A Love Story (Part 2)

I am going to try to make a feeble attempt to condense the details of this next part of the story. You would be bored stiff if I was to clue you in on everything...well maybe, unless you are like me and thoroughly enjoy details.

This is a plaque that I got when I was engaged. We had it sitting out at our wedding, and now it resides on a shelf in our living room. It truly reminds me that our God is a personal God, taking the time to write His children their own, personal, and favorite love story.

After the singing last August, where we first met, Nate went home not thinking too much about it. His cousin Christa and himself had decided to drive down to Bluffton since there wasn't much going on in their area that night. Nate had been contemplating marriage, but was waiting on God to show him the right time and the appropriate person to ask for. That Saturday night as he did his devotions, he read in Jeremiah where it mentions the prophet Hananiah. The name 'Hananiah' spurred the thought of meeting me, and he chuckled to himself for some reason. I must have made an interesting impression or something.

The following Monday, as he got settled in to start a day of work, he opened a browser to log in to the companies banking website. What he saw on the news page surprised him. The title read Finding Hannah: 'One Chance in a Trillion.' This sort of made Nate think as he stared at it for a couple minutes. 

A news article about how a girl (Hannah) was kidnapped, and then unbelievably spotted by some horseback riders and rescued.

Nate began to wonder if he needed to seriously start praying about marriage and if I was the one that he was to ask for. He knew that we would both be traveling to Rockville, CT for a Labor Day invite, and asked God for three conditions before he left. 1- he wanted to sit at the same table as I, 2- he wanted to hear the name 'Hannah' announced over the pulpit, and 3- he wanted to see our name written somewhere beside each other.

The Sunday of the invite, Nate and I talked briefly. I thought he was a nice, respectable guy, but I hadn't an inkling of what he was thinking. At the Monday breakfast, before our Bluffton group would be flying home, I went through the food line and sat at the next available seat. Ends up that I sat right beside Nate. The table mostly included us Bluffton folk, but Nate was definitely there too. Our table had a nice, normal conversation, and then we parted ways.

A week or so later, Nate attended a baptism in Rittman, OH. Hannah Steiner (now Schlatter) was one of the girls getting baptized, and her name was said repeatedly over the pulpit. Nate expected that the third condition would fall into place, but after a while of waiting, it never happened. Not receiving the third sign really discouraged Nate, and he began to doubt.

Nate had an accountability group, from Latty, that got together every so often. After bringing up some of his recent struggles with that group of guys, they encouraged him to go talk to the Elder, bro. John Laukuf. Nate made an appointment with John, and John really encouraged him to keep pursuing the issue of marriage.

I'm not exactly sure which verse, Matthew 10:31 or Luke 12:7, but they both talk about how much value we are to God, and that even the very hairs of our head are all numbered. Nate also opened up to 1 Samuel 1, where it speaks of the story of Hannah, a few different times and not always with the same Bible. These openings were an encouragement to Nate, and he knew that he could not expect a play-by-play from God on how to follow His will, but that it would take a measure of faith.

The weekend of November 24th, Nate ended up coming out to Bluffton for the wedding of Paige and Jackson Troxel. At the singing, the night before, we had a chance to talk. That was truly the first time we got more in depth with our conversation, asking about each other's families, careers, and everyday life. I still wasn't catching on to what was happening, but I remember being very impressed with him. Nate went home that weekend feeling very convicted that he had not asked for me yet. It took him a while to get an appointment worked out with John, but early December he followed in faith and submitted a proposal.

Now for my side of the story. It was the day after my 21st birthday, a typical Saturday afternoon. My parents came in my room and told me about the proposal. I was really caught off-guard, and felt every type of emotion welling up inside of me. My dad did say that Lynn (my uncle and Bluffton's elder) told him that the brother was from a different church, which surprised me. I could tell that they were as curious as I.

After they left my room, a brother came into my mind. 'Nate Zollinger' I thought. I bet it has to be N.Z. I couldn't think of any other brother from away who I respected near as much as Nate, and I barely even knew the guy. It just seemed that all his positive qualities shone forth in the three times I had been around him. I went from feeling very anxious to feel a little more peaceful.

I had some things to work through before I accepted the name, one being the thought of moving away from all I had ever known. I knew Nate had recently moved to Latty, and although it wasn't confirmed that he was the one asking, I felt as if the Spirit continued to give me a peace that it most likely was him. I had always enjoyed my few travels to Latty, and I knew that I could find my place in that church-family if it was to be God's will.

The night after I received the proposal, I opened up to the old testament book of 1 Kings that was next in line for me to read. Chapter 1 spoke of the prophet Nathan. I thought this as interesting timing. I then looked up the meaning of the name Nathan. It means "a gift given by God." I really did not want to put stipulations on God, as far as asking for miraculous signs and such. I wanted him to speak to me through His inspired Word, the Holy Spirit, and through the testimonies of others. Ultimately, I wanted God to speak to me in the way that He thought best and in His perfect timing.

I received the name about one week after receiving the proposal. As expected it was Nate Zollinger. My parents were clueless as to who he was, but they were supportive and both found a peace that I needed to pursue this.

The weekend after receiving the name, I headed to Arizona to visit my cousin Janon with three other girls. It was a great four day get-away, and it gave me some good time to think and pray. While I was there, I saw how much of an asset Janon was to the Prescott church-family. She had moved miles and miles away from her family, but she was thriving where God had planted her. I knew God could do the same for me if I would only be obedient to His calling. While in Arizona, Isaiah 55: 8-9 kept appearing to me in different ways. 'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher that the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.'

Those verses became more meaningful than ever to me. I realized that I needed to give up myself, my plans, my hopes, and so much more so God could have His way with me. I still struggled though, feeling nervous to commit to someone that I had met approximately three times.

One Sunday, soon before Christmas. A minister of ours had a sermon about women of faith in the Bible. One example was Ruth, he talked about how she left her homeland and that by faith she was ultimately blessed. Also during the sermon, Ron started going on about faith marriage and how our church does marriage a little different than most, but by having faith we will reap great rewards. His whole sermon struck me, and I felt convicted of what I knew I needed to do. I had other scriptures speak to me that were perfect for what I was going through too.

Nate and I, along with my parents, ended up meeting, before I gave my answer. My parents felt peaceful enough that they weren't going to question him, but they wanted to meet him. My elder encouraged that we do this, as he thought it would be beneficial for everyone involved.

We met half way at a Pizza Hut in Celina, Ohio. We tried not to make it awkward, but we definitely were not the most comfortable. Nate and I both shared how God had recently been working in our lives to get us to the points we were at. My parents left us to ourselves for about an hour, and we had a chance to get a glimpse of each other's likes, dislikes, hobbies, ect.

We both felt good about the meeting, and I knew I couldn't keep him waiting much longer. It had only been three weeks, but I could tell that he seemed a bit miserable. I would have never agreed to the meeting had I not been serious about saying "yes." 

The following weekend, I had a friend stay at my house. Before going to church we were having a conversation. All of a sudden, she goes completely off the topic, looks at me and asks, "Do you know Nate Zollinger?" I was dumbfounded, but I gained my composure. She proceeded to tell a story about him, which I completed zoned out of. I could not believe that he had come up in our conversation. I guess it was meant to be. The next day, after a few more nudges from God, I called my uncle Lynn and told him that it was a "yes." Those elders sure know how to communicate with each other, because not even an hour later, Nate was calling me. 

typical Apostolic, first engagement picture
01-04-14

These kids were excited for another uncle!

We are thankful to have our engagement phase out of the way. I don't think it was easy for either of us. Many late night travels and cold, blistery days did not help the situation. Blending two individuals, with two different pasts, families, personalities, and life experiences into one future, takes work and lots of prayer. Without Christ as the foundation of our marriage and as our constant companion, we would be lost on this journey together.

Oh, but we love being married. We can't imagine our lives without each other, and we thank God for all that he has brought us through. I hope that maybe our 'story of faith' will be an encouragement or help to somebody along life's way. We marvel at how God has had our lives orchestrated, as individuals and now as a couple, since day 1. May all the glory, honor, and praise go to our God most high.

It's official!

Grow old with me, the best is yet to come.

So much for my feeble attempt at keeping this short=)