So we did it, I asked Traci VanSumeren to become
my wife and got engaged (Photo’s Here) in Swaziland. For her take on the day you can click
here. For those of you that
know me well you know that this was no light decision. I have spent the last
four years of my life avoiding relationships because my heart was not there. I
prayed during that time that God would change my heart in this area and I had
all but given up hope when I met Traci at my AIM training last October. We both
caught each other’s attention but I think that was because of our interest. She
loves to cook and made our meals at training and we both had our cameras out as
well. Ironically she interviewed me towards the end of training and we had a
great conversation but still no interest. It wasn’t till about a month later
that we made contact over facebook of all things. I rebuked facebook up till
training when I finally gave in and signed up so I could stay connected to my
squad.We both visited each other in December at our respective homes and I got
to meet her family. We started dating on December 19th and that in
itself was not an easy decision knowing I was leaving for a year. Traci and I
agree that the only reason we were both willing to take on a long distance
relationship like this was because she had already done the World Race and had
proper expectations, in addition to the fact I was just stupid in love with
her. I left in early January and the first day on the Race the Lord laid it on
my heart that we needed a way to stay connect beyond the occasional Skype call.
I started journaling her the first night on my computer and created what one
day I hope with be a coffee table book in our home. I am proud to say we have
both diligently journaled for 209 days now including responses. This act has
brought us incredible close and I highly recommend it to other long distancers.
It was late one night in May
while I was in Malaysia when the Lord spoke very clearly to me about marrying
Traci. With that I was on a mission to get my squad coaches permission and a
ring. Something I have learned this year is that it’s important to submit to
the authority above you and that meant putting a call into Mike Pascal. He told
me he had peace about it as long as I could keep my focus on the Race. I knew
God would give me the strength since this was His will so I proceeded. Getting
the ring was no easy feat considering I was going into the African bush where I
didn’t even have electricity a lot of the time. With the help of a generator,
laptop, printer/fax, God’s favor, a teammates iPhone and my coaches I pulled
off the impossible and got a ring from the States to Africa in under a month.
In anticipation of Traci showing
up I intentionally listened to two sermons by Mark Driscoll out of Seattle.
These can be found on iTunes and I highly recommend any singles as well as
married couple to listen to them. The sermons come from his sermon series
entitled Trial. The sermons are titled Trial: Marriage and Women and Trial: Marriage
and Men. I will warn
you these are intense and if you are lacking in the department of loving your
other this might be hard listen.
Traci showed up in Swaziland on
the 20th of July on her way to her next ministry location and I
proposed on the 21th. We ha
d breakfast on hole 16 of a golf estate
that we were staying on and then I took her down by the river where we prayed
and then I proposed. We finished the day at her favorite restaurant in
Swaziland with two World Race teams. I am excited for our future but that has
to wait until the Race is over. For now I am here and heading to Cape Town
tomorrow. God has more to teach me and knowing I am going to lead a family in
the near future has only spurred me on more to pull as much from this journey
as possible. I praise God for his blessing.
