I was reading a book this morning that made me think about when I first met Scott, and our commitment to purity. Someday we want our kids to know the story. We know that they will wonder, and we know that purity will probably be tough for them. I don't mind telling it to others in hope that it would be an encouragement to someone else. Don't worry, it's safe to read :)
The first time I ever saw Scott was in August of 2000. It was my first day of college at Pittsburg State University. I was sitting in my algebra class waiting for it to start. The teacher wasn't there yet, so we were all just sitting at our desks and I was talking to a super tall girl on the volleyball team named Gloria.
A guy in a red shirt walked in, slung his red backpack on the teachers desk, grabbed a piece of chalk and wrote, "Mr. Marshall" on the green chalkboard. Gloria and I immediately looked at each other and at the same time whispered, "Whoa, is THAT the teacher?" Definitely not what we were expecting for our first day of class! I never said a word to him the entire semester except for when I had to ask for my assignment when I was going to be gone for a cross country meet. He was known amongst the track girls as the "hot algebra teacher" and if they weren't in his class they were trying to change their schedule to get into his class. I didn't make a fuss like the other girls, I didn't know him, and besides, I didn't want to date anybody. Running and school was enough for me at that point. And I thought he probably had a girlfriend anyway.
I went home to Emporia that summer and ran and worked at Price Chopper. When I went back to PSU the following semester I started attending Cross Quest. I saw him at CQ and recognized him and maybe we said, "hi". I also started seeing him around campus and we would walk past each other in the Oval all the time. We would say, "hi" in passing because it would have been rude not to. Who can forget a teacher that good looking? And he remembered that I was in his class.
But there was this girl that he was always with at CQ and they were ALWAYS laughing together. I was sure she was his girlfriend. But we continued to "run into each other" all the time, and finally I figured out that she was not his girlfriend. Yay! I was so excited!
Almost every day we were in the student center at the same time, so we would talk. I went to Trinity Baptist Church one Sunday with a girl I ran with and saw him there. This increased my interest in him and I started going to church there. I know, there should have been a better reason for going to that church!
For a long time, we just talked whenever we saw each other. He never called me and he never asked me out. I thought I might go crazy! One day he finally called me and wanted to come over to my house. When he got there we went on a walk where he talked to me about courtship. He gave me a book that he wanted me to read about it. He told me that he didn't want to date, he wanted to court, and the book would explain the difference. By courting instead of dating, we both knew that we were serious about getting married. He also told me that he thought God was leading us together, and if I didn't feel the same way then we needed to go our separate ways.
So we started our courtship. We were very protective about what we did together. We were very rarely alone. We did a lot of things with our friends. We surrounded ourselves with Christian friends who also wanted to honor the Lord. There were always people getting together to play games, so that's what we did. We had physical boundaries and talked about how we could honor God in our relationship. People who didn't know us couldn't tell if we were a couple, they thought we were brother and sister!
One day in February, the year after all the talking began, Scott wanted to actually do something alone together. I thought it very strange. We went to a park. Before we left he wanted to pray. After he prayed he pulled out a ring and asked me to marry him.
I am so thankful for how Scott took the lead, kept us pure, and laid a very strong foundation for our marriage. It was not easy. Every choice to obey God will be attacked by the enemy. But being able to stand before God without guilt on your wedding day is precious.
Addy, Luke, Brooke, and any other kids we have. One day you will wonder. And the answer is "Yes, we waited."
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