My Man

"My love must be a kind of blind love,
I can’t see anyone but you....
Are the stars out tonight?
I don’t know if it’s cloudy or bright
‘Cause I only have eyes for you"

These were the words Ben sang to me one lovely spring day back in May of 1990. I was fifteen and he was nineteen. He was flirting more than actually professing his blind love for me, for we hadn’t even been on our first date yet. Little did we know that he would one day be singing these words to me again in front of all of our family and friends 3 ½ years later on our wedding day.

I knew that I would marry Ben the very first time that I met him. He tells me that it was the same for him, too. It was in the gymnasium of Western Baptist College (now Corban College). My brother was in his freshman year there and I relished at the opportunity to play grown-up college girl, while secretly I was but a lowly high school sophomore. We were introduced after a basketball game. He, in his super trendy pink sweater, and I, with my tall bangs and blue eyeliner, were a match made in heaven and we both new it.

A few months later, the Mariner season now in full swing, my brother decided to bring a few of his college buddies up to Seattle to catch a couple games. Ben was among those invited buddies. Conveniently, I ended up sitting next to Ben at the game. We shamelessly flirted the entire nine innings. It led to the unrehearsed, but slightly planned rendition of "I only have eyes for you" serenade the next day, that lovely next day in May of 1990. My heart was his.

Our first official date was a fairy tale come true. Dinner at the Space Needle, followed by a horse and carriage ride around beautiful downtown Seattle. We were in such a dream-like state of infatuation, that the evening didn’t seem real. Fortunately, upon our return to my house around 1am, my mom asked how our date was and if we’d like to see it on video. Mom.

We were truly blessed to have been separated by 220 miles of freeway. This allowed the focus of our relationship to be God. We were both at a critical time of spiritual revival in our lives, and knew that God had brought us together for a specific reason. We knew that one of those reasons was to draw each other closer to Him. Timmy the Triangle became the unofficial logo of our love: God at the top vertex, and Ben and I at the bottom two. The philosophy was simple geometry: the closer we each got to God, the closer we would become to each other! Lo and behold, it worked. As we grew in our faith, we grew in our love and understanding for one another.

Ben asked me to marry him on February 13, 1993. That will be a post in and of itself. It was a glorious night~ Ben is a wonderful romantic!

We were married on November 13, 1993. The day was perfect. The man was perfect for me. Our God was and is perfect.

I am still amazed at how the Lord truly led us to one another and seemed to have carried us all the way to our present time in life. I am continually grateful to have such a wonderful, Godly husband. I could never imagine anything better. Ben is an absolute gift from God and I love him with all my heart. Each year of our marriage seems to be better than the one before. After 13 years, our love continues to grow and we look forward to the future that God has in store for us.

I love you, Prince Charming!

Love, Cinderella