Shimmie,
This thread is beautiful!
DH and I just got married on August 2nd
...Here is our story....
DH and I have been friends since 1998 (middle school) He is the cousin of one of my Best Friends. When I met my best friend, he would always tell me…”Man, p31woman, you have got to meet my cousin, he is this and he is that.” Now my friend wasn’t trying to set me up with my now DH, but I guess he knew that we all would have fun together.
A few months before I was introduced to DH, my Best Friend invited me to start going to his church with him and his folks every Sunday. I liked it so much that I started going on Monday nights as well. (Youth Meetings were held Monday Nights) My Mom was REALLY cool about this. She knew I didn’t like the church we were attending at the time and I wanted so bad to be active in a church, that she let me go and was ok with me even joining that Church. I was soo happy to be active in a Youth Ministry and have a good close relationship to my Pastor. (Mind you I was in 8th grade. Most kids go to church with their folks till God knows when. I guess my Mom could see my excitement about God and church build that she was just grateful I was happy.)
Now you may wonder what this has to do with the story. Well, DH's Grandfather was the Pastor of that church. Mt. Olive Baptist Church was where DH and I met for the very first time. As soon as I met him, I thought he was cute, but I don’t recall any feelings being there. From that point on, the 3 amigos were in business and we had A TON of fun.
Fast Forward to 2003. I graduated High School and was preparing to start College. It was during this time that I think DH and I got much closer. My best friend chose to go to a college about 3 hours from home. I decide to stay in the city and go to one of the Universities about 45 minutes from home. DH had graduated before us and began working with his Father, in the family business. DH and I got to cultivate our friendship more and more during this time because I stayed local so we spent more and more time hanging out, just the two of us.
In early 2004, I had broken up with my then boyfriend and DH was right there for me listening to me boo hoo and all that 1st heartbreak nonsense. During that time, he was actually trying to reconnect with an old gf and I tried to help him get her back. It is so ironic because there we were putting all our energy into other people who were not meant for us, and little did we know, the one God had for us was staring us in the face. But regardless, nothing more than friendship surfaced in our relationship.
It wasn’t until late 2004 & early 2005 that we began to feel something tug at our heart strings. I say we, because we started catching feelings at what seems like the exact same time. I had grown tired of the undercover flirting. We both could feel that there was something between us. I mean I have NEVER felt something that strong before. Both of us were too scared to say anything and I was concerned about our friendship. Nevertheless, I sent him a text one night after we had come back from the movies that said…
"I like you. It’s ok if you don’t feel the same I just had to get that off of my chest.”
To which he replied,
“I was waiting on you to say something!”
You will not believe the feeling of relief I felt when he confirmed my belief.
After that we began dating. I still remember the day DH told me he loved me. It was so cute I still remember it word for word to this day…
Him: Do you love me?
Me: (scared) Please don’t do this!
Him: Do you love me?
Me: Do you love me?
Him: I asked you first
Me: (playing, not trying to show my true emotions) yeah, I love you like that Brotherly……..Agape…….Christian type love
Him: oh ok
Me: Do you love me?
Him: Yes
Me: (Hyperventilating) What kind of love is it?
Him: Its real serious
*2 minutes of silence pass by*
Me: Martavis, I love you
Him: I love you too
(Mind you we were 20 & 22…not 5 and 7 like we sounded)
Now comes the testimony to God’s faithfulness:
In October of 2005, DH and I stopped dating, and yeah it was kind of on bad terms. He had a lot going on in his life and I kinda felt like he needed to handle what he had going on. Even before things got troublesome, DH would always say…”You know what is meant to be will be. If God has something for us, He is going to make a way, even if its not when or how we want or wish for the way to be made.” Because of all the things going on, we stopped talking, stopped calling….stopped everything. This was the hardest time of my life. Not only did I gfeel like I had lost a very dear friend, I lost a love as well. I cried everyday, all day for a long time and even when the tears became less frequent, my heart still ached. I just knew my now DH was supposed to be my Husband and I knew we were meant to be but from the looks of the situation, I began to think he wasn’t to be mine…but THE DEVIL IS A LIAR!!!!
In July of 2006, I got an 8 message text from DH expressing his still strong love for me, how he missed me and was sorry for everything that happened between us. What is funny is that I had everything planned out that I would say to him if we ever talked again and none of it was ladylike.
But when we actually talked there was no anger. Only forgiveness and still very real love. (I attribute that to God and our foundation of true friendship) We talked about 2 times a month after that on the phone until Nov of 2006 when He asked to take me out. I did allow the meeting and well…lets just say we have been together ever since.
I know God had His mighty hand in our relationship. I honestly believe that DH & I had to go through somethings apart from each other in order to prepare us for what God had in store for us. I believe now, that we are more solid and in love than in the beginning.
My pastor once said…sometimes God has to take you through some lessons before He gives you the very thing you ask for. If He were to give it to you before you learned the lesson, you may not be able to hold on to His blessing.
Well, DH and I have been holding on to this blessing and never looked back, all the while thankful for our friendship, our relationship, and more importantly our God. It is so funny to us because my Mother LOVES him and I remember many days while we were just friends that my mother would tell me..”That’s such a niiiiccce young man, why aren't ya'll dating” and ironically, DH said his Father would always ask him why we were not dating as well.
We are now Husband and Wife and it feels great!
Hold on ladies, God has a plan, just be patient...it's worth the wait!!!!
I speak from experience of knowing the yearning and sometimes pain and frustration of wanting to have the one God had for me already!!
He is coming!
Congratulations on your New Baby. Another life and love, never quenced; no matter what the 'challenge' life may bring. 
What a beautiful heart you have. I praise God for your new life, to be happily married and not far off.
)
I used to pray for my future husband on a regular basis but I got discouraged and stopped. I had no prospects at the time and I started to believe that I was wasting my time. And at the time it seemed like people all around me were getting married left and right. After reading this thread, I've decided to start praying for my future husband again. I'm trusting that God will bring the man He designed especially for me into my life. 
I guess I'll have to have an 'ugly' cake for my guests and this one will be encased in a glass display. 
