Matt and Jessica met at a gas station when they were in high school. "I can say it was about as close to love at first sight as you can get," says Matt. It took Jessica a few years to catch the same vision. But Matt was patient ... and persistent. "I was very cautious about dating," says Jessica. "I had committed to only date a guy when I felt like he was the guy I was going to marry. Sounds crazy, I know, but I believe God definitely revealed this to me and saved me much heartache from not dating anyone but my husband." Jessica began praying for her future husband when she was 13. As she entered her teen years, she began to feel that God wanted more for her than jumping right into the dating game. That there was something better. She began dreaming about what her future husband might be like and the characteristics that she wanted in a man. "During this waiting, I was also challenged by the thought that if I had these high expectations for my future husband, he probably had high expectations for me as well, and I needed to be developing the characteristics of a godly woman and a godly wife." During her high school years, Jessica did turn down a few dates. "I knew that none of these guys were the guy that I was going to marry, and I simply didn't want to have to explain these frivolous relationships to my future husband," says Jessica. "The amount of fun or excitement that I could have gotten by dating these guys was simply not worth it to me. I know some girls may feel like they don’t want to turn anyone away because 'What if he is the one?!' However, I firmly believe if you are trying to honor the Lord and follow His lead, He will show you the right guy when he comes along." Love At First Sight So back to the beginning of this story: Jessica was on the way to a high school football game with friends (Matt's cousins and extended family) when the two were first introduced. "When I met Matt, I had been praying for a friend, someone I could trust and who would encourage me and spur me on in my walk with the Lord," says Jessica. Some of the character qualities Matt first noticed about Jessica was her positive attitude and maturity. "She radiated Christ," says Matt. "She was obviously beautiful." A few of the things that later drew Jessica to Matt was his integrity, strong character, and passion for the Lord. "It seemed that Matt brought up the Lord or some type of spiritual conversation every time we talked," remembers Jessica. "He told me that he was praying for me often and would ask about specific things he could pray for me." Just Say Yes Matt made his intentions known early on. "He told me up front that he wanted to date me in order to pursue marriage, and that he would wait as long as it took for me to say 'yes,'" shares Jessica. "After I held him at arms length for a while - ignoring his phone calls, sitting in strategic places so he could not sit next to me ... I know, I was awful... we finally began emailing regularly and talking on the phone every week or so, which developed into a solid friendship." They were just friends for about a year before she finally agreed to date him. "For 100 days straight, he wrote me a little note with a verse, and told me how he was praying for me/us. He would either hand-deliver these notes, or mail them to me so that I would get one from him every single day. This absolutely blew me away!" A year later, the couple got engaged. Throughout their eight-month-long engagement, they continued to guard the purity of their relationship in practical ways. "We did not live together or spend the night with each other or anything like that," says Matt. "We didn't kiss until our wedding kiss. We tried to guard each other and waited until we were married." As they each finished up their junior year in college at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, they committed to not be alone in each other's apartments. "These were sometimes inconvenient boundaries or seen as 'silly' by some, but they did help keep our minds and bodies pure before we were married," says Jessica. They also encourage other engaged couples to consider the length of their engagement prayerfully. "We knew that once we felt God leading us towards marriage, there was no reason to postpone [marriage]," says Jessica. "I wish all girls could know and experience God's best in this area of their life. There is no doubt in my mind that God designed Matt just for me and me for him. I truly believe that God brought us together and has given us an indescribable love for each other." Wedding Bells They married on July 11, 2009. Jessica surprised her groom with a song at the ceremony. "I surprised Matt by singing the song 'Wait for Me' by Rebecca St. James," says Jessica. "This was a song that God used throughout my single-lonely-praying-for-my-future-husband years to encourage me and let me know that He was preparing my husband for me. It was very special to be able to incorporate it into our wedding as a testimony of God’s faithfulness." Good Days Ahead "It is great to have such a wonderful support that is always there and has your back. You are never by yourself," says Matt. "It was more than worth the wait, so much more than I could put into words," says Matt. I didn’t just marry the girl of my dreams, but also the best friend, partner, and support that I could ever have imagined." I had the privilege of being Jessica's roommate for two years before she left me to be Matt's forever-roommate. :) I was encouraged by her trust in the Lord for His best then, and I still am.
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Marken Media Co.Marcus & Kennan own Marken Media Co. serving the multimedia needs of small businesses. Known by the #devinecolorwall, we strive to foster a space for the community to CREATE • COLLABORATE • CELEBRATE.
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KennanI'm a lover of words. Sometimes I edit, cook, craft, or sing. I'm also a wife and mom. Categories
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