Our Love Story...

Here is Darin and I's love story.. we both wrote it. =) I will be in PINK (shocker, I know!) and Darin will be in blue.

The first weekend that I was back home I went to a Saturday night church service at Downtown at 8:08. I had friends who attended, so I went to re-connect with some of them. During the service I noticed a girl sitting two rows up and several seats to the left of me. She was simply stunning, but I decided not to talk to her since I was sure that she was “tired of guys hitting on her at church.” After the service I was talking to my old friends and she came up. She was actually the roommate of my friends. I immediately began hanging out at their house with lots of other people. I started making up any excuse that I could to be at their house (I need to borrow a movie, I need to return a movie, I need to get that movie again). I began to like her more and more, but didn’t really know her.

Many of you know I had a first failed marriage. I dated him for 4 years and was married for a year. In March of 2003 my mom passed away from cancer and by July of that same year my then husband admitted to being agnostic & found another woman to love. I came back home in northern Indiana unbelievably hurt, felt used, was completely scared and wondered if anyone would ever love a “used” girl like me again.

Fast forward a year and some months after that hopeless July of 2003 and imagine yourself sitting in church and meeting a boy named Darin that was awfully good looking (um, HOT). He was a friend of my roommate and sister in law. I just KNEW he was interested in my roommate. Why else was he at our house borrowing so many movies? Ha!


On a Thursday night in September I prayed about it. I knew that I liked her, but I also knew that if a relationship were to grow I would need to have some time to just talk to her. I knew how she played games, and how she watched movies, but I didn’t know anything about her. I was also worried about asking someone out who was in my group of friends, because I didn’t want to make things “weird.” So I told God that if we were to be together, He must make a way for us to be alone (in a public place…not in a Bachelor type way- don’t worry Denny).

One normal Thursday evening in September of 2004 I prayed a simple prayer.. “God.. this boy Darin keeps coming around. He’s a youth minister. He’s really fabulous. Um, have I mentioned HOT? Yeah.. so if he likes me could you send me a sign? Like maybe we’ll need to spend some alone time together or something?”

The next night she called me and invited me to dinner with our whole group of friends (around 12 people) before church on Saturday night. I said yes. On Saturday she called me and told me that everyone had canceled except for me. She asked if I still wanted to go…I said yes again!

The next day I invited him out to eat with a bunch of friends and myself the following night. And would you believe the day of EVERYONE cancelled our dinner plans except poor Darin? I called him (completely nervous) and asked him if he still wanted to go even though it was just going to be me. He thought that would be alright.

That night he asked me about my testimony. I asked him if he wanted the short version or the long version completely dreading that he would choose the long version. Somehow he missed the memo that I was used, divorced and didn’t deserve someone like him. After 40 minutes of me sharing my heart I’m pretty sure he was blown away with the details of my past. I was sure it would scare him away… it would be our last date. He deserved a clean, no-baggage, un-used girl. And that clearly was not me.

In October we officially started dating. On December 15, 2004 we were engaged at a Wednesday night church service at CCW.

To my surprise, he asked me out again. And again. And he chose to see my heart. He looked over my so called “baggage” and saw me for me. A girl that had so much to love to give…whose biggest desire in life was to be a mom and wife. And the poor sucker fell in love with me! He even told me he wouldn’t kiss me until he knew it was safe…that we were in love. He also didn’t bring me around his youth group (he was a youth pastor) until we knew we were getting married to protect his kids’ hearts.

And then one December night he asked my dad permission to propose to me. And through tears my dad said yes…he knew his baby would finally be cherished.

That Wednesday night at church I was completely dense (I know…this surprises you, right?) when his parents and my dad and step mom came to listen to him speak. I was even more dense when at the end of his sermon our song started to play and I thought it was someone’s phone going off and was a tad perterbed that someone left their phone on during my man's sermon. Then I realized that the song was for me…that he was proposing. He was choosing me.

On May 28, 2005 we were married.

We had an amazing wedding…before I walked down the aisle in my white dress Darin gave the gospel presentation so that God’s love for each of us could be displayed before we conveyed our love for each other. And yes, I wore a white dress that day because Darin told me over and over that he saw me just as Christ saw me, as a pure, spotless bride. I no longer felt used or tainted. I had finally found the man God intended for me.

We were ridiculously blessed with our honeymoon. We stayed in an ocean-front condo in Mexico. We had our own cab driver who spoke English. We had our dinner paid for every night. We had a honeymoon that we couldn’t have imagined in our wildest dreams. And, almost all of it was given to us.
When we decided to have children we had some trouble. This journey was shorter for us than it is for many people, but it was long enough that we had to seriously wonder if we would ever be able to have children. Again we surrendered it to God. Three years later we have two of the most beautiful girls on the face of the earth.

God has looked on Darcy and I with so much favor that it is hard to understand. It has not been without tears, and there have been many times that we have had to follow a path that we couldn’t see. However through it all God has been constant. God has been faithful. Someone recently asked us what makes our marriage so special. I believe that it is what you just read. Darcy and I both recognize that we are dependent upon God. We are completely committed to each other, and God has been merciful to us.

Thank you God for giving me such a wonderful woman to love!

After almost 5 years of wedded bliss... I love ya, Darin Jay! Every day I feel like I’m living out a fairy-tale life. Thank you so much for choosing me.