The Mystery of Providence
Each of us goes through seasons in our lives that leave us perplexed and looking to the Lord for an answer. For Megan and I, our lengthy seasons of singleness often left us with questions and doubts. Yet, our story is an example of God's work through Providence in time and circumstances. Had the Lord not orchestrated our lives as He did, Megan and I would never have met.
We grew up 1,100 miles apart. I attended a small Bible college in Kansas City, while she attended Florida State University in Tallahassee. Post college, she worked for Cru on campus, while I began my teaching career in Kansas City. She began teaching overseas in Istanbul in 2013 before moving to Kyiv in 2015. In that same year, I transitioned from teaching to over-the-road trucking.
In the midst of all of this, the Lord was orchestrating the events of our lives; preparing each of us for when we would meet (Matthew 6:25-34; Romans 8:28).
It was not until November 2016 that I traveled overseas for the first time; teaching a theology class in Bucharest, Romania. That following April, I traveled to Kyiv for the first time. During this trip, I learned of Kyiv Christian Academy, and by May, I was offered a position at the school.
Three weeks after moving to Ukraine in August 2017, Megan and I met for the first time at the staff picnic. Along with a group of younger teachers, Megan and I hit it off well from the start. We gathered frequently throughout the next year with our close group of five to cook, play games, watch movies, or talk about our experiences with the Lord. All the while, neither of us was looking for a relationship.
When school let out this past May, there was not the slightest hint of a relationship between Megan and I. We didn't even talk much over the summer. I returned to the states for a month to raise funds and update supporters in Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, and Colorado, while Megan returned to Florida and took an extended trip to China.
School resumed and our friendship resumed, but it wasn't until September that the Lord began to focus our attention on each other. I gathered the nerve to ask Megan to dinner by the end of the month and we enjoyed our first date on October 5. As we sat and got to know each other more personally, I remember the moment I knew I would marry Megan. We recounted how the Lord worked in our lives up to this point and I remember Megan specifically stating that she was willing and excited to go and do anything the Lord directed in her life. In that moment, I saw the answer to my years of prayers for a spouse and faithful hope that I would yet see the goodness of the Lord while I lived (Psalm 27:13-14). (While I was looking at apartments a week later, I even explained to the landlord that I would most likely be married in the next year).
In the weeks that followed, the Lord locked in so many answers to our prayers that talk of marriage was soon on our lips. After waiting years and thinking through what we desired in a spouse, we wasted no time in talking through serious issues and putting each through the paces of Scripture. By mid-November, we had talked of a possible timeline (especially with a consideration that we are overseas and would need to have a pretty good idea of what the summer and following year held). By mid-December, I had ordered her engagement ring.
On December 30, some friends arrived in Kyiv with the ring in hand and on December 31, I proposed to Megan while we overlooked the Christmas market and downtown Kyiv from inside the bell tower of St. Sophia cathedral.
On July 26, 2019, before God, family, and friends, we were married. Soon after, we returned to Kyiv to continue ministering here.
The Lord's quick work did not rest however, by the end of September, we learned we were expecting. Our first child is due May 2020.
The Lord has been unmeasureably good to us. We thank Him for this work, how He brought us together, our supporters, and our growing family! May the Lord continue to bless Ukraine through us.