The Story of Us

So some have asked but others may be less than interested in our story of how we came to be The Harper's but one day I will want to share this story with Micah and SadieJane, so here it will be for their embarrassment and enjoyment.

Mick and I originally met through a neighbor. She happened to be alot older than me(I always thought she and her friends were the coolest and could do no wrong and would try to hang out with them whenever possible:)) So when I got into high school and one of her friends was my teacher I automatically felt that I had an in. This teacher happened to be Mick. I had him for a really easy math class for lazy smart seniors (so he describes us). He led FCA and was a good role model for students. My mom and a friend from high school both seem to remember that I had a crush on him then, I honestly have NO recollection of this said crush at all. I remember discussing his cuteness factor and that all the girls decided we only found him that cute because he was a teacher and there just wasn't that much to choose from:) Anyways the fact that I new him out of the classroom gave me liscense to tease him incessantly in class. I was constantly talking and mouthing off in his class and it was the only class I was ever kicked out of in my school career. There are two stories in particular that Mick likes to bring up but I'll save those since this is going to be insanely long as it is...So anyways, that was that...Coach Harper signed my yearbook that year hoping that I had much success in the future and that I kept my priorities straight...etc. That was the last I thought I would see or hear from him. Little did we know God had a way different plan.

I went off to college, grew up alot and learned alot about myself and Jesus along the way. While I grew closer to the Lord than ever before I definitely had gained a bit of legalism and judgemental side as some Christians tend to do...I know, no, not me:) I heard off and on of "Coach Harper's" failed relationships and the seeming curse that there seemed to be on his search for Mrs. Right. I assumed he obviously wasn't "living right" and was very dissappointed to hear that another leader had fallen off their pedestal. In some ways I had a right to be dissappointed but I had no idea what was really going on with him...just heresay. I will leave Mick's past at that and just say that he experienced grace and forgiveness in ways that I had not been familiar with and through his circumstances became a better man of God than he was before(in my opinion)...mistakes and all.

Mick and I remet 6 years after high school at the Atlanta Break Co. in Dville. I walked in to eat lunch with my mom and saw his whole family sitting there. I was teaching at a Christian school dating on and off and thought absolutely nothing of seeing my old teacher there. I had honestly avoided him in the past because I felt he had failed us students by making mistakes (that's the love of Jesus talking don't ya know) BUT, he happened to be holding a six month old Bay at the time I walked by and I could not resist that cute little bald headed baby girl! I walked right up and picked her up. Knowing Wendy now, she was probably freaking out that Mick let some stranger hold her baby. I talked to them for a minute and then headed to the table with my mom. My mom and I ate lunch and then Mick came over to the table to talk to me again. My mom had her back to Mick and kept laughing at me while he talked. I went on and on about not finding any good guys to date, always a bridesmaid never a bride, etc...thinking I was talking to my teacher not a perspective suitor. Eventually Mick asks for a date...I was totally taken off guard and my mom really started laughing (she says she saw it coming from the moment we walked in) I was so taken back that instead I offered him my phone number and said maybe we could talk about a date...but in my mind it was a big no thank you sir. He left and his mom came over to the table to say "I hope to see you again, real soon!" I thought she was a little bit strange to say that but apparently Mick had informed his whole family that I was "the" girl he was supposed to date. A mutual friend of ours had gotten my number to "babysit" a few months earlier in an effort to apparently set us up. He never did and Mick said he had just prayed that if God wanted him to invest in another relationship He would have to make it obvious. Mick didn't tell me this til a little bit later...but true or not if you play the "I've been praying about you" card on a girl, there's a good chance you've got her:)

After that meeting we had a four hour "phone date" where I grilled Mick about his past and expected to be able to send him packing since he obviously didn't meet my standards and lists of what I thought a Christian girl should have...Mick often referred to these things by asking what book he could read to know exactly what my expectations were. What I found out in our first conversation was that Mick was a godly man who had yes, made mistakes, but he had also learned about God's grace and he really knew how bad we needed it. He was honest with me from the get go taking responsibility for all of his actions and I found myself really liking who he was...even with all the baggage. Not that I was baggage free myself mind you...

We then started to date and things moved pretty quickly. About a month in I took a month long hiatus. The town we live in is big and small at the same time and people's talk started to get to me. I didn't think I could handle people judging me the way that I had judged Mick so I politely told Mick I wasn't interested. He told me that was fine...he admitted God hadn't told him that but that he would respect me and not call me anymore. What? I expected way more opposition...I thought he really liked me!! So for a month or so I went on but I kept thinking about how I was letting other people make a decision for me, instead of praying and letting God help me work through something that might be a little harder than I had planned. So a month later, I called Mick, and hung up. Yeah, I just wanted to remind him I was alot younger than he was. He had caller ID back then, when he had money:) so he called me right back. We decided to try again and shortly fell in love and got engaged and got married. Pretty much that quick. Today is our 5 year anniversary of marriage and exactly 6 years from our first date.

I tell this whole story for memories sake but to also challenge others who like me thought inside the box...all along I had been praying that God would do more than I could ask or imagine for a husband. And having me marry my high school math teacher was definitely in that area. God used a situation that to many looked rushed, doomed to fail, and a little creepy I am sure:) But in the end we are proof of the redemption that He offers us in Jesus Christ. That what looks crazy or unworkable from the outside is really just how God planned it all along. I wont pretend to be perfect or that I know all the answers. There are areas that we are still working through like everyone else but when your relationship in itself reminds you of the grace that God gave us through Jesus there is a Hope that He will see it through until we go to be with Him and I trust and pray that's how it'll be.

Happy Anniversary, Coach Harper! Sorry that I have been so hard on you along the way. Thank you for being patient with me and loving me with unconditional love through Jesus. You truly are what God had in mind for me. Thank you for teaching me more about our Jesus and loving me well. I couldn't have asked for a better spouse for the last five years and I can't wait to see what God does in the next 50! I love you much!