A Good Guy

I can't even express to you the number of times someone's said he's "a good guy." 

It's a reassuring comment, in all honesty, since they're talking about my fiancé. Before we get to THAT story, though, you get the back story. 

Sometime last fall, I remember a harried conversation about some vicar that was supposed to go to Sri Lanka but needed a new international placement when that fell through. Did any of our pastors want to supervise him? Yes, the Rev. Ross Shaver (Iglesia Luterana Pueblo Nuevo) would take him, so a couple months later, Vicar Josh landed in the DR on December 2. 

Somehow, it fell to me to take the new guy shopping. Not knowing him from Adam, I texted to see what time would work best. Eight AM. At the store, he handed me his shopping list right off the bat. Hmmmm...

Making conversation in the car, we learned we shared a mutual love for cards and games. I happened to have cribbage on the brain, so I offhandedly (though seriously) suggested we play sometime. "How about Saturday?" What?! OK...

The next day, I tagged along on a Spanish class excursion with Josh and some others to ride Santiago's new cable car for no reason other than I hadn't yet and wanted to. Another missionary took this, the first solo picture of us together. Foreshadowing? 

Saturday arrived, and our casual afternoon of cards turned into, oh, about five hours of talking across my kitchen table while we played. The rest of December was a string of group activities that saw the two of us orbiting one another: a baseball game (pictured), Christmas parties, Christmas concerts, Christmas lights, etc. 

We had the exact same packed schedule of services & get-togethers on Christmas Eve & Christmas Day, with me chauffeuring him everywhere, but we somehow managed to squeeze in a game of cribbage during a rare free window. The last event on the 25th was an all-team Christmas pageant, potluck, and hymn sing at the Kreys' (pictured). He asked me out when I dropped him off sometime after 10 that night. I gave him a Magic Eight Ball-esque positive but vague answer...and then promptly left for Jamaica the next morning!

Up to that point, we'd never really texted...because we were always together. All of a sudden, though, my WhatsApp was abuzz with conversation. We even video chatted a couple of times. He revisited his question a few days after I got back, and I said yes* this time. 

*My one condition was he had to finish his ~2 mos. of on-field orientation first. We learned when his official completion date was while I was in Belize, and picked a first date date while I was in Peru: February 12. If you're wondering, we played "date night cribbage" (feat. flowers, a candle, and soft jazz), went out for Argentinian food, and watched a few episodes of The Middle. 

Life has been a delight ever since. I still have to pinch myself sometimes as I'm going about my business and then remember that there's this boy who genuinely wants to spend an inordinate amount of time with me and cares deeply about things I have to say. Guessing who knew and didn't know was equally as entertaining as watching people slowly pick up on our not-so-secret secret. The missionary community is a fishbowl sometimes. The fact that I was on hand for his installation might have been a dead giveaway for some. 

He got to come to the March FORO in Santo Domingo! Even in the midst of a whirlwind weekend with many demands on my attention, we found time to play cribbage - on a park bench facing a statue of Columbus in the shadow of the oldest cathedral in the Americas (and later at a coffee shop). 

More coffee shop cribbage, this time in April while 10 members of the Council of Presidents were here. What can I say? It's our thing. We have a thing. 

With the exception of one morning Spanish lesson, Josh spent the entirety of Holy Week sightseeing with us while my brother & family were in town.

Our first time flying together was when he came to St. Louis with me the week before LAC's annual regional conference to meet my parents and some extended family. 

While he did live there for 2 years as a student, I had a blast showing him my version of my hometown. We took my 9 yr. old nephew ice skating...

...visited the Rawlings world HQ...

...sat in the free seats at the Muny OF COURSE...

...and picnicked at Laumeier Sculpture Park. 

During the conference itself, we took advantage of a "date night" opportunity for parents with kids to have a date night of our own: bowling + Indian food. 

One of my most recent favorite pictures of us is this one from the original location of Concordia Seminary, where Josh is a student, in Altenberg, MO. 

We spent two more days with my family post-conference, during which he learned how to play tripoley and got to root on his adopted favorite baseball team vs. the rival Cubs. The next morning, I handed off the tour guide baton and it was off to his hometown in north Georgia. "Y'all" can expect more on that soon ;)

A few months in, Josh & I started praying together nightly, and it's my favorite. We routinely thank God for one another and ask Him to be a 3rd strand in our relationship. Dating while living and serving internationally has its own set of unique challenges, but Josh's story - our story - is one marked by God's grace and providence, so why would we not trust that He holds our future in the palm of His hands? 

Until next time, blessings in Christ!