{our story}

Joel and I met in the spring of 2009 and the second we met I honestly remember thinking to myself, “what if I marry this boy?” Who knew…!

One of the first moments I knew that Joel and I would be great together was a trip to Chicago that we took with some friends. Joel was the most patient driver I have ever ridden with- I was amazed. With my road rage, I knew that this would be a good fit for me. His peace and patience made the day perfect and I loved watching how he enjoyed life. I remember coming home and being excited that I had found a friend that I had felt safe and at peace with!

We started hanging out more over the summer of 2009. Joel doesn’t talk much, and he began to get flirty over text.I finally got it out of him that he liked me, and our first date was August 4^th, 2009. Our first date happened to be 3 days into a 21 day cleanse that I was doing. Lucky him! I knew that I would let him hold my hand that night when I saw that he had made me a fruit platter…it was gorgeous. His mom later asked about the date, and I told her what he had made, and she said, “Sara Jo! He CUT fruit? My son CUT fruit? He must love you. He has never cut fruit. You need to marry him now.”

Our second date included the game “20 Questions” in order to get him to open up – we became best friends that night.

A month after dating, and convincing others over and over again that we were just “dating”, we decided to go to GCC’s first Wednesday service. It was honestly the most awkward service I have ever sat through. I wanted to die. All that week Joel and I had discussed taking the next step, but he was so nervous. Once the Pastor started talking, my face turned bright red and I wanted to run out. The guy next to me, I’m sure, was wondering why I was looking at him the whole time, because I couldn’t look over at Joel. The pastor continued to talk about how in life, we are faced with scary situations and sometimes we just need to “jump” and trust that God will take care of us. He said that when we jump, we are not jumping into an abyss, but we are jumping into the arms of God, who will protect us and bless our decision.

The next morning, I woke up with a few text messages that he had sent me over night. It had been obvious that he had not been up all night praying about us. The last text I got said, “I'm ready to jump…will you jump with me?”

What a great way to wake up!

We became official on September 5^th, 2009, became engaged March 17th, 2010, and got married August 6^th, 2010.  We got married on our 11^th month of being together, and celebrated 1 year of dating after a month of marriage. There are countless times where God had made clear the direction of our relationship. Many times, it was the simple prayer of “God, put our hearts where they need to be, because this is going so fast!” But of course, God knew what He was doing, and of course, we were terrified at times, but that is what made it an amazing journey. My marriage to Joel has been such a blessing. God truly blesses those who love Him and “jump” into His will for their lives- and I am truly honored to fall in love with the same person every day.

{everyone is on God's heart}

Yesterday I went to Meijer to buy clocks for JAM. When I walked out, I had realized it had started to rain and said out loud, "Seriously??". As I gathered my bags out of my cart, this man came out from the corner, took his headphones off and asked if he could bother me a second. Now I admit, I get upset when people ask for money. I'm guilty of always assuming that everyone has friends like me that I can call and they would do anything for me. I said he could and he proceeded to tell me that he lost his wallet. I asked where he needed to go and he said downtown. I offered to find a ride for him and he said no, so I left.

I pulled into the church parking lot and turned around. I thought to myself, I am pathetic, I can give away $20.

I parked and ran back in. I went up to him and said, "So...you say you lost your wallet...did you report it?" He said he had and he lost it on the bus. Well, then I felt dumb. This was a true story. I pulled out my $20 and gave it to him. He told me he only needed a few dollars to get on the bus and that he would give me change. He wanted to re-pay me and I told him no and that I didn't want that. I said if he ever wanted to thank me, he can stop by the Vineyard. Next thing I knew, we were both getting emotional. Right then, the bus pulled up and I said, "is that your bus?" He said, "now it is- I got to go get change".  We exchanged names and I left.

I was then overwhelmed and cried all the way back to work...only because I knew that man was on Gods heart, and I had obeyed.

My final thought from this encounter is this- I am constantly reminded by the world that my financial situation cannot afford to help others. I mean, I really don't have money to just "hand out". Yet God reminded me that  because of HIM, I always have time and money to help others, because its not MY money, its HIS...