Synchronized Diving: A Relationship...

This part was written by Jenn about how her relationship with Paz began. I figured I can't write it any better so I stole, borrowed without permission or gleeped her words from FaceBook.

Height difference is NOT an optical illusion

No, this isn’t necessarily about the Olympics, although the synchronized diving is a good metaphor for my life right now. God has been doing an amazing work the past couple weeks (make that the past few years), and I’m still in awe of all that he has done, in his good timing.

Back in January, my family and I were going through a hard time. I had set up a meeting with my pastor Jason to talk about it, and our discussion eventually led to my struggles with singleness. He encouraged me to take the next six months and pray boldly for a husband. Not that we should put timelines on God, but sometimes it’s helpful to have a focused amount of time and believe that God can work, if he chooses. So I spent the next six months praying harder than I ever had before that God would interrupt my life with the possibility of a relationship.

The second week of July, a friend posted a picture of her handsome brother on Facebook. He was a mutual friend of mine that I hadn’t talked to in a few years. I flipped over to his Facebook page, saw that he was going to seminary in Dallas, and just felt God pressing on my heart to pray for him. I spent the rest of the day doing just that, and at the end of the day, felt like I needed to message him to encourage him. God kept pressing it on my heart, so I plucked up the courage and sent him a brief message of encouragement. I knew this would have been something I would have done for any guy friend in my life, so I didn’t feel like it was too out-of-the-ordinary for me.

The next day I received a response, telling me that he was having a terrible day and my message greatly encouraged him. We messaged back and forth, and eventually moved to texting, and continued talking through the weekend and into the next week. I found out that not only did he want to be a pastor, but he wanted to be a church-planting pastor. God had already been building in my heart the desire for church-planting months before, and this commonality could not be ignored in my mind. He asked me if I’d be willing to have a Skype date, and I agreed. I wasn’t sure what this would bring, but I knew that God was doing something, and I couldn’t ignore the fact that I liked this guy after our many conversations thus far. The biggest thing that struck me was our shared passion for God and his word; it felt like iron-sharpening-iron every time we interacted, and it was becoming a greater and greater blessing to talk to this godly guy.

On Tuesday, 17 July 2012, after a 5 hour Skype conversation, Paz Galusha-Luna asked me to begin pursuing a relationship with him, and I said yes. I didn’t realize until a week later that not only was it about six months from when I started praying, but it was precisely down to the day; I looked back in my journal, and in clear letters read “17 January 2012” for when I started praying for God to bring me someone in the next six months. I’m still in awe of how God did this. For some reason, God has chosen to move quickly in bringing Paz and me together and in the progression of our dating relationship. It is only by the hand of God that he has brought us together, nearly four years after we met at a group lunch at Joe’s Farm Grill after church in October 2008, and he continues to lead our steps as we seek him in prayer.

As I watched the synchronized diving competition in the Olympics, I realized that it’s similar to how I feel about this new relationship. Paz and I are individual people who have stepped up to the diving board. We are walking in synch, and now we’ve taken that big dive off the edge. Together. There are still a lot of unknowns. It feels like I am still in midair, but I know that if I look to my side, there is Paz, who has taken the leap with me, and that is a good feeling indeed.

Paz moved back to Arizona the first of September to be close to Jenn. There was a medical bump in the road that he and Jenn would need to endure first. This was something that could make or break their relationship. I feel that they are much stronger as a couple having gone thru this together. Paz is on the road to recovery and has made huge strides towards his health. This is something that Jenn assailed at and became just like her mother in the caregiver role of things. Wonder if somehow wheat we endured with Heather was to give her the strength to take on her new role as caregiver.

Newly engaged

This is to announce that Paz finally got down on one knee and asked Jenn to marry him on Friday November 2, 2012. The wedding will be February 9, 2013. We are very pleased to have made huge strides int he planning area of the wedding. 

Please join me in congratulating Jenn and Paz on their engagement...

Their smiles say it all...