I met Tony on a blind date May 10, 1975.  I was just getting ready to graduate high school and he was in the U.S. Air Force stationed at Grissom Air Force Base.  We went to King's Island in Cincinnati, Ohio.  I had grown up in a very dysfunctional home and I was really not sure about a relationship but the minute we got on the first ride(it was one that he had to put his arm around me) I knew that this was going to be my forever friend and love.  We dated for a few months and then on December 24, 1975 he asked me to be his wife.  We were married on March 6, 1976 and it has been a wonderful life.  We serve God together and our home, our child and his wife, and our grandchildren all attend church together.  Our son is a licensed minister and youth pastor, my husband and I are children's ministry directors and it all started on the day I fell in love.

The moment I fell in love was when I first laid eyes on my daughter. She was a miracle sent from God. After going into an emergency C-section she was born at only 1lb 7.6oz. Neither she nor I was expected to live. After being in the intensive care unit for two days without seeing her, I became nervous and worried. Finally, I was put into a wheel chair and taken to the neonatal nursery. As soon as I saw her I knew she would surprise the doctors and not only survive but thrive. She is now 6 years old and the most amazing person in my life.

The moment I fell in love wasn't the moment I met him, it was better than that. It was on a chilly night, sitting on the lifeguard station at the beach talking, just talking with him until the sun dawned over the glistening horizon. Then again, on another rainy night at the beach in Santa Monica hanging out, talking with him. I stared at the water mesmerized. I realized he cherished my presence, valued me and listened to me. I thought, "Yes, this is what I want for the rest of my life."  It was the moment I realized that he made me the most important person in his world, all the while never demanding anything in return. A man generous and giving with his time, attention and passion. It was on yet another memorable cold and windy night on the beach when he first kissed me...and I actually saw fireworks. WOW! It was every single one of those moments and all the other ones I don't have room to share. Ten years later, today, I am still in LOVE! I love you Nolving!

When he tenderly kissed me for the first time in the porch-lit hallway of my parents home, I knew John was the man for me. I loved him from that moment on. But actually, falling in love with John is an ongoing adventure.
We were childless for five years because of infertility. John was never bitter. And when our son was born, the depth of John's love for me literally burst onto the scene. I saw a man tested, a man of God whose strength of character amazed me. It was then that I fell deeply in love with John.
Jesse was born prematurely. There were lifelong complications due to his multiple disabilities. We almost said good-bye to Jesse many times. My precious John shouldered everything he could to spare my mother's heart the grief it often bore. He stood in harm’s way for me. Jesse is with Jesus now. John loves our 22 year old son, Jordan, just as he loved Jesse, the way God loves His children; without conditions. He loves me that way, too.

I saw this clean-cut guy over a volleyball net and I was the only girl playing.  Later, I went swimming and met his roommate who got my name.  Les knew the telephone operator in the school district so he got my number.  I checked the year book when he called because I did not want to go out with the other guy. I was the dental hygienist in the same district and for our first lunch date I was so nervous that I put an instrument in the waste basket and the paper towel in the sterilizer. We began dating and I would watch for him to come home to the place where he was renting across the main street. We have been married 43 years and our love is stronger especially since I am on my second set of radiation treatments for breast cancer. The miracle is that it was encapsulated for one year and had not spread from the sight. God is so good to us.

I was thirteen when I first saw the person God had planned for my life. It was our first Sunday at a new church and I saw her walking in with her family. I thought to myself, there is something about this girl. We started to get to know each other and even started dating a couple of years later. It was my junior year in high school, when I felt like I need to lay the relationship down. We were pretty serious and I wanted to make sure it was God's will. Unfortunately, I broke her heart. After a year of seeking God, I once again saw her come into church one Sunday morning and on that morning I knew without a shadow of doubt this was the woman God had for me. After a couple of months of restoring our broken relationship, we restarted our relationship and was married eight months later. Now we have been married ten year and have three beautiful children. We are excited about all God has for us, and the love He gave, so we could love.

My husband and I share a unique story. His name is Jack and I am Jill and we have been best friends since the fifth grade.  He sat behind me in class and played with my hair.  This was the year he asked me to be the mother of his children.  I admit it didn't sound romantic in the fifth grade since I was not entirely sure how you became a mother but by the time I was 21, I was certain that I wanted to marry him.  I guess some things just go together like Jack & Jill.  We married on Valentine's Day 1986.  The only hang up was I said that I did not want to have children, yet he married me anyway.  God had other plans for me though and the next March, Meredith Raye arrived.  The thing I thought I didn’t want, I fell in love with and I am now the mother of five wonderful children - Meredith, Josiah, Hannah, Noah and Moriah Grace. I am so glad that God’s plans are always so much better than ours!  (PS 127:3-5)

Every person on our mission's team made that final trek to Children’s Vision International, an orphanage shining like a beacon in the dark, drug-infested city of Bogota, Columbia. The weight of the separation caused us to plod more than walk. But for the length of a block we continued, making sure that Jennifer -- the woman who’d taken care of six-month-old Jesus David from the day he arrived so very close to death -- was centered safely between us.
At the blue security door, the leader of our team pushed the buzzer. While the founders of the orphanage, Jeanene and Richard, came down, we took turns kissing Jesus David’s soft, smiling cheeks and letting him curl his fingers around one of ours. Randy went last. He lowered his muscular, 6’2’’ frame, pushed back Jesus David’s knitted cap with thick fingers and gently pressed his lips to the child’s forehead. When he glanced up, his hazel eyes met mine. The sodium glow of the distant streetlight caught the tears pooling there. In that moment -- watching a man weep while separating from a child -- the hidden chambers of my heart opened, and I knew that I loved him.

I walked into the crowded church and scurried into the one empty seat.  The guest speaker, author of "A Taste of New Wine" and other Christian books, spoke on gifts of the spirit, among them faith.  At the end of the sermon, he challenged everyone to take out a piece of paper and write down one of out biggest desires and place the paper in the offering bag as it came by.  He told us to exercise our faith.  He then prayed over these requests and dismissed the meeting.  "I want to find a good Christian husband.," I wrote.  After his prayer, I turned around and standing behind me was the most handsome, tall, good-looking guy I had seen, with a shy smile on his face. In the fellowship hall afterwards, we chatted, and started dating.  I fell in love with this stranger, the moment I met him. A year later we married.  That was 35 years ago.

I stepped off the plane in Hyderabad, India after traveling 26 hours.  It was 90 degrees at 3:00 AM.  I traveled  8 hours by car to the largest of the orphanages with 50 kids.  Thousands of people sleeping on the pavement – beggars with leprosy approaching the car.  All I had were stuffed animals, personal  items, sewing machines and a heart to serve.   I passed out the teddy bears.  The little girl with the brown black eyes and the short black hair looked at the red bear and began to twirl it in the air with a look of glee on her face – in that moment I fell in love with the children of India.  At 5 years old she had been raped while living on the streets and was brought to the orphanage.  She will be at the orphanage until she passes her high school exams. She will receive instruction in the things of God.  I met 200 children each with their own story – parents with leprosy, the loss of parents in the tsunami – and I knew I would love these children and the people of this nation.  It was an experience with the love of God for a nation.