Age 20.

Do you know what it feels like to not really date anyone until you're 20 and then BAM! You meet the man that you know you're going to marry? That happened to me. This April 1 -- one month from today will be the sixth year from when I first met my Love. I remember this day very fondly. Never thought it'd take six years and still be in waiting.

Starting in the fall of 2002, I started to think that I was going to meet the man that God had for me soon. I prayed about it and thought that maybe it would be one of the guys in my Discipleship Training School (DTS) through Youth With a Mission (YWAM). I mean everyone seemed to meet their future husbands/wives there... come on! It had the nickname "Yes We Arrange Marriages!" Alas, all of the men in it were just not it though. I came home after a full year of focusing on my relationship with God and getting my priorities straight (I'll

have to share some of that with you another time, that year was incredible). I came home on fire for God and his plan for me when I connected with a guy who I kind of liked -- or at least caught my eye a little. I think that this guy was one to throw me off a bit. It always seems like there is a decoy that if you're not paying attention closely, you may think it's it. He was fun, but not my Love. We didn't date but we were good friends, and the closest thing that I had ever had to a boyfriend. I didn't want to date unless it was my husband though. See, I don't think it's wrong to date necessarily, I just wanted to be able to give my whole heart to the one who I was going to marry. I didn't want my husband to get a heart that had been broken so many times that it got heard and I had to work hard at opening it. So I waited.

19 months and a few thoughts later, in struts my Love on my 20th birthday. This wasn't my very first encounter with him. It was actually my 3rd.

1st encounter: the phone conversation.

Just a few weeks before April 1, I called my friend Sherry to see when was a good time for me to come over. We were having a lovely conversation before the phone was taken violently from Sherry and this male voice came on saying that I didn't know how to play Mancala. Little did this male voice know that I was well acquainted with the rules of this African game. I thought this was hilarious because the reason why this male voice was distraught with my rules that I taught Sherry was due to him losing. I laughed it off and proceeded on my way to my friend Sherry's home.

2nd encounter: "Hi, I'm Ann."

As I was walking into my friend Sherry's house, her husband was walking out with this cheerful, boisterous, tall, dark man -- you can tell by his walk that he was cheerful. I walked right up to the men and introduced myself. "Hi, I'm Ann." I stated with boldness and a firm hand shake. "You must be the man that didn't like losing in Mancala." Stunned be my boldness he said "Yes I am." They left right after and I thought to myself, "Wouldn't it be funny if this was the man that I was going to marry?"

3rd encounter: 20th birthday

My Love, Lee, was at my 20th birthday party that my good friend Sherry threw for me. At this time I was not interested, but I knew then there was something special and I was about to find out more. It just wasn't the right time yet, but I still had this inkling that Lee wasn't the normal guy. As I was driving home from class one day Lee popped into my mind. I told God "This guy isn't my type." God replied, "I know you better that you know yourself." That did me in. Little did I know that it would take us 6 years to get there. Lee and I weren't ready yet. God still needed to work on us individually. This was where our six year saga began.

As of today's date... I'm still waiting on the proposal. I know that it's coming soon. I'm learning that my timing that I create is not always the best timing. Sometimes you need to wait.

Lesson Learned: Good things come and sometimes you have to wait before their yours.

Words that go beyond the photo.

A few weeks ago, my love and I drove to the Twin Cities for a random visit. We were originally supposed to take a trip to Chicago but things didn't pan out. I think that it was a good thing.

On our way to the Twin Cities, Lee and I stopped into visit with my grams. She is a delightful lady. I love sitting

and talking with her. With her age getting up there in years, she repeats things a lot. On that day she said something that I never thought that would stand out to me. She said "Annie, start writing things down. There is going to come a time when you won't be able to remember all of what you've done." This made me think. I was astounded to think that there may come a day when I won't be able to remember what fueled me through the years of my time here. Now I'm a photographer, so this helps... and yes, a picture speaks a thousand words... but I started to think about what if I forgot why I took the photo? That is when the words will come into play. Throughout these next few entries. I'm going to catch up on my love, Lee. We have quite the story and I want to remember it so I pass it onto our children and others in hopes that our story will inspire others to love with reckless abandon.

Step one to myself... learn to love with reckless abandon.