Funny thing is, the Lord's plans for us are perfectly plotted out for us - they may just not match our own. In December of 2005, I graduated from Bethel College - and 'succesfully' made it through my entire experience at that private, Christian school without a ring by spring, further reinforcing my belief that I was better off on my own.
I took my final college class, International Business in Europe (January 2006). This is the month that all of my dreams were shattered - I met someone...In preparation for the trip, my friend Tiff had asked me if there were any potentially 'interesting' men going - my immediate response was "No". I had no intention of meeting/getting to know any of the young men on our trip well enough to come out of that experience with any change in my personal status - I still had my plans and had no need for someone to throw them off.
Then there was Dan Powers. This seemingly quiet, country boy from Elk River - too busy to have time for a new friend, much less a relationship. The first few conversations with him + others quickly led me to believe that he was much too involved in his Mixed Martial Arts training, school and roommates to be interested in anything else. All of these factors quickly brought me relief - I can just get to know him and we can be friends on the trip and then probably just go our separate ways when we get back to the States. We did end up spending a LOT of time together, as a couple of our close friends were pursuing other interests...Needless to say, I was exposed to more and more of Dan throughout our travels in Europe. I was able to see his carefree side in London - his knowledge of the Bible, Cathedrals and history in Paris - where he came from and what his family is like in Germany - and learn of some room within the busyness of life while we were in Italy. It was through all of this time that we spent together (and with others) that we were able to build a friendship which allowed for more to develop once we got home.
Shortly after we returned home, Dan asked me out for our first date -- everything you'd imagine the beginning of 'happily ever after' to look like..."I have to get a new mouse at Best Buy, do you want to come with me? Then we could go to lunch after or something...". So I said yes, and we went to Best Buy and had lunch at PF Chang - it may not have been idyllic; but it was real and we both had a great time. Dan followed up with a call a few days later asking me on our second date - to dinner for Valentine's Day. He picked me up with a bouquet of roses in hand and we went to dinner at Dixie's on Grand in St. Paul, MN (near our old stomping grounds). It was a fun, relaxing evening and I remember feeling very special, as he was such a gentleman and engaged me in conversation throughout the entire night.
From that point on, we began spending much more time together, talking constantly on the phone and me introducing him to text messaging -- for which he received quite a bit of grief from his roommates at the DUPI. He was still finishing up his last semester at school and still VERY dedicated to his MMA training in preparation for a Regional Fight opportunity he had in Chicago. As a result, much of our time together was spent in the evenings after he finished his three hour training sessions at the Academy -- which usually resulted in a great conversation over dinner and him falling asleep on the couch while we watched TV after. Through his commitment to spending time with me, despite his sleep depravation and physical exhaustion, I was able to see that he was truly interested in me and I was excited about it. Dan graciously struggled through some of my relational issues as we continued to date throughout that spring and summer -- the Lord really worked on my heart and used Dan to show me a glimpse of what unconditional love meant. As much as I tried to push him away, for fear of rejection - Dan continued to pull me closer. Six months after our second date we were engaged (August 30, 2006). We had just conveniently ended up at Indian Mound Park (St. Paul, MN) to take a walk only to find a bench with flowers, candles and champagne waiting for us. Dan got down on one knee and I can't remember exactly what he said to me - but DO remember that he told me he loved me and asked me to marry him -- I said yes. After we hugged, I noticed our friends sprinting out from behind a bush to congratulate us (they were planted to take pictures of the event). We celebrated with them over champagne and a scoop of ice cream from Grand Ole Creamery. It was a perfect night to begin our eight month engagement journey.
Eight months to plan a wedding did seem short, but it apparently wasn't enough for us. In that time we planned for our wedding day, I quit my job at Allianz Life Insurance to start work at General Mills, I was baptized by Pastor Michael Grose and we bought our first house in Golden Valley.
I still look back on April 21, 2007 and just smile. There have been multiple occassions where I've turned to Dan and asked, "Don't you just wish we could get married again?!". His response typically sounding something like, "Umm. No, we already are...".
I can't help it, I loved our wedding day! I know it seems stereotypical, but I am not a stereotypical girl - I didn't spend my childhood or really any years planning out my perfect wedding day. In fact, it wasn't something I had given much thought to until I had to start making decisions about my own! The day went off without a hitch (well if you don't count the food poisoning that plagued our entire Bridal Party and EVERYONE that was in attendance at the Groom's Dinner the night before). Fortunately, it did not hit most people until after the entire day was through (with the exception of my poor MOH sister- Lola). Thankfully, Dan didn't get sick until about 1am on our wedding night - just happened to be that he got sick all over me while I was sleeping. Our honeymoon was delayed one day due to the illness that quickly struck me as well - and we spent our first day as a married couple laying in bed, trying to keep our movements to a minimum. "In sickness and in health...".
It's hard to believe how fast 3.5 years has gone by - it feels like just yesterday that we were relaxing in Mexico on our honeymoon. In that time, we've gone through a lot of transformation -- we got a puppy (Cade), have done a TON of work to remodel our 1970 fixer-upper and we started attending Redeemer Bible Church in Minnetonka the Sunday after we got back from our honeymoon. Dan had heard the Pastor on the radio and wanted to check it out since we were only about 10 minutes away. We were hooked immediately and have been there ever since. Pastor RW Glenn did something incredible in his sermon - he preached the Gospel. It's really that simple, there aren't higher levels of understanding that we have to earn our way to - it's all rooted in the Gospel truth that Jesus Christ lived the perfect life that we cannot, died to atone for OUR sins (all of them) and rose again...it is finished! Nothing we do or say can earn our salvation. We can rest in the hope of the Gospel, knowing that we are filthy sinners who need grace and mercy EVERY single day.
