2011 in Review: Blog #1 How I Met My Fiance

As 2011 comes to a close, I have felt overwhelmed at the incredible number of blessings that God has poured out this year. I have also been feeling convicted that God wants me to share them. I don't think that He give us incredible blessings and stories just to keep them to ourselves. He wants his children to speak of his greatness. I mean, who does something good and doesn't want people to know about it?! We want to have our goodness shared! And, so does God. So, I decided that I would try to write a few blogs summarizing all that has happened in the last year.

Blog#1? How I Met My Fiance.

Many of you know this story, but for those of you that I haven't had the privilege of visiting with more recently. Here is the story on paper.

The summer before my senior year of college, I did an internship in the inner city of Hartford, CT. It was during that summer that I really felt God's call into Bible translation through this verse:

"And I because of their actions and their imaginations am about to come and gather all nations and tongues and they will come and see my glory. I will send some of those who survive to the nations...to the distant islands that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory. They will proclaim my glory among the nations." (Isaiah 66:18-19)

Although I had been in contact with Pioneer Bible Translators for about a year prior to that, I hadn't fully decided if that was the path I was going to take. Once I decided, however, I told my professors back home at my state university. They suggested that I apply to a language documentation program. I frittered away the whole fall thinking that that wasn't really the path I wanted to take. One day in October, one of my professors stopped me on the quad and asked if I had decided where to apply. I told her that I hadn't, but I wasn't really sure if a Ph.D. program was the route I wanted to go. She told me to at least look into the University of California, Santa Barbara. She said they had a great program and that even applying to one school would be good. I still felt like I wasn't sure if that was what I was supposed to be doing, but, finally, November 17 (when the application was due December 1), I decided to apply. I frantically wrote over Thanksgiving break--personal statements, statements of purpose, emails for letters of recommendation, etc.

On December 10, I got a call from a professor at UCSB saying that I had been accepted! I hadn't been granted full admission due to university policy, but this was as good as official admission! I couldn't believe it! They wanted me to go out on a visit from January 11-13 to check out the school and decide if it was a good fit for me.

Meanwhile, I went home for Christmas. As is typically the case with singles in the Christian church, I got many questions over break about the possible prospects I had in my life. There were none. And, I was doing just fine. I was thinking I might just go be a single missionary, in fact. At the Christmas Eve service at church, however, my mom proceeded telling friends that this Bible translation thing was nice until I met a man "who would sweep me off my feet and that would be the end of that". I, being the "strong-willed" child I always have been, curtly retorted with, "Just you wait! I'm gonna find somebody who wants to do exactly what I want to do, and we'll do it together!"

When January rolled around, I went to a Discovery Intensive course with PBT in St. Louis to decide how and where I might serve. I spoke with several missionaries that week. One of them happened to be David Pryor--one of the first PBT missionaries to the Pacific Rim. We talked for many hours, and the more I heard what he had to say, the more I felt like that that was the area of the world I would serve in. There were no bolts of lightning, no shocking revelations. Just an attitude adjustment that led me in that direction. On that Thursday, I was talking to David to find out if a Ph.D. in Linguistics would be a good thing for Bible translation work, and he told me that if that was what I was going to do, there was just one question I needed to answer. I eagerly waited in anticipation of what this one question could be. He then asked, "Are you going to get married?" What?! That's the question?! Why is everyone so concerned with marriage?! He further explained that I should think about time lines of my life. If I went to a state university, the chances of finding a man who wanted to go into Bible translation there were slim. Then, once I graduated 7-8 years later, I would be 28. I would have to then find someone, date for a while, be married for a while. I would be 33 before I ever got to the field! I was stunned! My whole life had just flashed before my eyes. But, then, another man at the institute, Jeff Jackson, reassured me, "You know what?" he said. "God knows who your husband is. God knows where your husband is. I don't think you need to worry about it."

And, just four days later, I met him.

With that, I think we'll leave this blog with a...TO BE CONTINUED.

(Sorry, guys, it's finals week. And, let's be honest, no one wants to a read blog that's 10 pages long.)