Our love story - Chapter four

 February 23, 2008 will always hold a precious place in my heart.

Elizabeth took me to breakfast in the morning with the plan that Ben would pick me up from there and take me to coffee.  She played the role of “middle-woman” well – being Ben’s sister and one of his very best friends as well as my dear friend and the mentor I confided in, she heard lots of juicy details from both sides and did a great job keeping them to herself and not betraying confidence.   Right before he got there though, she let me know that Ben doesn’t just “take girls to coffee” – in fact, he hadn’t gone on a date in four years. 

So I could be confident that he’s at least interested in me. No pressure.

Then he walked in – and to say that I was nervous would be a giant understatement.  Sweaty palms, dry throat, heart about to beat out of my chest – it’s amazing I even squeaked out a “hello.”  He took to me to Caribou and I began to relax just as soon as we started talking and I realized that this is just Ben – the guy I’ve been talking to for hours at a time over the past two months.  We’re just two friends going to coffee.  No big deal.  Calm down.

After making some small talk, he started talking about the internship he had been praying about doing in Chattanooga.  You know how sometimes you feel like you know what the Lord wants you to do but you still have to take that step of faith? Well, it’s really been like that with this whole internship thing, and it’s really been like that with you.

I’m amazed I didn’t fall out of my chair. 

My stomach flipped and I just sat there stunned– watching the guy I had been praying for and dreaming of for a year and a half proceed to share his feelings for me and all that the Lord had been doing in his heart to lead him up to this date.   After saying a lot of sweet things (that I will always treasure in my heart but will spare you of writing the details here) he basically said

I like you, I’m attracted to you, and I want to ask your permission to pursue you.

Um, permission granted.

Except I actually just said “yes,” in a little mouse-like voice and “I like you too.” And then I just continued to stare at him quietly, soaking it all in, while he talked about how he wanted to date me but wanted to give me time to get to know him first.

I couldn’t stop smiling the rest of the day and wrote this in my journal:

“I still can’t believe it happened.  Ben Whittinghill likes me. Ben likes me! Ahh! I started crying when I was talking to Brit about it. I just feel so…precious.  He likes me, he asked to pursue me, he wants to date me, he wants to get to know me.  I feel like such a treasure! I’m still completely caught off-guard by the timing of it all because I never thought anything like this would happen to me anytime soon.  I’ve prayed about it for so long and put it in God’s hands over and over again, but I never expected that the Lord would let it happen like this.  The Lord is just so so precious.”

I went back up to Liberty, he called me every day, and we started dating less than a month later.  He proposed the following summer but I’ll save that wonderfully romantic story for another time. He hasn’t stopped pursuing me, and I still think he’s the most amazing man in the world. 

 This was taken on one of our first dates at Stone Mountain.