12 years

Jesus tells a parable about a widow who time and again comes to a king begging for justice. Eventually, this king who neither fears God or man gives in and give the woman what she wants because she is so persistent.

Twelve years ago today, I finally gave up and agreed to go on a date with Jason. He asked me on a regular basis since March of 1997 and even though he spent the summer in California and I spent the summer in Austin, he did not let up. This man would write me letters that would go unanswered (thank you, Tarese) and yet, when we returned to OKC, he still asked me out.

I only agreed to go out with him thinking that if I said yes, he would leave me alone. And I only agreed to go out with him on a double date. So his best friend at the time, Tom and one of my girl friends, Tara agreed to go with us.

Our first dat was to the Oklahoma State Fair with the intention of going to a concert there (I don't remember who it was, but Jason will). We hadn't been walking down the fairway more than seven or eight minutes when one man yells out to Jason "Win something for your wife!" I was mortified. We kept walking and ended up at the concert site which was not a pleasent experience.

Some how or another we sat in front of some teenage kids who were smoking. And they weren't just smoking good ole nicotine. No, they were smoking weed. The first act came out and completed a nice set. The lead act came out and he had overnight lost his voice. He played two songs and then excused himself from stage for the rest of the concert. Nice, huh?

As we walked the rest of fairway, Jason did eventually win something for me in a baseball pitching game. We then headed home.

The nice, easy, tidy ending would be that since that first date I was taken by Jason and we have been together since. But come on, you know me, right? I don't do anything nice, easy and tidy do I?

After the date, Jason and I stayed up talking for while. He was still determined as ever that I was who he wanted to be with. I on the other hand was still determined as ever not to date him. Don't get me wrong, I liked Jason. He was sweet, compassionate, and doted on me. However, I had just always assumed for so many reasons that dating/marriage was not my "thing" so why bother. Besides, I had so much to balance between school work, basketball and church I could not see how he could possibly fit into my life.

I don't remember the details the conversation and I don't think Jason does either (I consider that one of the many ways God has been gracious to us) but I do know that I said some hurtful things and he responded in kind.

The problem was that following weekend we had both signed up to attend a church retreat. I was hoping that Jason would decide since I was going he would not but being the stubborn man that he was he was determined to go enjoy the retreat anyway. Again, I don't quite remember details (Jason does), but the van ride to the retreat was uncomfortable.

All of our friends had decided that the two of us were should be dating and they pretty much all spent the retreat weekend trying to convince of us this. I remember one conversation with Tom, Cedric and Anthony that lasted long into the night. It was that conversation that turned me around and convinced me that I needed to give this man a chance.

Years later those three men would stand as witnesses in our wedding.

The past 12 years have been a whirlwind. Our relationship has included miles of distance between us, hundreds of basketball games, miles traveled cross country together, more than 70 kids, a couple of very hard funerals and the ups and downs that come with marriage.

Recently in the course of one of our Bible Classes at church, we were challenged by our preacher to find out the meaning of our names. I think the defintions of our names shows how Jason and I were made for each other.

My name means "Pure Archer".
His name means "Healing Brave"

I thank God on daily basis for Jason being persistent in pursuing me. I thank God that we had friends who were willing to fight for a relationship for us even when we had both determined it was not going to happen (okay, me more than him).

Thank you, Jason, for an amazing 12 years of life together. I pray that God grant us dozens and dozens more. I love you!