Our love story; watching God's plan unfold! Part 2

Part 2 - Luke & I? Yes? Maybe? Nope, it just wouldn't work!

The year 2009 rolled around and Joanna and I still managed to work in times to visit each other in and amongst our email and phone conversations. We drove to Houston Quilt Market together, flew out to Seattle to a sewing convention and still continued enjoying our visits sharing with each other in so many areas of our lives.

We both talked about our families and knew about them, but I noticed that Joanna talked more about Luke. I didn't give it much thought, since I knew they were close and I still saw him as nothing more than part of Joanna's family. But as I look back, the things she told me about him would prove to be helpful to me as I would be getting to know him in the months to come.

During one of our long phone conversations, Joanna was talking about several things she was sewing and how she was trying to work in stitching several of Luke's shirts. Because of Luke's height, finding shirts was difficult at times, so Joanna would make them for him. And at that time, Joanna commented to me that she didn't mind sewing his shirts, but that she couldn't be doing it forever. And whoever he did end up marrying definitely needed to know how to sew! At the time, I fully agreed with her, but didn't consider me being that someone!

Unknown to me, Joanna had already been talking to Luke about me since we had met, trying to convince him that he really should consider me as a future spouse. Joanna knew both Luke and I and thought we would be perfect together. As I was to find out later, when I would travel out to Colorado, Joanna and Luke would deliberately plan things to do while I was there to see how I reacted and responded to it. Little did I know that as we went hiking at Glen Erie, played games together and attended an Easter play called The Thorn, they were planning much of it! I honestly didn't have a clue; to which I can see now was a great benefit! If I would have known, I'm sure I wouldn't have been quite so at ease while I was there.

Then in April 2009, I took one of my Siamese kittens out to Colorado to give to Joanna. It was on this trip that Luke stood out to me in a different way than I'd seen him before. I've tried to recall just what it was and can't name anything specific, but I began to see things in him that were characteristics I was looking for and desired in a spouse. I knew Joanna well enough to know that our Biblical values, conservative ideas and outlook and goals in life were very much the same. And I knew enough about Luke through Joanna to know that his would very much mirror hers.

Still, even through some excellent Godly qualities I saw, I still saw a difference in our interests and abilities where I just didn't think we would be compatible. On the way home from that trip to Colorado, I remember thinking and praying about the idea of a future relationship with Luke. By the end of that 6 hour trip, I'd made up my mind. Nope, it just wouldn't work; there were too many differences between us.

Plus I never saw any interest from Luke and Joanna never said one word to me that ever put Luke and I together. And surely Joanna of all people would mention something to me if she saw the possibility of Luke and I in a relationship. I did continue to pray about it for a week or two, but with all those thoughts in mind, I moved on with my summer activities of camp and VBS and forgot about Luke.

July came and camp arrived. That year at camp something happened that hadn't had happen in quite a while there. I had three different people suggest someone they knew that might just be a perfect spouse for me. Although I didn't personally know any of these people, I wasn't opposed to considering them, but I wasn't sure that anything would really develop. And my thought at the time was, "Why did God bring this about this year? This hasn't happened in quite a while, why now? And three people?"

When I returned home and told Dad the events of the two weeks of camp in addition to these three guys that had been suggested to me, I told him one other thing. I said, "There's only person who I've met that's met some of my qualifications in what I'm looking for in a spouse." Which surprised Dad and he immediately wondered who? I told him that he didn't know him, but it was Luke, Joanna's brother. But as I was telling him about Luke, I also told him that I had decided it just wouldn't work, so that was the end of that. I had already made up my mind.

August arrived and a facebook friend request from Joanna appeared in my inbox shortly followed by one from Luke. This was a huge shock as I never expected to see Joanna on facebook. So when Luke sent me a friend request, he informed me that I was the one who convinced Joanna to join!

Yeah, well, I certainly couldn't let that comment go unanswered. So of course, I responded to that and that was the start of our written communication with each other. I know--this seems like another insignificant detail and at this point in my story, it is. But you see, all those typed facebook chats and emails would add up to a significant amount and play an important role in the months to come.

It was also the first part of August when Joanna moved from Colorado to Iowa. On their way to Iowa to help break up the trip, Joanna, Luke and their mom spent the night at our house. To me it was a stop along the way of a long drive, but to Luke (as he told me later), it was a reason to stop and get to know me a little bit better. I didn't know it at the time, but Luke had already been interested in me and been praying about me.

After Luke and his family had been here, I asked Dad for his opinion of Luke, especially since I had told Dad about him in July. Dad didn't really know him, but he was uncertain whether anything would develop between the two of us. That made my decision even more final. I had already come to that conclusion in the past and Dad just confirmed it. And because I highly value my Dad's advice and opinion, I put Luke and any future relationship out of my mind. Except for the fact that Luke himself made that a bit difficult.

For the next couple of weeks after Joanna moved, Luke and I did email each other back and forth a few times. Joanna was so busy with moving and work, that any news Luke heard from her, he would pass onto me, knowing that we were best friends. At the time, I didn't think too much of the initial emails back and forth. They were just a few emails between friends, nothing more.

But after a couple weeks, Luke continued to email me. At the time, I wondered why since our connection to each other was Joanna and she had now moved out of state. But with just about every email he sent me, I replied with one of my own. I'm not sure if I would have admitted it at the time to anyone, including myself, or even really was aware of it, but I did really look forward to and enjoy Luke's emails. I still was not considering anything more between us than just ordinary friends, but through those emails, I started to learn more and more about him.

From August to November, those sporadic emails and facebook chats continued. The week before Thanksgiving was a busy week for Dad and myself; we were getting things finished at home in preparation for traveling to Kentucky that next week. So when Dad came downstairs in the middle of the afternoon on Friday, I was surprised as I knew he had been trying to get as much milo cut as he could.

Then he said that Luke called him and asked him about starting a relationship with me. Which took me by total surprise! Again, much to my surprise, Dad was in agreement to it, whereas a few months before, he was wasn't sure. As for me, I had made the decision months before that a relationship between Luke and myself wouldn't work, so I was rather shocked about this new development, but after a couple days of talking and praying about it, both Dad and I agreed and would see what would happen.

After that happened, one of the first things I did was talk with Joanna. One of my initial thoughts among many others was, "Joanna got tired of sewing all of Luke's shirts and she's ready to hand that off to someone else." Which is exactly what I told her! And she said, "Yes, I know I can hand that over to you in complete confidence that you know what you're doing! But that's not the most important reason why I think you and Luke would be perfect together." That was when she told me several things that had happened over the past couple of years that I knew nothing about and how that Luke and Joanna had been talking about me long before I knew a thing about it.

Therefore, Luke and I continued to email back and forth, but this time with a little different purpose in mind. Right after Christmas, Dad and I drove to Colorado to visit with his family. Even through that visit and our continued emails back and forth, I was still very uncertain and couldn't see any future relationship with Luke. And at one point, I really did think Luke agreed with me. January was a very busy month for Luke and I didn't get an email from him in almost three weeks. That was unusual since we usually had two to three emails back and forth each week.

Was I hurt or disappointed by that? No, not at all. At this time, emotionally I was not involved with Luke, my total focus was getting to know him, his goals, his values, his beliefs to see if he was someone I would be interested in marrying. And since I hadn't had an email from him in quite a while, I decided that he had seen something that wouldn't work between us. Which was good! Perfect! That was something for which I was praying.

During the past few weeks, I had been praying for God to bring up issues and show us very clearly if this was something that would or wouldn't work. But low and behold just as I had come to that very conclusion one morning, that very afternoon a long email from Luke appeared in my inbox. No, it was over yet....