No More Dating

In 1997 I surrendered my life to the Lord and told Him I never wanted to date again. I wanted to be courted. I prayed that my "future husband" would ask to court me and I asked the Lord to protect my heart and purity until I was standing at the altar.

In 2002 I met Glenn. We became friends and he honored me as a sister in the Lord. For 18 months he waited for the Lord to open my eyes and heart towards him, hiding his feelings and guarding his heart as well as my own. In 2003 the Lord opened my eyes. I couldn't believe I had never "seen" him in that way before!  A month later he sat me down and asked to court me. We immediately made ourselves accountable to a married couple from church. Since both Glenn and I lived in apartments by ourselves we asked this couple to hold us accountable, especially in purity. We asked our pastor to do the same. It was a sweet courtship.

In June of 2004 Glenn felt the Lord tell him it was time to ask for my hand in marriage.  Before the Lord ever opened my eyes towards Glenn I had a "list" of things I was praying for in my future husband.  I kept it in the back of a journal to present to him on our wedding day. I had two very specific requests, one: that my future husband would ask my parents permission for my hand in marriage, and two: that he would wash my feet. I saw the act of foot washing as one of the deepest, most intimate acts of service. 

The night Glenn proposed he took me on a city-wide scavenger hunt. I had NO idea he was going to propose that night. For one of the clues I got rather dirty, especially my feet. It wasn't planned that way but God knew. At the end of the night Glenn asked if he could wash my feet.

As he began to wash my feet my eyes filled with tears. "Oh Lord, You remembered, he is washing my feet!" He asked for my hand in marriage. I of course said yes. I asked him how he knew to wash my feet and he said the Lord led him to do that as well as to visit both my birth father and parents to ask them for their permission.  Glenn and I married October of 2004 and shared our first kiss at the altar!  God REALLY is the greatest romantic!

KELLY FERNANDES
Onalaska, Wisconsin, USA
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Printed in Above Rubies # 75.