Today I am excited to share a sweet love story. Esther has become one of my newest blog friends and I can tell she has a heart of gold. Her blog is adorable just like her English self! She read my love story the other week and was sweet enough (and maybe inspired?) to send me her's. I especially love her happy ending because, well, she gets to end up with a Matt too. And simple put - Matt's are the best :)
Want to share your love story with me and Gratefully Inspired? Email me here!
Without further ado, I'll let Esther take it from here.
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Well, it started when I
was 18 and moved from a little town in the south of England to the smoke and
lights of London. I decided to do a gap year working with a charity called XLP
who works with kids on the edge of gangs. The year started with an induction
week, team games, washing up rota's....that sort of thing. There were about 20
of us all getting to know each other. One night we had a pasta bake, you know
the type that seems to solidify and stick like rubber to the dish? The two
people who were put on the task of scrubbing were me and a guy named Matt. In
the 2 (deliberately elongated) hours that it took us to wash that pan we talked
and talked. At the end of the induction week we all moved into our own houses
and parted ways to the different London boroughs. Several of us planned to meet
up that evening and explore the area but as each hour went by another person
dropped out until I walked to Stepney green tube station and the only person
standing there was Matt. We then spent the next 4 hours in an ice cream parlour
opening our hearts, sharing our dreams, hopes and passions. Finally at about
1am they chucked us out. This was in September.
I think we would both agree it was that night we knew we had met 'the one'. The following month I went home and told me parents I had found the man I was going to marry. Matt always tells the story of how the week after we went to the ice cream parlour I had gone with him to a worship practice and his youth group had been there. The next Sunday they started teasing him about it 'ooh who's Esther!' To which he replied 'for now we are just friends but one day I will marry her.' Bold statements which I imagine stopped the teasing.
However, there were rules about people having exclusive relationships in the charity we were working for (which is probably wise) and on top of that, Matt had been employed as a church/youth worker and I was a gap year student. So we were told we had to put it on hold. Which we.....did..ish. For a year we would secretly text and try not to make eye contact across the room at meetings (you have no idea how many stomach butterflies were born). Eventually I graduated that year in July and the following august Matt took me away for my 19th birthday. A surprise to me but apparently no one else. I left the weekend with a ring on my finger and the excitement of planning a wedding to look forward to. (The proposal was beautiful and involved a book he had made from scratch)
I found that quite a few people were cynical of me getting married at this age and it was a struggle for the year after we got engaged as I became a student and was living in stereotypical student halls. But we got through it and dealt with problems there so we didn't carry them into our marriage.
He truly is everything I could have wished for. When I was younger at sleepovers we would write lists of all the things we wanted in our future husband, things like they have to be musical, tall, a skater, good at photography, want to travel the world....totally superficial stuff.
When I think back to my list, he is actually all these things and thankfully more. When God says he provides, it's no joke. I am so blessed and that has constantly been the story of our relationship.
We got married on July the 21st this year, it was so glory filled.
I will leave you with a quote that I think describes what I love most about our marriage,
'I belong completely, permanently and exclusively to you' (Tim Keller, The Meaning of Marriage)
Isn't that powerful?
I think we would both agree it was that night we knew we had met 'the one'. The following month I went home and told me parents I had found the man I was going to marry. Matt always tells the story of how the week after we went to the ice cream parlour I had gone with him to a worship practice and his youth group had been there. The next Sunday they started teasing him about it 'ooh who's Esther!' To which he replied 'for now we are just friends but one day I will marry her.' Bold statements which I imagine stopped the teasing.
However, there were rules about people having exclusive relationships in the charity we were working for (which is probably wise) and on top of that, Matt had been employed as a church/youth worker and I was a gap year student. So we were told we had to put it on hold. Which we.....did..ish. For a year we would secretly text and try not to make eye contact across the room at meetings (you have no idea how many stomach butterflies were born). Eventually I graduated that year in July and the following august Matt took me away for my 19th birthday. A surprise to me but apparently no one else. I left the weekend with a ring on my finger and the excitement of planning a wedding to look forward to. (The proposal was beautiful and involved a book he had made from scratch)
I found that quite a few people were cynical of me getting married at this age and it was a struggle for the year after we got engaged as I became a student and was living in stereotypical student halls. But we got through it and dealt with problems there so we didn't carry them into our marriage.
He truly is everything I could have wished for. When I was younger at sleepovers we would write lists of all the things we wanted in our future husband, things like they have to be musical, tall, a skater, good at photography, want to travel the world....totally superficial stuff.
When I think back to my list, he is actually all these things and thankfully more. When God says he provides, it's no joke. I am so blessed and that has constantly been the story of our relationship.
We got married on July the 21st this year, it was so glory filled.
I will leave you with a quote that I think describes what I love most about our marriage,
'I belong completely, permanently and exclusively to you' (Tim Keller, The Meaning of Marriage)
Isn't that powerful?
-Esther
7 comments :
I agree, Matt's are the best! Such a sweet love story, thanks for sharing!
Such a sweet love story. Perfect read while sipping my morning coffee on this gray and rainy Thursday!
so sweet! and i love that wedding picture of them!!
Esther:) Loved reading your story!! and i ADORE that quote at the end! thanks for sharing!!! love Katie
Hello :) thank you!
I've just had a look at all your blogs, you all seem so inspirational and lovelyyyyyy, I'm serious. Oh.
Do versions of you exist but in London, so we can be friends....
X
Such a precious story. God is SO good and I'm thankful for reminders from others about his goodness and love for us. I love Tim Keller's quote you shared at the end about marriage, too. Congratulations on your marriage!
As Esther's dad I echo all of the above and am delighted to see from a distance the glory of God shining out through their lives!
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