How We Met

Once upon a summer, the one in 2010 to be specific, I had just graduated high school and was about to experience my last week ever at Camp ECCO as a camper. My best friend Alex Archer came along with me! It was the first day, Sunday, the fourth of July, and all the campers and staff were arriving and registering. In the dining hall, I saw my brother talking with someone. I walked over to them and Weston said, "Have you met Andrew?" To which I replied, "No, only once last Thanksgiving but never really officially." So I said hi to him and Andrew asked if I was going to be staying for the week and then I found out that he was our evening chapel speaker. And I was like, alright, cool! He was wearing a red Rock River Bible Camp t-shirt that day.

So, we do this thing at Camp where we write our names on little brown paper bags and decorate them all fun-like and hang them with clothes pins out by the snack area and write notes to drop into each others' "mailboxes" throughout the week. But Andrew got extra creative with his and stapled the opening of the bag together and turned it the other way to make it like a hand puppet. He came over to Alex and I and asked if I might be able to cut a slit in the mouth part of it wherein his mail would be put. So I gladly did that for him and he remained at the table to talk with us as he decorated his bag person. [Time for a (relevant) side story: Earlier that same year during spring break, a group of friends (Alex included) and I had a Disney movie night. While Mulan was playing, the topic of Asian guys came up and I told the girls I would date an Asian guy (given that he was nice, attractive, etc.). And then Alex and I came up with the fun idea that maybe at Camp that summer there would be a wonderful Asian boy who would sweep me off my feet and become my future husband. On the drive down to Camp, I reminded her of this and told her to be on the lookout for my Asian boyfriend.] Okay! So! Andrew was drawing the face on his bag and consulting Alex and I with his color choices, when someone else came to the table and asked Andrew, "Is that supposed to be you?" And another walked over, "It looks Asian!" Immediately Alex and I looked at each other with wide eyes and laughed and laughed. I have many more fun stories of coincidences from that week and my developing crush on Andrew Carr, and perhaps I will add those as another chapter of the blog in the future, but there is at least the start for you. :)

Andrew and I had a lot of fun getting to know each other that week, and he invited me to come out to Rock River Bible Camp to be a counselor for their Junior Camp, for which he is the dean. It was a couple weeks later. I really enjoyed it and was very happy to have more time with Andrew. That summer we became friends, but we parted knowing it would be a long time until we would get to hang out again, if ever at all, as he was living in Eastern PA at that time and I was on my way to Rosedale Bible College in mid/south/western Ohio. But I held onto the hope that one day things would work out so that I might have the opportunity to date Andrew, because he had definitely caught my attention and I liked him very much. I thought the idea of us ever being together was a long-shot, but Andrew is an incredible man who I thought was worth holding out hope for. He and I clearly had potential to be a perfect match. And somehow I had a feeling that it was going to work out that way. I didn't know when or how, just that it would, and that I could wait for it. And so I did! And we are both very thankful about that. :)

I met Amber at Camp Ecco's Senior Camp on July 4, 2010; I find it appropriate and fun that there were fireworks the first time we were together. I knew Amber as my "cousin," a term applied loosely by the members of You-Lead Camp. Amber is not actually my cousin - she is actually my mom's sister's husband's sister's son's wife's dad's brother's daughter - but the name "cousin Amber" is how my own siblings referred to her. As we continued to get to know one another, though, it was clear that she did not appreciate my designation of her as my "cousin," since "cousin" and "boyfriend" used in conjunction do not really work. Speaking of family, I found out when I met Amber that our families had known each other growing up in Ohio, that we had been to a lot of the same places, and that we knew a lot of the same people. Because of our connections and similarities, I made a mental note to get to know Amber better over the course of the week.

Some of the observations I made that week about Amber really stood out in my mind. I was at first immediately attracted to her character, particularly the friends that she surrounded herself with and the fun and caring way that she treated them. She seemed at ease with people and well-liked by them. Her laughter and smile lit up whatever space she occupied, but when you talked with her you also discovered her quick wit, intelligence, and real spiritual depth. I have a lot of fond memories of our times at Ecco and Rock River that year, but I will share one in particular. I sometimes fancy myself a composer, director, and all-around musician. One afternoon I was walking outside of my cabin on the hill conducting a song for an imaginary orchestra. Amber came out of her cabin with some friends and noticed what I was doing. She asked me questions and thought I was fun and then showed me that my hand motions were actually backwards! I didn't know that I had been conducting the wrong way. I learned from her then that she plays the clarinet, loves band, and had even done some conducting at her high school. This story embodies so much of who Amber is: her kindness, her sense of play, her skills, her ability to improve people and situations, and most importantly the fact that there is always more to her than meets the eye for those who take the time to enjoy this amazing woman.

Amber and I parted ways after the summer camp season as friends. I drove her and some of our Ohio friends back home after Junior Camp at Rock River and did not expect to see her or know her as anything other than a favorite camp acquaintance. Amber did not give up on the idea of us as a potential dating couple, but she never gave me any indication of this. I, for my part, really enjoyed our very sparse and sporadic communication in the months that followed but didn't consider the possibility of a romance between us. In the spring of 2011, Amber and I began talking more and more via telephone and internet. We evolved over the next several months from friendship, to crush, to dating, to boyfriend and girlfriend. From day one, God has been a central part of our relationship, and I am so thankful for the way he led me to Amber, worked in both of our hearts, and guided our personal histories. As I think back on how we met, it just seems to me that she has always been a glowing, joyful gift to me, and I am so happy now for the chance to love her and learn more about her every day.

Story time:
Please comment and tell us about how you and your spouse/boyfriend/girlfriend/best friend met, or share your favorite memories about the beginning of your relationship!