn't anything we could do just yet, but we just wanted to be there. (Well, we had our first hug in our new house :) . So we just parked ourselves on the living room floor and were just quiet for a while.

So many changes, all happening so fast. I am so thankful they are good changes, but changes none the less. I guess that is what I feel most unprepared for: this roller coaster of emotions. I just sort of thought I would float on puffy clouds through this whole wedding-marriage-home-buying process.

As I mentioned in my previous post, there is a bit of a back-story as to why it was so huge for us to get this house:

[I never want to share too much of James' business, so I will do my best to convey the story while respecting the fact that he is not blogging his life on the internet...]

James had something of a 'colorful' childhood as far as where he lived, home life, etc. He has lived in lots of different places, with different people, over the course of his childhood. And as you might guess, that's not really the most advantageous environment for a kid to grow up in. So, 'home' never really had the greatest connotations, if the concept even existed in his mind at all.

Our God is so redemptive and in spite of all the disadvantages he faced, he (with God's help) has made his life something to be proud of. I certainly am, and I know God is, too.

Ok, back to the house...well, the apartment James has lived in for the past 8 years is the longest he has ever lived in one place. And he LOVES the area he rents in (which happens to be a bit pricey). And as one might conjecture, that has become 'home' for him. The idea of leaving a place that a person has grown so attached to is hard, even if it is a good change. So, when we were discussing where we would live, you can imagine some of the inner conflict.

Now when the possibility presented itself to us to buy a house, I so wanted this for James. I wanted us to have a chance to not only have a place where we could settle and not have to move in a year, but one that would be his own home. To me, it just seemed so right and redemptive that, at the start of our marriage, he would be able to begin his new life with something he never had before - something so integral to it.

So, when we found this house, I wanted this so badly for him. It's small and modest (we're OK with that) but most importantly, it would be ours. Not only did it seem like something we would really be happy with, but it was only 2 miles from where he lives now. And liked I mentioned, he loves this area. That is when I really started getting fearful that this wouldn't work out. I would have been more disappointed for him than for me.

In being an honest storyteller, I have to say that James never mentioned that this carried the same importance to him. It might just be my female conjecture, but I'm guessing some similar thoughts may have run through his mind too. But I know that I just wanted him to have the feeling of joy and safety and sanctuary that having a home that is your own to come back to each day brings.

I know, every couple would like to have a home at the start of their marriage. I agree. But for us, I just felt like there was a lot more riding on it; it was a lot more significant. But that's just me.

So when we signed those papers and drove into the driveway of our home, I was in awe of this new reality God had created for us. It all just seemed so providential. And - we found out that for a reasonable yearly fee, we actually have private beach rights to four different beaches! (I tell here how James feels about the beach and what it means to him. And actually, now that I think about it, it is so cool that God is giving us a new beach - and not just Cedar Beach - to be our beach.)

Last night before we left, we prayed together on our living room floor in our empty house and asked God to bless it and make it a home for us- with love and peace, that we would be a light to our neighbors, that this gift from Him to us would be consecrated to Him and used for His purposes.

So, the morning after, we are (still) smiling at His faithfulness.

"The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning ;
Great is Your faithfulness."

~Lamentations 3:22-23

Movin' Out - Part 2

For those just tuning in, you can catch the first part of the story in my last post.

OK, I left off describing how we lost the bid on the first house we were hoping for. Here is where we pick up again:

After about a week of licking our wounds, we started to look again. Armed with our new list, we did the circuit again. By the end of the day, there were two that we were interested in. We made an appointment with our realtor, and it was clear which was the better of the two.

The one we liked had just been updated with new siding, roof, windows, doors, cesspool, fence, and electric. It was a nice-sized flat lot (rare in that area) with the potential to be expanded in any direction - and it had a white picket fence to boot.

Not to be outdone again, we put in an offer right away.

While we were waiting to hear back from the realtors, James and I would say to ourselves, "What are we doing??? Should we even be doing this??? Now??? A wedding and a house???? Are we crazy???" It's funny though, because all of the wise people we ran this crazy scheme by affirmed that it was not so crazy after all. In fact, it was a smart move (Yay! Point for us!).

A few phone calls, a few negotiations, a few stipulations - but they took it. They accepted our offer.

We could hardly believe this was happening for us. Now that we had gone beyond 'just a dream' to a 'real possibility,' my anxiety started to kick in a notch. By this time, I was scared to get my hopes us.

There's a little bit of a back-story as to why this was so important to us that I'll share another time, but just trust me when I say, moving into 'our' house was important to me. We had prayed at every stage of this process and we knew we would be OK if things didn't work out. But the blessing it would be to move into a house that was actually ours would be was huge (and not in the I-need-to-be-living-the-American-dream- kind of way).

But, deep down, I just felt like this was a long-shot (See? My negative thinking!). There were just so many odd-shaped pieces that had to fit together:

The taxes had to fall within a certain amount. {They did.}

The house had to pass inspection. {It did.}

We had to officially get approved for the mortgage. {We did.}

The seller had to agree to the closing concessions. {He did.}

And he had to agree to do the minor repairs. {Yes, that too.}

The house had to be appraised for the right amount. {Mmm- hmmm. You know where this is going...}

I was so afraid we would get to the next stage and the bottom would fall out. But to my surprise, lack of faith, God kept the ground firm beneath us and opened the next door for us to walk through. There were a few unexpected expenses (which actually is to be expected), but amazingly, the money was there each time. Don't ask me how...but it was.

So, yesterday, we did the walk-through, and we are so convinced this was the right house. The owner was amazing and spent over two hours with us, showing us the ropes and letting us pick his brain for how we might do some renovations. We were so excited to plan and dream and imagine our life together in this house.

It all happened so fast - we only started house-shopping in November! But the contract was signed by December 22, and we will be closing tomorrow on January 25. And honestly, the timing is perfect. Any earlier, we would have had to pay the mortgage and my rent for a few months. Any later, the wedding would have been right on top of us.

So, James will start moving in this week, which will give him the weeks between the Jets play-offs and the Super Bowl to get settled in the TV hooked up(and if you knew my James, you would know what a big deal that is!). Then, little by little, I will bring my stuff over and then move myself in after the wedding (Yes, we are waiting until after we are married to live together).

We are prepared for the next few weeks to be a little crazy, but we are totally awe-struck when we sit back and think this over. Who would have thought a social services housing worker and a Christian school teacher on Long Island could have ever afforded to buy a home on Long Island???

It is beyond what we would have thought to ask - but not beyond what God would have thought:

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you," says the Lord,
"thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."

~ Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV)

Only God could have come up with this. Only God can make those crazy-shaped-pieces-that-don't-fit...fit.

Our new 2 bedroom 'cozy' cottage. Thank you, Jesus!

Movin' Out - Part 1

The big move. That has been on my mind the most this week. And on the floor of my apartment. This is just a small corner of the chaos I have been living in: The place is in disarray, but it is sort of metaphoric for my state of mind: scattered, disorganized, too much activity in one small place...but an current of excitement underneath it all.

On Monday coming up, we are closing on our house.

Ok, let me back up and tell you how we got here, before I start diving into the internal/mental/emotional/over-emotional aspects of the move.

It is so miraculous that we are in this position. Honestly. It was God. After we got engaged, we didn't really talk about where we would live; we just assumed that we would just rent an apartment. Realistically, that was all we could afford to do.

But one day James mentioned that a guy at work just bought a condo, and put x amount down and only pays y each month. He mentioned that we should look into it. I asked him if he was serious [James 'mentions' a lot of things] - because if he was, I would start researching. He was.

So, I did a few google searches, signed up for a real estate listing that popped up, and soon, I was getting email updates of homes for sale in the area we were looking in. OK, there were a few possibilities. Of some really cute homes. That we could afford.

I have a church friend who does mortgages, so I gave him a call and just asked him to run our numbers and see what he thought. Was this even a realistic possibility??? I told him how much money we had in hand, what we could probably afford a month, our salaries, debt, credit, etc. Did he think we could get approved for a mortgage and how much cash in hand did we need. And I wanted him to factor in every possible, potential cost. If it wasn't realistic, I didn't even want to get my hopes up.

He checked it out and said, 'Yeah, Katie. I can pre-approve you for x amount -and for an FHA (First-time Homebuyer's loan) putting only 3.5% down. With the cash you have, it should be no problem.' And the interest rate he thought we could get? About 5%.

Whoooaaaaa. Deep breath. 3.5% down - we can afford that. The cash in hand needed - we had that. The payments with those rates would be x dollars per month. We can afford that. And that is what we would probably be paying for rent for a 2 bedroom apartment anyway.

Ok. Another deep breath. So this really was a possibility.

All-righty then, here we go. I pulled together a list of addresses, and we went 'shopping' on November 1st. One of the houses on our list was actually having an open house that day. Just went on the market that week. In fact, it was my favorite of all the houses on my list. We went in, took a look around...and we were in love.

We were so excited about the possibility of this house. It was within walking distance from the beach, move-in condition, big kitchen, granite countertops...it seemed perfect for us. We could totally see ourselves raising a family here.

We put an offer in that week. Too low. Her realtors told us that the owner wasn't going to get into a bidding war. She just wanted best offers and then after a week, she would choose. We had met the owner when we were there and really felt a connection with her, so we thought we had a good chance. 'Unofficially,' our realtor told us that it was between us and another couple; the owner felt torn - liked us both. Our realtor said to write a letter...sometimes that can sway the vote. So I did - a darn touching letter, I might add - sincere and honest - but touching.

About a week later, we got the call.

She chose the other couple.

Defeat.

More to come on how this story played out in the next post...

{For those who have read this before, I decided to break the original story into two posts, due to length! Sorry for any confusion!}

Good Friends...

Just wanted to give some credit to some dear friends who are willing to help me out!

Eileen Kogut - she is a banquet manager at the Hamlet Wind Watch in Hauppauge and has been giving me ideas and the scoop on what brides are doing these days. She tipped me off to Dermablend, a great foundation that hides everything! And for centerpieces, she also has a ton of candles she said I can use and put together for my centerpieces. Much cheaper than flowers! She gave me a few phone numbers of vendors and possible 'wedding night' hotel packages for us. She even offered to go to Miller Place Inn with me to check out what might be the best way to decorate. She's awesome! Thank you!

Kari Haegeland - old high school friend who has amazing style and is also an events coordinator (I think that is her title?! Sorry, Kari, if I got it mixed up!). But she has a bunch of candelabras and centerpieces and candles that she has offered me as well - and her personal help if I need it. That is huge. I'm so grateful for people like this! Thank you!

Even two of my students - Sharon Clause and Ashley Steffens - have volunteered to help with whatever I need. They have been cutting clippings for weddings for a while now, lol, and they said they would be happy to help. How sweet! Actually, a few of my former students have volunteered that too - Shae Kogut, Lynea Jacobsen - very sweet of them!

Thanks to all who are helping! It's huge!

Flowers!

I forgot to say that I am going with a different vendor for flowers - Michelle from Hidden Essence. I liked her right away. She is my age, a cool, middle-class mom of two little kids working out of her home. She can give me the package for $100 less, including tax and delivery. So, for my bouquet, 3 bridesmaids bouquets, 6 bouts, and 3 corsages - a total of $350. And although I really liked Liz, I have to go with the cheaper package and I felt really good about giving someone like Michelle my business.

So, my bouquet will be sage green and white, something like these:


The bridemaids' bouquets will be sage green, white and periwinkle, something like this:

or like the one at the top (I couldn't get the picture to move down! lol) - maybe a combo of the one above right here and the one at the top. More hydrangeas, a little puffier, I think. I had some better pictures, but I can't get them to copy in here. Grrrr. I'll work on it.

She will send me a sample picture before the wedding, so I am excited for that. So, here are some ideas of what my flowers will look like - at least the general color families. I feel good about my choices...finally, lol.

Big Daddy

My Father is definitely coming through. I felt so much worry and stress over details, but it's been so encouraging for my heart to see my Daddy taking care of me.

I know most earthly dads want to throw their girls a big, dreamy wedding. I know my dad would if he were able to.

I didn't think God was into that. Now, I'm not saying that I think God is behind spending excessive amounts of ridiculous cash on this. But, I do think God does recognize the importance of the occasion and will provide for what we need.

Case in point: Just met with the videographer. He is our neighbor and he is giving us a great deal. Amazing. Half price. I am actually under-budget for this.

Another testimony: I have been searching like crazy for invitations. I could do the DIY, which I'm not opposed to at all, but I just worry about what they will look like, for all the time invested in it. Still an option, but I finally found a site that got good reviews - and the prices were extremely reasonable. It is called vponsale.com. Very cute invitations! Not that an invitation is an important part of the day...but I don't know, I guess I just wanted to do the best I could do, without sacrificing some of the aesthetics. It looks like that might be possible.

I am learning not to worry and just trusting that things will come together. And that God will help. I'm starting to believe that God is actually excited about the occasion and planning it, right along with me.

Finally, wedding planning is starting to become fun. :)

It's Official: 3.26.10

The Wedding of James and Katie

It's official! March 26, 2010
6:30 pm

Finally, an official date.

Such a relief.

I was getting so discouraged because without a church, you can't set a date.

We picked the weekend before Easter because A) weddings that are not summer weddings are much cheaper, B) it wouldn't be a winter wedding, therefore no threat of snow ruining things, C) I already get a week and a half off from teaching because of Easter Break, and D) we really just didn't want to wait longer if we didn't have to.

There are more reasons, but those are the big ones. All that to say, that weekend really worked best for us.

However, finding a church proved to be a huge challenge. We couldn't use our church because it is all decorated for our Easter Passion Play. As it turns out, many other churches also have Easter cantatas - or Friday evening services - or Easter egg hunts (yes, Easter egg hunts. One church said no because their sanctuary would be filled with ... Easter eggs?. It's fine - it's their church. They are allowed to do what they want. Regardless, neither James emerging from Jesus' tomb nor a sanctuary full of eggs was really the effect we were going for.

Then it was no because of other scheduled church events, other wedding rehearsals, only if we used their organist.... Some said yes if we could use it at 3pm or 4pm, but we wanted it later to give people a chance to get home from work.

So, I was very discouraged.

I ran into my friend Naomi on Sunday and told her my dilemma. She said her former church might be available - it was a brand new building and her sister had just gotten married there. She'd check.

Well, that week was our school's Spiritual Emphasis Week, and I had just prayed with another teacher about all this wedding related stuff. Just knelt at the altar and laid it all out before God - He knew the beginning from the end, how it all worked out.

We said 'Amen, I walked out, and I ran into Jerry Margiotta, who just 'happened' to be doing some work on the building. And I just 'happened' to still be at the school at 4:30 pm, which I never am unless I have to be. He, too, asked how the plans were coming and just said, 'Katie, God wouldn't bring you this far and just leave you there. Have you thought about..." And he went on to name a church and pastor. I said no, and Jerry said he knew him well and would call him that minute.

About 3 minutes later, Jerry walked into my classroom and told me that we had a church. Ahhh! So excited! Not even so much that I had a church, but that God was so faithful to arrange that meeting, right after we prayed, just to show He was with us and would provide. Awesome.

Well, we had an appointment at Miller Place Inn the next night, thanks to Taryn, who had spoken to the banquet manager over the weekend for us ...and then, I read an email from Naomi. Didn't I get her voicemail? (No. No voice mail. Weird, but true.) Her church was available, at 6:30 - and they said we could use it! And, it was only 15 minutes from MPI. It would be so perfect if it worked out, I thought!

So, James and I went to MPI and LOVED it! James was the harder sell about this whole reception deal, but he thought it was perfect, just the kind of place he could see himself getting married in...and he was really starting to get excited. Awesome. (It's funny, because I had stopped at MPI over the summer and thought, 'Definitely no.' But when I went this time, I felt like I was looking at a totally different place. It was perfect. And the cocktail room is named 'The James Room.' He liked that. A lot, lol ).

They gave us an AMAZING deal...totally affordable for us and really just what we were looking for. It's quaint, cozy, warm...perfect for a March evening wedding.

After our meeting, we went to our 'Feasts of the Lord' class and the teacher had us all worship under the succot, a place of dwelling to remind us of thanksgiving and the reality of God's presence with us - and in us. I felt so grateful for how the Lord has just provided - and to be able to worship under this special tabernacle, together with my future husband. It was a beautiful moment.

The next night, I met with Tom of Thomas Paul Photography who Taryn also hooked me up with (After Jesus, she is the second hero in this story). She spoke with him (she helps him with weddings on the side), and he gave me an amazing deal as well. So much better than I thought I could afford.

So, in about a day and half, we had a church, a reception hall and a photographer. The 'big three' were done.

Things are under way... and it is starting to feel real now.

James has been spending a lot of his energy with the preparations for our marriage rather than just the wedding, and I'm so happy to have someone who cares about our future the way he does.

So grateful to God for how He is blessing us in these ways...

Missions, Marriage and the Providence of God

There's actually a lot more to the story between meeting the Border's Guy and the ring on my finger.

Let me give a little history. Probably 2 years before I met James, I had a pretty intense time with the Lord...God brought me to utter honesty with myself, and through that, I fell in love with Jesus like I never had before. This was on the heels (as it usually is) of significant heartbreak. During that time, I brought before the Lord the question of moving overseas. Missions had grown to be a big part of my life, and I really wrestled with whether or not He wanted me to go into full-time foreign missions. During that 2 yr time, I had pursued teaching overseas, but God closed that door when I took guardianship of my nephew Mike, who was 15 at the time. My plan was that when Mike graduated (in '08), I would pray again and see what God would have me do.

Well, in the summer of '07, I went on a trip to Brazil and when I got home, I was really feeling like I should pursue missions once again. Mike would be graduating the following spring and I felt like I needed to start planning. So, I was ready to just jump in and start looking for opportunities. As I was about to embark on that, I clearly sensed God say to my heart, 'Katie, give me a chance to order your steps." So, I just felt to be still for a bit and see what God would bring to me.

Not long after that, I met James in church. Within weeks, I was completely in a tailspin. Was this from God? Was this a distraction? Should I not even get to know him? Would I fall in love and then God would send me away? Did this mean I didn't love Jesus? I felt tortured in my heart the more I got to know him. I definitely sensed something between us, but I was so afraid of the potential conflict between following my feelings and obeying God. Was it too much to hope that maybe they were the same thing?

I spent a lot of time praying about it, and all along the way, God used many different ways to encourage me to keep going forward (this article, for example). But I still felt so guilty. I had told James from the beginning that moving overseas was a possibility for me, but he felt peace about us continuing to go forward and just trusting God.

By November, my heart was so tortured that I knew I had to put it out there and see what God wanted me to do. One Sunday, our pastor gave a message about persevering and doing the will of God. I felt so confused because I didn't even know what that was for me. So, I went up for prayer and just laid it out before God. "Lord, show me your will and I will do it, whatever it is. If you want me to go overseas, then I will go. If you want me to stay and pursue this with James, then I will do that. Please just make it clear to me. I can't hear you in my heart because I'm so confused and conflicted. Please show me in some other way." A woman at the front prayed for me, and she encouraged me to just trust the Lord and that He would make it clear.

Following that service, James had mentioned to me that he really wanted to go on a short-term trip the following summer. I encouraged him to do it; as for me, I didn't know if that was something I'd be doing; I could be planning to move overseas at that time - for good. On our way out of church, we ran into Jim and Victoria, a young married couple who was on the short-term committee. I asked them if the trips for next year had been planned, and they said, no, they hadn't been planned yet. James said to them, "You know, I'd really like to go to Nigeria." They joked and said, "Katie, you should lead a team to Nigeria, then." [Jim and Victoria told me after the fact that they had said this to me. I had no recollection of this.] So, that was that...for the moment.

So, nervously I waited for the answer that week. I remember having a conversation with my parents about all this that Monday night. I told them about church and they said, "But Katie, you teach in a Christian school. You are doing missions!" I agreed, but I couldn't pretend that I hadn't been thinking about moving overseas before I met James. I had to see what God wanted me to do.

Well, the next day, I was about to walk into my missions class that I teach when I heard someone calling my name. "Katie! Katie! Miss Mauro! Miss Mauro!" I turned and saw that it was Pastor Rich, our missions pastor, and John Long, head of the short-term missions committee. "Katie, we just heard from the Lord!" they said, half-joking, half-serious. Oh gosh, here it comes...my heart froze and my eyes opened wide. "Katie, we are taking a team to Nigeria next summer and we want you to lead it!"

Everything started spinning around me as their words sunk in. Short term trip. To Nigeria. They wanted me to lead it. Wait - James wanted to go to Nigeria. Oh my gosh...my answer! It wasn't either/or - missions or James. Here it was - God was giving me both! This was what He wanted me to do in missions. It wasn't to go overseas for good. For now, the plan was to lead the short-term team to Nigeria.

I gave James the news that Wednesday, and a smile came over his face as he processed all of those details and the ramifications sunk in. And, it was that Saturday - December 1st - that James officially asked me to date him exclusively.

It took a while for this answer to prayer to really sink in - that it really wasn't God's will for me to move overseas. But thankfully, later that school year, God made it clear that not only was He not sending me away, but that He actually wanted me to stay at the school I was at.

I somehow always thought that it had to be either missions or marriage. It seemed too much for me to believe or ask God for both. But in His providence, He proved that He is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all I could have dared to ask (Eph. 3:20).

How I Came to Meet 'The Border's Guy'

This actually is kind of a fun story. In October 2006, I was in Border's Bookstore, killing time while my nephew Mike was at youth group. I was looking in the Christian book section, when this really good-looking guy started to look at Christian books also. We acknowledged and smiled at each other, and we both continued to browse. I lingered a little longer than necessary because, when do you ever see a good-looking guy in the Christian book section??? For me, those two worlds just never seemed to collide (By that, I mean 'Christian' and 'good-looking guy').

I tried my hardest to think of something clever to say, but - darn it - nothing. I stalled, hoping that he might talk to me, but - nothing. Finally, I went to go sit down with my books and my friend Ryan, one of my best friends. I explained the scenario to him, and wouldn't you know it, the cute guy also sat down in a chair not far from us. "That's him!!! What do I do now??? It looks like you are my boyfriend!!!" Ry said, "Let me get up and walk around and maybe he'll come over to you." I said back, "But it already looks like we are together!" Ry got up anyway, and...no such luck. The cute 'Border's Guy' did not approach.

Well, next Wednesday rolled around. I thought, "Maybe if I go back again, maybe he'll be back at the same time, the same place..." [I have to put in a disclaimer here. I have never done anything like that in my life. It was completely out of character for me!] However, I went to Border's again - same time, same place. No such luck. Chalk it up to fate, God's will - whatever. It just wasn't happening with me and 'The Border's Guy'. And so, life went on...

I didn't really think much about The Border's Guy after that...all I really remembered was that he was good-looking (tall, nice build, dark hair and light eyes), a Christian (from what I was guessing), and for some reason, I remembered his outfit (a sweater that stuck out in my memory, for some reason - and black dress pants).

Fast forward almost a year later - Labor Day Weekend: Sunday, September 2nd, 2007. I was in church as usual that Sunday. My mom was with me b/c we had a baby shower to go to after. I sat where I usually sat. The service began, and a few minutes into the service, a group of 3 came and sat in my row. Rob I recognized. He came every week and sat in his usual seat (Far right side, end seat, near the fake tree in the corner). Well, other people were in his seat, so Rob and his entourage came and sat in my row. There was another girl and guy with him, so in my mind, I put together that it must have been Rob's brother and Rob's brother's girlfriend.

In the middle of the service, the pastor had us greet the people around us, as is our usual custom. I turned and said hello to Rob's friend and introduced myself. He said, "Hi, I'm James. I'm here with my friend Rob and his girlfriend." Oh, OK, I thought to myself. Not Rob's brother; not Rob's brother's girlfriend.

Service went on as usual, and after the service, James and I chit-chatted for a few minutes. James said he was looking for a new church and I casually told him our church was great and that he should try it.

After we say goodbye, my mother was instantly like, "Katie - who was that guy??? He seemed like he was interested in talking to you...Maybe he's 'The One.'" You know mothers... "No, Mom. I have no idea who he is. Please, let's not even go there."

When you've played this single's game as long as I had, I just knew that I shouldn't even touch this. How many times had I randomly bumped into guys and thought, '"Maybe this is 'The One,'"... only to find out - nope, not the one.

"Mom, let's just leave it alone."

So, next Sunday came around, and James was back. After the service, I was talking w/ some of my former students, and I saw him across the lobby with Rob. I made up in my mind that I was not going to pursue this. If something was meant to happen, he would have to take the lead. Well, a few minutes later, James just marched across the lobby to me and started talking. I was impressed. We chatted again and that was that.

Well, next Sunday came around, and he found me again. And we chatted. And then we ended up planning to go to the same Sunday School class next week. And then after that, we ended up talking to each other during the break between class and the service. And then after that, James asked if he could sit with me. And then after that, he asked for my phone number. And then after that, he asked to take me out...

OK, now this is where the story gets fun. About six weeks after we had met (by this time, we were talking on the phone and had been out maybe once or twice), James walked into Sunday School a little late, and I thought to myself, "That sweater looks really familiar. It kind of looks like the sweater The Border's Guy was wearing." And then I tried to remember what The Border's Guy looked like...couldn't really remember. But he did have dark hair and light eyes - and so did James. I contemplated the possibility for a moment but just wrote it off as coincidence. It wasn't more than just a blip on the radar - came and went. A sweater is a sweater.

Well, later that week, James emailed me and told me that he was going to Border's one night to read before work. "No way," I thought to myself..."What are the odds..."

This drove me crazy all week. And finally, I just had to ask: "Um, James - do you go to Borders much?" "Yeah, I go sometimes just to read." "Um, were you going about this time last year???" "In October?" "Yeah." "Yeah, why?" "I know this might sound crazy but...." And I proceeded to tell him of my encounter with The Border's Guy. He was quiet for a minute, and I began to feel stupid. Then, finally, he said, "Were you wearing a denim jacket???" I was. I usually am wearing a denim jacket. "Yes..." "I remember you! You were with that dude! I knew you looked familiar when I met you. I remember being disappointed that you had a boyfriend. And I even prayed, 'Now God, why can't you send me a pretty Christian girl like her???' "

No. Way.

Here I was, hanging out with The Border's Guy.

James later told me that he had planned on coming up to talk to me that night...until he saw me there with 'that dude.' A little later, we actually did stop into Border's one night, and - just to prove he wasn't lying - James pointed out where he had been sitting and where I had been sitting... and yup, he definitely was the one - The Border's Guy.

And now, almost three years later and with a ring on my finger, I am happy to report that my mom was right - James was 'The One.'