"our story"

I just got inspired by this sweet story.

It seems my blog readership has changed over the last four years and I realized that I've always just hinted at how things between Joel and I have worked out. I've never really told "our story." For a long time, I didn't even mention him on here because I wasn't 100% sure where our relationship stood and I didn't want to get too vulnerable. Now I'm 150% sure about our relationship & I've learned the value in being vulnerable. So here's the (somewhat) condensed version.

After arriving back in the U.S. from my year in Japan, I moved in with a family and my best friend in suburban Philadelphia. Some time in the winter of 2009 (February, maybe?), I mentioned to the mom in the family that I'd be happy to be set up... if she knew any eligible bachelors. We all laughed about the idea & I dismissed it casually until she said that actually, she did know someone...

He had been her daughter's history teacher the previous year and he was great. He was about my age, she thought, and definitely a Christian. She wasn't sure if he was even single (or interested!) but she wanted us to meet. But how? OH, right, he often has guest speakers come into his class to teach about different cultures. Like Japan. Where I had just lived for a year.

She sent him an email. He invited me to come in. I waited a couple months until he started teaching about Asia. We emailed. I bought some Japanese snacks & created a PowerPoint.

That day, when Joel opened the door to his classroom, I was cautiously intrigued. He was surprised, apparently, because he was expecting me to be 40+ years old! My presentation went well. He cut his lip on the cheap chopsticks I'd brought in. One boy asked if I was his girlfriend. Another boy said, "He likes you!" He bought me lunch. One kid dropped a ring in his pocket! We parted ways, after he gave me a kind invitation to find him on Facebook if I wanted to hang out with him and his roommate someday.

The rest, they say, is history.
Which is quite fitting since I'm now incredibly happily married to the history teacher of my wildest dreams.