The Power of Prayer Made It Worth The Wait

Our story begins on two sides of the globe - America and Australia I was working in Clear Lake at the Johnson Space Center, when one morning I logged onto my computer (Government Property) and discovered several emails from around the world! Oh My! I thought. "What has my mother done now". Let me explain. I had just broken up with a wonderful man after a 9 1/2 yr. dating relationship. We both felt it was unhealthy to continue dating if we were going in different directions and the commitment of marriage was not going to be made. As right as the decision was, it left my heart very broken. My mother, who had discovered the internet and a live Christian Chat Room based out of Pensacola, Florida, had just weeks before began chatting and praying with people from around the world. She would get in the same time each morning and talk to the new friends she had made. Often they would share prayer requests with each other and pray for the needs. She had asked for prayer for my broken heart and gave them my work email address because I didn't have a computer at home. The next morning when I saw all the emails from Denmark, New York, Australia, Chicago and various other places, I called my mother to find out what she had done. The emails were very nice many just sent a prayer and others shared their stories of healing through broken relationships. One email stuck out that of a Christian man from Australia who asked a few questions as well as making comments. After work I logged in and responded to each email thanking them. To Ted, the man from Australia, I answered his questions and then asked a few of my own. I would say the rest is history, but there is a bit more to tell. I soon got a computer at home so I wouldn't be using Government property and having to stay after work. We corresponded every day (or should I say, I wrote in the evenings which was morning in Australia). Our conversations got longer and longer in private chat rooms and he called on the phone from time to time. The first time we spent 4 hours long distance by phone. We knew our feelings were growing more and more so we thought of how we could possibly meet. He wanted to come to America (a place he had never been) but didn't have the vacation time or the money saved at the time. I on the other hand, had the time and money to make the trip to Down Under. I have always wanted to go to Australia and I found I even had a cousin there that I had never met who lived only 45 minutes from where Ted was living. He found a couple from his church who wanted to have me stay with them so we could meet and spend time together and I always knew I could even stay with my cousin if things did not work out. Four and a half months after our first email, I flew to Queensland, Australia where we met face to face. I can't say it was love at first sight because he was so different from the men I had dated in my past. But his charm and Christian convictions compelled me to him like a magnet. Those 2 weeks flew by and soon I was returning to America unsure where our feelings would take us. When I got back to work they had plastered the hall ways with a photo of me holding a Koala Bear standing next to Ted (a photo I had faxed for them to see us not knowing what they'd do with it). April 2nd, 1998 (just one day after arriving home), when I logged on to talk to him that evening, Ted proposed to me on-line. He asked if I would marry him and so I was busy making my "YES" big and bold which was taking what seemed like a long time to respond to Ted, so he wrote, "You don't have to answer right now if you want" but by then I had hit my "send" button and he received my "YES". I then called my parents and told them to log in to the chat room because Ted was on-line and wanted to ask them something. He asked them for my hand in marriage. My best friend wanted to set up a telephone interview with him because she said she didn't want me marrying an axe murderer or someone who said they were one thing but turned out to be another and she swore she could tell the difference if she could speak to him and ask him certain questions. Well, we did just that and she gave us her approval. :-) Ted flew to America in September and we were married on the Sept. 19, 1998. The next day we spent our Honeymoon in Hawaii and flew on to Australia where we lived nearly 4 years and 2 children later before returning back to Texas. A few extra special things happened as well for our wedding: * My brother wrote, played, and sang a song especially for us at the wedding in Texas * Ted's church in Australia planned for us to have a ceremony and marry again so his friends and my cousin from Brisbane could see us marry. * My friend who did the telephone interview from Tennessee was able to attend our wedding in Texas and meet him face to face and give us her blessing. Our grooms cake was - a fake computer sitting on top of a chocolate cake with the real print-out of the proposal on the screen and both the American flag and the Australian flag decorated on the cake. America and Australia have been good friends politically and they share the same Red, White and Blue colors in each flag so we were sure to get along even through the differences in traditions and accents. I guess you can blame this all on my mother but I'm thankful both my parents gave us their blessing and Ted has fit into our family great. We have been happily married now going on 8 years. A couple other unique things about this marriage: We got married at my church located in Webster, Texas - Ted's last name (and mine now) is WEBSTER and... The funny thing about all this is that I was leading a Christian women's group at Nasa called "Women's Aglow" and a few ladies from Queensland Australia came into Galveston on a ship and had a few days before leaving so they looked up Women's Aglow and found our chapter and visited it. Since I was President at the time, it was often the normal thing to do to greet visitors. We were captivated by their accent and sweet spirits and invited them to come back and share the next time they were in Galveston Port. A few months later they did just that. Before the meeting we all prayed together and they prayed for God to send me a Godly husband - little did they know they were from the same place my husband would come from. They also gave us a plaque from the Women's Aglow there in Queensland which I had kept and still have to this day. I also had an Australian Silky Yorky puppy at home which I loved dearly, so Australia was destined to be part of my future. This was about a year before I even met Ted. Funny how God puts the pieces of the puzzle of our lives together. Ted and I came back to America (Texas) in 2002 and in 2003 we started videoing Weddings and Special events to make extra money outside of his regular job so I could stay home with the children. Our business has been really blessed and has grown. We are going on our 4th year and love it because it is something we can do together. Each time we hear another couple reciting their vows it reminds us of how good God was to bring two people from opposite sides of the world together and make such a beautiful love story - one we will never forget. I now encourage other single people - don't give up, God knows just where you're at and if you just wait on Him He'll bring the best for you even if He has to bring them from the other side of the globe. I was 36 when I married and I can say "it was worth the wait".

 

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