Our LONG Overdue Story - God, Facebook and Us

So it has been an entire year since our worlds collided. Literally!

Many of you are probably wondering our story which God so perfectly ordered long before we became one...

The story begins on Facebook (yes Facebook) around June 18th, 2009. Well, actually the story begins far before this point. Will had been praying from Vancouver, Washington that God would give him a wife who would long to serve besides him. He was desiring to serve God with Mission Aviation Fellowship and serve Christ overseas. I (Nan) was on the other side of the states in Birmingham, Michigan working as a Medical Device Sales Rep. I had told my mom around June 1st, 2009 that I thought God had intended me to be single for my life. My mother (in her wisdom) told me she thought God desired me to be married. So, that day we began to pray for my husband (not knowing that it would be my Sweet William).

Flash forward now to June 18, 2009. Will Grant had commented on a FB post of our mutual friend. It was not his post that intrigued me as much as his picture. Will's picture was the gorgeous expanse God's beautiful creation - the mountains offsetting a rugged wooden cross. I was newer to FB and thought in order to ask this "Will guy" where the mountain-scape was located I must friend request him. So I did. We exchanged a few pleasantries like: Who are you? How do you know our mutual friend (Will attended APU with him in Cali and I went to school K-12th Grade back in Michigan with our friend)? Where do you live (Will - Washington and Nan - Michigan)? Where is your picture (Alaska)? And that was that! I added Alaska to my "bucket-list" of places to go and closed that chapter.

Two weeks later I get a random, yes random, email from Will Grant that said, "If you are ever in
the Pac NW and want a plane ride to the beach let me know." My initial thoughts... "Ummmmm... Okay?" I decided to play the game and told him via email, "Okay, as long as we go back-packing and whitewater rafting I was in for the adventure. Smile." Then we started emailing back and forth. Then one Saturday afternoon we finally talked on the phone. It was decided that I would think and pray about coming to Vancouver, Washington for a visit. I talked with my godly and wise mama. She told me she would pray about the decision and get back to me with her thoughts the following day. Well, she did! And she told me she had peace that I should go...

So, the next month and a half Will and I chatted on Gmail video chat for hours each evening. It became more and more apparent that what was happening between us was not just about us. God had brought us together, no question! I was in awe as Will was such an amazing leader in our relationship. I never had experienced a relationship with a guy that put Christ before me in everything!

On August 12th, 2009 I flew into PDX and met my Sweet William for the first time. I knew this was the man that God desired for me to marry. Later that night over dinner Will told me he loved me... out of exhaustion (up since 12:30am PST b/c of the time difference from Michigan) I said, "Yeah, me too" to Will's declaration of love. Poor guy thought I wasn't interested (but I was just so tired I couldn't think of a better answer)! But, later that night we talked further and he realized that I decided to and longed to love him as well! Over the next two weeks we grew to know each other deeper and realized that our hearts were desiring the same thing in life - to serve God together in whatever capacity HE (God) desired for our lives.

The second day into the trip we were informally engaged and Mom and Dad Grant were busy planning our Honeymoon for December! I flew back to Michigan and begin the chaotic process of closing the Michigan chapter of my life... putting in my 2 weeks notice at work, saying good-bye to friends and family, packing up my condo, selling things to pay for the cross-country move... And spending every spare moment having coffee dates with my mom who I knew I would dearly miss!

On Labor Day, 2009 Will flew in to Detroit to move me out to the Pacific North West! We loaded up the Penske truck and spent the entire day with my wonderful mama. Then we had to say good-bye. It was the hardest good-bye I could have imagined...

We began the journey which lasted for two days. The first leg was made up of many laughs, a 24-pack of Red Bull, countless King Sized candy bars, and amazing memories. One memory that will never be forgotten was in Miles City, Montana. After driving from 5 pm-8pm the next evening we finally pulled over in Miles City, Montana to get 2 hotel rooms for the night (separate rooms of course). We had just finished watching football when I told Will how hard it was to have just left my family. He comforted me and asked me to close my eyes because he had a surprise. Due to the fact I was more than sleep deprived after 35 plus hours without sleep, I thought Will had a surprise to welcome me to Washington and my new home.  I closed my eyes. When I opened them Will was down on one knee. He asked me to be his family and walk beside him, serving our God for the rest of our days. Of course, I said, "YES"!

We finally arrived in Vancouver, Washington after our two day trip exhausted, but happy! William moved me into the home of some girls from the church until we got married. Well, that only lasted for two weeks time. Both of us decided there was no point to waiting to get married until December. We wanted to honor God in our relationship and knew that we would have to bump up our wedding date in order to remain pure and honor GOD first. So, we went to the courthouse in Hillsboro, Oregon on September 25th, 2009! We moved into a little apartment and began the most incredible marriage that was perfectly ordered by our God!

Since then we have experience an incredible journey that daily strips us of ourselves (especially me) and teaches us to put God first, then each other, then others and THEN ourselves. It has been an amazing year of our lives. Happy ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!

Each day, God draws our hearts closer. We feel that our next step is to join Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) to serve God overseas in the coming days. If you would join us in prayer as we have our evaluation with MAF in October, 2010 and will hope to join in January 2011.

Thank you for joining us in this joining perfectly designed by our God!