He was a football player, and I was a cheerleader. I know what you're thinking... But it’s not as cute as it seems. He just saw a slim, thick lowerclassman in her cheerleading uniform and wanted her number. Neither of us intended to be together after he graduated. My God-brother gave me his number, knowing he wasn’t my type, and I just happened to call him. I had a boyfriend at the time, so I was just calling to call. Of course, he got what he wanted because a few months later, my boyfriend and I broke up, and the rest was history!
We were both Christian, and I eventually began attending his church after a few years. His father is the pastor of the church, and his uncle’s cousin is the Bishop. It’s a small family church, but it has groomed me into the God-fearing woman I have become. I remember a few months before we even became a couple, I was at a joy night with my church choir, and I prayed that the Lord would send me someone who was just right for me. Although I was only 15, I saw myself going down a path that was unpleasing to the Lord. I figured that if I had someone in my life who was also saved, I would make better spiritual decisions.
After weeks of trying to track him down (it shouldn’t have been that hard—our school wasn’t that big), we finally decided to date. He had never had a girlfriend before. He told me that he knew if we started dating, I would be his first and last girlfriend (which is why he was avoiding me). He was a senior, and I was a sophomore, so once he graduated and went to college, we decided to break up. I had been cheated on in the past, so I figured if we broke up, he was free to do whatever he wanted, and I would protect myself from being hurt. That lasted for a few months, but by the spring semester, we were back together.
I am always hesitant to tell young girls our story because I don’t want them to think it is common for high school relationships to evolve into marriages. Although I know some couples who met this way, many relationships end after graduation. The important detail of the story is not that we were high school sweethearts; that was just where we met. The most important fact of our unique love story is that we were both saved, God-fearing teens trying to navigate the world in a way that didn’t severely compromise our Christianity. This relationship, like all relationships, had its ups and downs, and trust me, I will be sharing those moments with you all as well!
A man who compliments you, someone who wants you to succeed as much as you want to succeed, should encourage you to be better and pour into you spiritually. My husband was really big on me having my “own life” outside of our partnership. He never wanted to be my EVERYTHING. Don’t get me wrong, we loved each other and helped to build each other up, but he wanted to be sure that I wasn’t so involved in him that I neglected myself and, more importantly, my relationship with God. Our relationship with God is one of the most important relationships that we will ever have.
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