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=)

A Love Story (Part 1)

I was no different than most little girls when it came to dress-up. I loved it! As I look at this picture of me in my mom's wedding dress, I think of all the little girls out there who dream of being a princess. They dream of a beautiful dress, they dream of finding their prince charming and falling magically in love, and they dream of living happily ever after. I hate to say it, but most of the time it just is not that easy.

I was never the boy-crazy, star-gazed, drama queen type of girl. I had plenty of friends that fell into that category, but I became pretty good at keeping my feelings welled up inside, acting as if boys didn't intrigue me whatsoever.

As I got older, I began to see my siblings get married and I couldn't believe how happy they all seemed. Watching each of them experience a faith marriage made quite an impact on their little sister.

When I entered high school, I became very active in the young group and enjoyed going to events with my older brother, Lance, and some Fiechter cousins. Since us Fiechter kids lived so far away from the majority of the church people, we would carpool to almost everything together. Us cousins were very close. I counted on my cousins when I was first entered the young group, and they were some of the best friends I had. AND THEN IT HAPPENED.........5 WEDDINGS IN LESS THAN 9 MONTHS.

Not just any random five weddings, but the weddings of four of my close girl cousins and my last single brother. The Fiechter families were going crazy with wedding plans, wedding talk, and wedding drama (ok, not the drama so much, but we were getting real sick of showers and wedding cake=).

Krista and I did everything together. I wasn't surprised when she told me she was getting married, but I knew I would miss her company as a single cousin/friend.

I still remember where I was standing, the day that Lance told me he was engaged to Sara. Of course I didn't believe him. My immature, 20-year old brother engaged? No way, especially  not to beautiful, sweet Sara. I will admit though, he is a pretty stellar guy.

When all of these love stories for my cousins and brother started happening, that was really the first time I began to wonder and think about the possibility of someday being married. I began to wonder and question, 'God, I have seen all these faith journeys unfold in the lives of my loved ones, will I ever be prepared or worthy enough to experience one of my own?'

As a Junior in high school though, I had other things to worry about. College was definitely more of a priority for me to think about, and I wanted to get more deeply involved with the Young Group. Those two things, along with friends, family, and a real job became my life for the next 3 years. The couple years I had out of high school were the most growing, beneficial years of my life. A few key things that really started to sink in to my thick skull were, I finally began to understand that my security comes from Christ and not from what others say or think about me, and I started to comprehend the fact that God truly looks at the heart and not the outward adorning. What a comfort!

Every time one of my friends would get married, God would provide another single friend for me. It was amazing! I became friends, not just with older girls or girls my ow age, but the middle-aged and younger girls too. Age was not a barrier, for I had such a great time with my friends of all ages. Not to mention, my nieces and nephews. They liked having someone extra at Grandma and Grandpa's house when they would come over.

Can't you tell they love their single aunt? I sure miss you three little munchkins.

Silly faces with Corinne!

I could go on and on about those few years, but basically I felt used where God had placed me. The Bluffton YG was the perfect place for me to serve and use my gifts and talents. I looked forward to being with them every weekend.

December of 2012, I traveled to Les Cayes, Haiti with about twelve others from Bluffton. We had a wonderful trip, and all of our hearts were touched. We returned home much more contented than when we had left.

The few weeks after that trip, God really worked on my heart. He knew if He could get through to me, it would be after an experience like Haiti. It was as if there was a battle going on inside of me, and at first I was unsure of what He was trying to teach me. I soon realized that I had become too comfortable. I did not want to give up my comfortable, normal state of life. I was nervous and scared that he was showing me something that I didn't feel worthy of nor wanted to accept at that time. I dislike change, and I wanted to stay in the stage of life that didn't call for any major adjustments. I couldn't deny it though, sermons, scriptures, other people, the Holy Spirit, and a sick, convicting feeling in my stomach, they were all trying to tell me something. It was unlike anything I had every dealt with before. God was beginning to prepare me for marriage. The sermons I would hear, the scriptures I would open up to, and the things people would say, everything was pointing to marriage.

After I got over my self and my never-truly-desired plan of wanting to be single forever, I had such a feeling of peace and contentment. I gave it up to the Lord and gave him my will, desires, and future, at least I tried to give it all, but we are human. I had such a peaceful feeling, and I prayed that it would never go away. It remained for about three weeks. Soon my internship and college started, and life began getting in the way again.

I knew that God was foreshadowing that He would be leading me to marriage someday, but I didn't know when, who, or why he was even giving me an inkling. I did know that I needed to make the most of my single months and think about how serious marriage really was. I praise God for giving me a foretaste of my future plans, but it was hard not to come up with my own ideas of how I thought it should go. I had still not put all on the altar, part of me was holding back some selfish desires and wants. One of those desires was to stay in Bluffton, Indiana forever, but that is not what God had in mind.

On Saturday, August 10, 2013, at twenty years of age, I went to a Saturday night singing. This was no unusual thing for me to do. My aunt and uncle, Lynn and Ronda, had a singing at their house. I had just gotten home from vacation and was looking forward to seeing everybody again. What I didn't know was that somebody special was going to be there. Somebody who would change my entire world. He didn't know it either. This somebody was going to become my best friend one day. We officially met around the food table, I believe. That Saturday was the day I met Nate Zollinger, the man who would be my future husband.

Neither of us had any idea that, in less than one year, we would be married and madly in love. We didn't know that God would soon be leading our hearts together. Oh but that is a story for another time. It has taken several months of prayer, reading, and following in faith to get to the point that we are at today. A journey that has not been easy, but a journey that neither of us would ever change. Hebrews 11:6 was a core verse that I have held on to throughout everything, and I would soon realize what it truly met to walk by faith when faced with one of the biggest decisions of my life. "But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him."

Stay tuned for Part 2!

Happy Birthday Kira!

As we all know, the seasons of life tend to pass too quickly. The Lord brings loved ones into our lives, yet sometimes He allows us to say goodbye to those who are near and dear to us.

I will never forget the day that we had a cute German girl come live with us for six months. My family was not foreign to hosting students from other countries. Kira was our fifth exchange student to be exact. It didn't take long for me to realize that she was more than just an exchange student, but we would grow to be wonderful friends.

My entire family fell in love with her. She was so fun and easy to be around. She would play games with us (Dutch Blitz and Monopoly were our favorite), help my mom around the house, go with me to Young Group events, and she was great with children. Oh the list could go on, but she was absolutely wonderful to have in our home.

I know it could not have been easy for Kira to have left her family in Germany and come to the States where she would live with two families, two Fiechter families even, that she had never met before. How did she put up with Lynn and Ronda's family for the first 5 months? Well, that still remains a mystery. She sure made it look easy though, and while she may not know it, she taught me so much about trust and courage. Kira became like a cousin to so many, but she felt like a sister to me.

May of 2009, we said goodbye to Kira. I remember feeling sad for a while, but thankful that God had allowed Kira to be a part of our lives for a short span. 

Kira is now going to be a Doctor at the University of Munster. We would always joke that I would be her employee, as a Medical Assistant someday, but due to the fact that she is on the other side of the world, I don't see that happening in the near future. Kira and I try to stay in touch, and she did come back in 2011 for a short visit, but the memories that we have together will linger in my heart forever. 

Kira, your US family wishes you God's blessings on her future, and a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Thank you for touching our lives. We love and miss you!

The Tale of Pigs

Growing up on a hog farm, I had this love hate relationship with pigs. When having friends over, some would remark about how smelly our pigs were. 'Well,' I would think to myself, 'I haven't been to one pig farm yet that has smelled like a bed of roses.' I think it is common knowledge that pigs are not one of the best smelling animals on this planet, not even close, but that is how God made them. Over the years, my nose has been trained to not notice the smell as much anymore. When I go home to visit, that smell makes me smile because it means family, life, and love. It means MY family. It reminds me of the 21 years of MY life that I spent there, and best of all it was the place where I was taught to love and where I was most loved. Life without Love would be absolutely worthless. Without Christ's love for us, we would have no hope. As 1 Corinthians 13:13 says, And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. 

One year, my family must have been exceedingly desperate for a good backdrop for our Christmas picture, because early one Sunday morning we marched out to the closest hog building and snapped a Kodak moment that got plenty of interesting comments that December. I think that was the only Christmas picture where us girls might have complained a little more than the boys for once. Wow, so much has changed since that picture was taken. We have gone from a family of 7 to a family of 24, from peaceful to chaotic family gatherings. Ohhh, but we would not change that for anything. The additions haven't just made our family better looking, but each new family member has allowed us to open our hearts and let some of that love spill out. God is so faithful, providing plenty of love in our hearts that there is always room for another.

Off the topic, but relevant to the PIG topic, my dear cousins Krista A and Brooke F gifted me some lovely pig accessories for my kitchen. As I opened their gift at my miscellaneous shower, the letter read 'Hannah, some things you can just never leave behind.' I love the cute little pigs in my kitchen. A taste of home without the smell. Perfect!

Looking at those pigs must have inspired me because the wheels in my head started spinning. I was asked to bring dessert  to a gathering that we had been invited to this past Saturday, and I wanted to make something special for the kids. Next thing I knew, even more pigs graced their presence in my kitchen. Pinterest gets the credit, but cupcake making is so much more fun when you have cute results. The kids loved them!

I praise and thank God that he has provided my family with provision. Hard to believe that it all started with a farmer and his wife several years back, and now the farm provides for multiple families. I may be married to an accountant and live in the middle of town, but the country living is still near and dear to my heart. LIFE + LOVE, whether living in Ohio, Indiana, or Timbuktu, LIFE sure is a whole lot sweeter with lots of LOVE sprinkled on top, and I mean LOTS of it.