The other night I came home from a church meeting to a note by the door telling me to put on a formal dress that was hung over a chair. After following the instructions I walked into a candle lit setting with romantic music from the ‘90’s playing. Travis was all dressed up and he grabbed my hand and started dancing with me. Then he had 100 questions that he had found that we could ask each other to get to know each other more. He had snacks and drinks all ready too. It was such a sweet and romantic evening. It took me back to three months after we started dating; that day I got to Travis place and there was a note on the door that told me to go inside and go to his room, to close the door and sit down at the computer. So I did. In the room there was a note with instructions to go to a site on the computer, when I did there on the site was a really sweet video Travis had made for me of memories we had had together up to that point. Then it led to another site where he told me we were going out to eat right then and one day would go to the ROM together. He knew I had never been and wanted to do that. When I came out of the room Travis was sitting on the couch holding flowers in his hand. That day I realized Travis was potentially a keeper and I realized that right there in front of me I had a very romantic guy.

Nine years later I can say that Travis has continued to romance me. There are so many different times that he has completely surprised me and left me amazed at how good he is at planning things. I’m reminded again of that song that was sung at our wedding, “I wonder what God was thinking when He created you. I wonder if He knew everything I would need because He made all my dreams come true. When God made you He must have been thinking about me.”

If I am honest with you I can say I have had some pretty bad relationships. I have had men who didn’t appreciate me and who treated me not how God would have wanted them to treat me. I have been involved in really bad situations, and well, lets just say I was not treated like a princess, like I was special or like I was the only one. I remember there was a time where I got to a point that I thought I would never ever be able to trust a man again. I had been so hurt in the past I didn’t believe there were any good men out there anymore or that there were any men that would really care about me the way that I longed for. Before Travis came into my life I used to picture one day getting married but it isn’t what you think. I used to picture myself as a bride walking down the aisle marrying a guy but as I walked down the aisle the whole way down I thought, “I will marry this guy, but I will never trust him.” I believed that is what I would have to settle for. No man would ever love me right. I one day was going to marry a guy who would cheat on me and physically hurt me and I would have to be okay with that.

Well July 17^th, 2010 I married my best friend and as I walked down the aisle looking at him it never once crossed my mind that I did not trust him. I was so excited to marry Travis, I knew he was a man that desired to follow God and knew he had eyes only for me. Nothing but complete trust and happiness was in my heart.

Has our marriage been perfect? No! I don’t believe any one has the perfect marriage as I don’t believe anyone loves the way 1 Corinthians 13:4-8  tells us to love. I am pretty sure no husband or wife could say that they are always patient, always kind, never envious. I do believe though that we are supposed to continue to try to love the way God wants us to and that is what Travis and I try to do.

What I have seen in Travis and my marriage is that it is possible to trust again. Sure things are different then romantic movies, but it is possible to have a man sweep you off your feet, show you what it means to really be loved and respected and to be the one woman that he wants to be married to and be with for the rest of his life. It is possible to have a man that continues to shock you with surprises and to make you feel like you are so incredibly special, beautiful and everything he needs. So for this “month of love” I wanted to share with you a glimpse of the romantic side of Travis. I hope for those women that have been hurt by men that through my story you can see that it is possible to trust again. You don’t have to be afraid that every man will hurt you and you need to know that there are good, honest men out there who desire to follow God and put Him first therefore making them want to be respectful and loving men to you. Also if you are a woman that feels like you have done wrong in your life and no man will love you because of it, know that that is a lie from the enemy. Travis has always accepted me despite my past. The day I told him he did not flinch or act like he didn’t want to be with me anymore. He told me he didn’t care who I was and what I did in my past, that no matter what I told him it didn’t change anything and he saw me for who I was today. Travis has never used my past against me and has never looked at me differently because of it and for that I am so thankful. So thank you Travis for always seeing the new me and for loving me in a way I never, ever could have imagined.  All you have done for me and continue to do for me means so much and I am so grateful that God placed you in my life and that it is I who gets to be your wife. You are incredible. I LOVE YOU BABE!!!