Our Story - Luke & Serena

This tells the story of how God brought Luke and I together….enjoy!

From Serena:

In late November 2007, I attended a Bernina National Teacher’s Retreat in Chicago and met a wonderful new friend named Joanna. I returned home from that sewing/quilting retreat thrilled and excited! Not only did I meet someone my age who was as intensely involved in sewing as I was, but also a Christian who with very limited conversation, seemed to agree with my values in so many areas of life and only lived a few hours away in Colorado Springs!

Through the next several months and many emails later, Joanna and I discovered that we were alike in so many ways–in our ideas, goal, hobbies and even Siamese cats! Over the next year, Joanna and I would visit each other and it was on one of those trips that I met her brother, Luke. We both talked about our families and knew about them, but I noticed that she talked more about Luke. I saw him as nothing more than one of Joanna’s brothers, so I didn’t give it much thought.

But it was on one of my trips to Colorado Springs in April of 2009 that Luke stood out to me in a different way than I’d seen him before. I began to see things in him that were characteristics I was looking for and desired in a spouse. Still, even through some excellent Godly qualities I saw, I saw a difference in our interests and abilities where I just didn’t think we would be compatible. On the way home, I remember thinking and praying about the idea of a future relationship with Luke. But by the end of that six hour trip home, I decided it just wouldn’t work.

August arrived and Joanna moved from Colorado to Iowa. On their way to Iowa to help break up the trip, Joanna and Luke stopped at our house. To me it was a stop along the way of a long drive, but little did I know that Luke was looking for a reason to visit and had already been interested and praying about me. After that visit, a facebook friend request was soon followed by multiple emails from Luke to me. I did enjoy Luke’s emails, but still was not considering anything more between us than just ordinary friends. But through those emails, I started to learn more and more about him.

From August to November, those sporadic emails and facebook chats continued. The week before Thanksgiving my dad told me that Luke called him and asked about starting a relationship with me. Which took me by total surprise! I had made the decision months before that a relationship between Luke and myself wouldn’t work, so I was rather shocked, but after a couple days of talking and praying about it, we both agreed to it.

Therefore, Luke and I continued to email back and forth, but this time with a little different purpose in mind. Right after Christmas, Dad and I drove to Colorado to visit with his family. Even through that visit and our continued emails back and forth, I was still very uncertain and couldn’t see any future relationship with Luke. Continually, I was praying that God would show us very clearly if this was something that would or wouldn’t work.

February came and that was the first weekend that Luke came out here to visit me. Luke was just a friend to me–I was thinking and praying about him being more than just that, but my thoughts hadn’t gone further…yet. I began to see more and more things in him that were important to me; just like what I had seen a year ago that sparked my interest in him on my last trip to Colorado Springs.

I was still uncertain, but God began to show me more and more that this really might work. Luke started coming out every month for a weekend and our emails between those visits continued, but started to be much more frequent and longer. As April arrived, I could tell Luke’s emails were changing and becoming more serious and if I was still uncertain, then it was best for both of us not to continue. Was I ready to tell myself yes, this is someone with whom I can see spending the rest of my life? Or no, I still just don’t see any future relationship between us?

Through the contents of the next multiple sets of long emails, I could see that God had been working in both of us over the last two years. That this really was the one person with whom I could spend the rest of my life. That this was the Godly man who I had been praying for years and could trust, support and confidently call my husband.

Since my birthday was on a Sunday, Luke was determined to come to Kansas that weekend. That Sunday was no different than any other except that Luke gave me one birthday gift before church and another one after church. Later that evening, Luke and I started our late night talks, which was an ordinary end to the day when Luke was here. Then Luke informed me that he had one last birthday gift for me and that was asking me to marry him! He totally surprised me! But of course, I said, “Yes!” to his very important and best birthday gift of the day! :) It was the best birthday I’ve ever had and the best gift Luke could have ever given me!

How thrilled I am that God has blessed me so much in bringing Luke into my life. There’s nothing quite as exciting as waiting until God’s perfect timing in bringing that perfect person and seeing how He provides in every single little detail. As I look back in how Joanna and I met each other which later led to meeting Luke, I can see God working and preparing me for him even when I was totally unaware of it!

From Luke:

It started with a desire; a desire to be married. My plan was to finish high school, start college or a career and get married around the age of twenty two. The only problem was that God had a different plan. Twenty two came and went and I was still single without anyone I would be interested in marrying. Yet God left the desire to be married in my heart and I kept asking, “God, why did you give me this desire if you’re not going to bring any one into my life?”

My whole family was on the lookout for someone and would point out possibilities to me, but there was never anyone that I really felt God was leading me to. About that time I started to give up and that was when my sister Joanna flew to Chicago for a three day trip. When she returned home, she told my family about this new friend she had made while she was out there and that they wanted to start visiting each other. That friend was Serena. I was always watching for anyone who could be a possible spouse and was looking forward to meeting this new friend of Joanna’s.

At the time, I was living about a half an hour away from my parent’s house and had to make a point to visit while Serena was there. I came over for dinner one night and afterward thought, “Well she seems nice enough, but I don’t think we would ever work together.” So, I put her out of my mind and kept looking elsewhere. Joanna continued to write to Serena and as she got to know her better, she started hinting to me that I really should get to know her. (When a best friend, in this case my sister, starts telling you that you should get to know someone, you might want to listen. : )) But I didn’t.

As Serena continued to visit, something else happened…my family started to really like her as well. Now both my mom and sister were saying, you really should get to know her! I finally agreed and in addition to starting to pray about her a lot, Joanna and I started planning things that we could do while she visited that would let me be around her more and observe her without her knowing I was interested. After a few visits I decided that my family was right; this was someone worth getting to know.

In August, Joanna decided to take a job in Iowa. I asked if it would be all right if we stopped at the Smiths on the way to give me chance to be around Serena a little bit more and really see what I thought. I left her house with her email address and a good feeling that maybe God was going to make this work out after all. So we started emailing, at first fairly sporadically. But as the weeks progressed, I found myself writing more and more frequently. I could see God’s hand in bringing us together and really was beginning to think that this might work. In November I decided that it was time to begin an official courtship.

I called Serena’s father, asking for his permission to court her. He told me that he would discuss it with his daughter and that they would pray about it and get back to me. At this point I asked God for a sign to let me clearly know what to do. I said, “Lord if you’re in this, I want a “yes” from both her and her dad. Not “I guess”. Not “yes” from one and “whatever” from the other. But a definite “yes” from both her and her dad.”

Even though I had been praying about our relationship for a while and felt that God was in it, I was surprised when God gave me exactly what I asked for and we began our courtship. Our emails increased in frequency and the topics of discussion became a little more serious. Serena and her dad came out to visit right after Christmas and my first trip to Kansas was in February. I started traveling to see Serena once a month and in between those visits, our emails continued. In April, I knew that God had brought this wonderful girl into my life and I wanted her to be in my life forever.

When I discovered that her birthday was on a weekend (the only time I could visit), I started forming a plan. On the evening of May 16th, I told her I had one last gift for her and asked her to marry me. She gave me a gift far greater than anything I’d given her when she said yes that night. God worked in ways that I’d never imagined to bring me the perfect spouse and it’s unbelievable to see how He worked out every tiny detail.