When I Knew...

This is a brief history about how my husband and I met and when I knew I would spend the rest of my life with him. Thank you @apanamamama for this wonderful idea to share our love stories~ ❤️

I’ll be sharing random pictures of us throughout this post!

It Begins

My husband and I met at age 12 when his family moved into our neighborhood. My siblings and I were outside playing on the basketball court when his older brother came to introduce himself. He immediately had a crush on my older sister. He ran home and told his brother,

Hey I just met a family that has two cute sisters, one’s my age and the other is your age. Come outside to see this girl.

So they both come up to the court and he introduces himself to me. My first thought was he’s a cute boy but I wasn’t interested in getting to know him right away. I later learned they had a sister my age and we instantly became good friends. A few months later he and I ended up going together (that’s what we used to say when we dated someone back then lol) because I got to know him and we became pretty close too.

Here comes the deal breaker. Now remember we were only 12 at this time. After a few weeks of being together he tells me...

I prayed and asked God to show me who my wife would be and He showed me it was you.

😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳

Yes you guessed it by my expression. I ran...far far away from him as I could. You don’t just drop a message like that on a 12 year old. Husband? I haven’t even made it to high school yet how could I possibly believe he would be my husband. I had so many other guys to meet along the way lol. Don’t get me wrong I believe the Lord speaks to us and shows us things but I didn’t get that same message so I wasn’t believing it (yet). So from then on I was a little nervous to be with him. But inspite of me thinking he was crazy, we dated on and off all throughout junior high school.

Moving On

Once we reached high school I was ready to explore other options and meet other people. He and I remained friends and his sister and I remained pretty close. For a long time he wouldn’t date anyone else because he was stuck on me and what God had told him. I even tried to encourage him to date around because he might find someone else he really liked. I think it took him seeing me dating others to finally let go and move on...so I thought. He would hear about me dating someone and come confirm it with me. I started referring to him as my stalker because he was watching my every move. I know this may sound crazy to some but in high school I was interested in the cool guys or the “bad” guys that were always up to no good. I wasn’t into the nice and sweet guys like I should have been. I don’t know why I was so attracted to the no good ones. I think their charisma and popularity is what triggered it mainly.

Fast forwarding to after high school years. I admit I led him on a few times and had him thinking there was still a chance for us. I even caused his mom and sister to get frustrated with me for continuing to lead him on. They would always say

either be with him or leave him be.

I started to get confused. I felt like here’s this guy who has been my friend and stuck by my side since we were 12. But yet I wasn’t for sure if I felt for him the same way he felt for me. I was trying to have my cake and eat it too because I didn’t want him falling seriously for another girl but yet I still wanted to date around.

The Game Changer

Time went on and some how we always ran back into each other. One day I was visiting my parents and he just happened to be in the neighborhood visiting his mom. He took me to a movie as friends and we had a good time.

About 3 months later he visited my church on a Wednesday night during Bible study. Let me tell ya, I’ve never seen him looking so good and smelling so fresh!! 😄😛 He knew what he was doing. He knew he would get my attention and I wouldn’t be able to resist him lol! Well guess what? After Bible study was over he walks me to my car. I asked him if he wanted to grab a bite to eat and hang out. He then tells me,

well I’m actually about to head to my girlfriend’s because she wants me over for dinner. But thanks for the offer though.

What???!!!! 🤭🤭🤭😲😲😲 He has NEVER EVER turned me down and who was this chic? He finally found someone to replace me?? These are the thoughts racing through my mind. You’d think I’d be happy but I wasn’t. I had this overwhelming feeling of rejection and jealousy that I couldn’t shake. I was in shock. This is when I knew I had suppressed my feelings for him for so long that I didn’t realize how much I really did want to be with him. It took him dating another girl and turning me down for the first time for me to realize this.

A couple of weeks later I contacted him to ask how his relationship was going (lol funny how the tables turn). He told me he did really like this girl but the problem was she had different beliefs that contradicted his walk as a Christian. Now at this point I was getting excited to hear this because he was (and still is) a faithful follower of Christ and took the Lord’s word very seriously. I knew he wouldn’t be with her for long because of this. But for some reason he held on to this relationship longer than I expected.

The Night That Changed Everything

Weeks went by and then I got word that he decided to pursue a computer animation degree...out of state! I was devastated. I thought to myself I have probably ruined my chances of being with the man God had for me all along. I was done playing games, done messing with no good boys and was ready to be with someone who loved the Lord and me as well.

I did something courageous and out of my comfort zone. I drove over to his apartment in the middle of the night (like 2:00am) and called him to come outside. He was shocked and surprised I would come over during such hours. He got in my car and that’s when I let it all out. I apologized for leading him on all of these years and for giving him false signals. I admitted I was scared when he first told me at age 12 I was chosen to be his wife. I also admitted I suppressed my feelings for him in order to move on but secretly still wanted to peruse him. I told him I was done playing games and I was ready to be with him, like really be with him. I asked him to give me one more chance and he wouldn’t regret it. He waits, looks at me with a serious expression and says,

you know I’m still in this relationship and I will be leaving for animation school soon. I can’t give you an answer right now, I need some time to think.

So me being confident in that moment says,

I know you won’t be with this girl for long and I know you won’t leave me knowing that God showed you who I was meant to be in your life. I’ll be waiting for your call.

💅🏽💅🏽💅🏽💅🏽💅🏽💅🏽💅🏽💅🏽💅🏽💅🏽💅🏽💅🏽💅🏽💅🏽

Yea I said that!! 😅 I don’t know what overcame me but I was acting out of my character and didn’t really care. All I wanted was to be with him, and I didn’t want him to walk out of my life. He called me a week later letting me know he wasn’t in that relationship any more and that he was holding off on animation school...for ME. He wanted to see where this would go and he was willing to give it one more shot.

Our Engagement Pic 2006

Destiny Happens

Two years later in July of 2006 we were engaged and then got married that same year in November. We felt there was no need to wait and do a long engagement. We already knew we weren’t meant for one another. We are 11 years and going strong and look forward to celebrating 12 years this November!!! I would have never imagined this boy that I met when I was 12 years old would end up being my husband. It’s so crazy looking back now and knowing he was right about what God showed him, he wasn’t imagining things. I guess it wasn’t the time for me to know it yet but God showed me right on time that I needed to be with this man. I am so thankful God kept urging him to give me another chance. He has told me before he wanted to give up on me but God wouldn’t let him.

So what’s your love story? I would love to hear about it. If you decide to post about it please use the tag #wheniknew so we can easily find your story.

#wheniknew by @apanamamama!

All pictures are my own!

Thank You For Reading Our Love Story! 😃😍❤️

Huge shoutout to @rigaronib for creating my logo/banner!!! He was so awesome to work with and as you can see he produces great results!!!! Thank you!!!