Our story is one of God making all things work together for the good for those who love Him. Taking two flawed individuals and directing our paths to each other, for the edification of one another and for His glory.

Joe and I met in August 2022 while I was in graduate school and also at a time when I was wrestling with whether another relationship was the right one and it's long term compatibility.

During this time, I was upfront with Joe about my situation. He was respectful and patient, but also let me know we could talk anytime I wanted. While I wrestled with whether this other relationship was the one God had for me, unbeknown to me Joe had moved to Green Bay August 2023 to be by his parents and help his dad recover from surgery. Joe later told me, had he and I already been together, he probably wouldn't have been able to be there for his dad (and mom) in the capacity that he was.

In November of 2023, my other relationship was at a point where I knew my time of indecision had reached it's max. Differences were not resolving themselves with time and I had to decide whether I could be okay with it the way it was or if I needed to let go, even though it was hard. I took an evening to seek the Lord and asked Him to somehow show me what to do. I turned on a song on YouTube that has resonated with me before and did again, especially that night. Ginny Owens, If you want me to. Most will know YouTube autogenerates videos "related to" what you're watching. I clicked on another song that came up on the side and as I sat quietly listening to the next song and praying, I glanced over videos listed from this second song playing, and one caught my eye from a pastor at Elevation Church who I hadn't listened to in a long time. It was a new sermon by him that was just posted a week or two prior, titled, "The Blessing of Letting Go" and felt I was supposed to listen to it.

He talked about when Jacob wrestled with an Angel all night, saying to the Angel, that he would not let him go until God blessed him. Pastor Furtick went on to say, Jacob believed in order to get the blessings from God, he had to hold on to the Angel, in order to "win". But the blessings God wanted to give Jacob and had for him, were only received after he let go. He then challenged the audience, what are you holding onto that God is waiting for you to let go of so that he can bless you with more?

After hearing it, I believed God had directed me to that message, and confirmed what I'd already sensed for a while. There were blessings God had for me in my life, but in order to receive them, I had to let go of this other relationship first and at the end of November 2023 we went our separate ways.

Several months prior to this Joe and I agreed that he'd no longer initiate conversations but if I ever wanted to talk or needed something, I could reach out to him. By the end of November 2023 Joe and I hadn't talked for a few months and I'd decided I would wait a little before reaching out to him again. I also thought, with how long I'd kept him waiting, he'd moved on. Then on Christmas Day 2023, I got a simple text from him saying, "Merry Christmas Abby, Hope you and your family have a nice holidday."

I texted him back "Merry Christmas" and told him how things played out the month prior. That started us talking again daily and on January 9th, 2024 we made our relationship official and have been on an exciting and blessed journey since!