The Story of Us (from My Point of View)

This has been the background of my computer since April 2009.

Almost everyone has heard the story of how we met. Or at least the version we agreed upon that was acceptable for public consumption. Chris is in Mississippi this week and I'm missing him a heck of a lot. So I thought I would share the story of how Chris came into my life. Not exactly a "how we met" story, but definitely a story of God's timing and ultimate control in my life.


We first met on October 5, 2007 at the BCM Barn Party. I had recently come through an extremely difficult break up, which was only made worse by the fact that my ex and I went to the same church, had the same friend group, and saw each other at every social event. I was looking for a fun night with new people so there wouldn't be an "ex sighting." The answer? Square dancing. The problem? My ex had the same idea. Needless to say, I was bummed. But my roommate Liz came to the rescue! I think her exact words were, "I'm going to find a hot guy to dance with you. Don't move." She came back with Chris. He offered me a pity dance, and we went our separate ways. Because this was not God's timing. I wasn't terribly fond of boys at the time, and Chris had a girlfriend.

--Side bar-- I didn't remember Chris had been my pity dance that night until he reminded me. I didn't believe him for a while, but then we found photographic proof:

The moment I met my husband.

Over the next year, Chris and I ran into each other 2 or 3 times. Never actually spoke. We both went to Jamaica for a mission trip in March 2008, but I only remember seeing him when he was with my friend Matt and the one time he sat behind me on the taxi bus.

Summer 2008 was an interesting time. I sort of accidentally went on dates with 4 boys in a 3 week time span. (In my defense, for 2 of them I showed up in jeans and a t shirt because I thought it was a casual dinner with a friend, only to find the guy dressed up and clearly in date mode.) I was very confused and this was so not like me, so God and I had a come to Jesus moment. I told all of them that I did not want to date anyone right now and completely swore off boys until my year long teaching internship was over.

God had different plans. Turns out, He was ready this time.

I went to help with Calvary's annual Operation Contact, a day where my church helps the incoming freshmen at UT unload their cars and carry all their stuff to their dorm rooms. My job is to saran wrap all their luggage onto carts so that nothing falls. Little did I know, Chris and his BFF Mark Jennings were watching me do this from the courtyard. Mark was a mutual friend of mine from Calvary, and he offered to officially introduce Chris to me--sans pity. After brief hello's, we went our separate ways again. I was committed to no boys.

The next Sunday, Chris came with Mark to Calvary. They stood awkwardly by my friends and I's pew for a while, so we invited them to sit with us. They crawled over all my friends, and Chris plopped down next to me. After the service, we were all discussing where we would eat lunch, and since Mark and Chris were listening to our entire conversation, we invited them. This led to an evening at Boom's Day together.

From then on, Mark and Chris just seemed to pop up everywhere. You know the rest of the story--the car parking scheme so that Chris would have to see me every weekend. One night after just leaving my house, he called me back to ask if I would go to dinner with him. Later that week, we had dinner at Sunspot then went to a bonfire. God started really speaking to me then. After much praying and asking God if he approved of Chris, I got a resounding YES. An actual excerpt from my prayer journal the night of our first date:

A few days later, we went to Guthries for dinner. Things got real, and we had a heart-to-heart than has never been equaled. We shared our past experiences in relationships, our hopes for future relationships, and how this might work.

A few nights later, on October 1, 2008, he kissed me on front porch with all my roommates listening, so that we could discuss it mere seconds later. We've been together ever since.

And we lived happily ever after.


Things I have learned about what my life would be like without Chris...

Chris has been in Mississippi for 3 days. In those 3 days I have learned several things about myself:
1. I watch more reality TV than even I ever thought possible.

2. I have used the same pan, cup, and straw for dinner the past 3 nights. I've found the floor is the safest place to store these things.
3. I still close the door to the use the bathroom even though no one is home.
4. I put the chain on the door at 3:00 in the afternoon.
5. I cannot adjust the coffee pot for just one person.
6. I'm being selective with what I throw away so that I might avoid taking the trash out before Chris gets home.
7. I sleep on Chris' pillow exclusively.
8. I do not turn the light on to get dressed because just-woke-up-Laura still thinks Chris is asleep.

I think we can all agree that God foresaw this and knew that I would be better off with a husband to keep me in line.

I love you, Chris!!