Love Stories

Our God with His all encompassing capacity to do all things shows us glimpses of Himself.

Our God has had a plan from the beginning .. yet another reason I love Him so much ..   God is all about relationships.  We get pictures of what He is trying to teach us through His Word, examples of His purpose.

With the greatness of God in mind I was hoping over the next couple months to see some pictures the Lord has put into our very lives. Illustrations of relationships.

Romantic ones particularly  (this is a woman's blog after all) I am asking several women to share with us their courtship stories of love.

Our life with God is a courtship of love - He, the ultimate pursuer of us and we His beloved.

As a reflection of God and His relationship with us, He has created marriage to be a likeness of Christ and the Church. In the examples God has brought into our lives we can see evidences of His sovereign Hand and His goodness.

Our first couple will be 

Johnathon Cobb and Meredith Denny

I asked Meredith if she would share some of their relationship with us and this is what she wrote to me ..

Johnathan and I met when his family began coming to Antioch Community Church, where my family attended for 13 years. We spent time together at church and home school events, since both of our families were home schooled and members of the Alamance County Christian Home Educators. 

I noticed Johnathan before he noticed me, but he was the first to voice any interest. He called me on the phone when he was 9 years old, and told me he couldn't eat or sleep for thinking about me, and he thought I was very pretty. Of course, at that age I was not thinking much about boys, but wore his admiration around my neck like a medal, for I had already noticed him and thought he was cute. 

Our mutual, obvious admiration for each other began winter of 2003, when we spent tech week for the play "The Hiding Place" at the Paramount together with our other friends in Arts Alive drama class. We began to actually correspond in 2004 after playing opposing romantic roles in Arts Alive's spring play "The Bronze Bow." He played a Roman soldier that was in love with a young, timid Jewish girl (played by me), and in the last scene they were united to break bread together, which meant we got to sit on the same pillow at the supper table! We were so excited. 

Johnathan and I have had many struggles and rough times in our relationship.. I can remember sometimes asking God why He would give me such a passion and a fascination with this man; for he was not exactly what I always thought I would pick. My attention was captured by this wild thing that lived life so differently from the pattern I was raised in ~ he lived an adventure with a reckless abandon, without fear or thought for what other people may think. He is simply a man that does what he wants; who does not let society, trend, or anything else tell him what he should value or pursue. This is something I am still drawn to now. Those traits inspire a vision: Johnathan Cobb as a leader of men, taking orders from the Lover of his heart, Jesus Christ; enabled to accomplish difficult tasks with a reckless and fierce passion, taking pleasure in just being who he was created to be. And to think I have been chosen to be an help meet for him? Beyond my wildest dreams, I can assure you. 

We have broken up a couple of times in our long courtship (or whatever you want to call it), but were always reconciled in the end. I told the Lord that after so much back and forth I was confused and needed 

a sure confirmation of His wishes for Johnathan and I: 

to love him and let him go, 

or love him and commit myself to him for the rest of my life. 

I got what I asked for in a dream, which by the way,

 He doesn't usually speak to me in dreams.

Meredith shares the dream ... It was a bright sunshiny afternoon in the middle of the day, Johnathan and I were out on the beach, and he was diving in a very deep tide pool. The water was crystal clear like the Caribbean, and he would dive to the bottom and come back up to the surface with treasures. He invited me to join him in his treasure hunt, and as you can imagine I was overjoyed. I accepted, but told him I needed to go back in the beach house for just a little while to do some things (I remember something like changing my bathing suit, or eating, or just things like that that don't really matter.) In essence, I responded "yes, but on my own time when I think I'm ready." In the dream it seemed I was only gone in the house a few minutes, but when I returned to join him, it was dark outside: nighttime, and the opportunity to share in my love's adventure had passed me by.

It was a simple illustration, but I was devastated over the choice I made in that dream for many days afterward. Every time I remembered it, I wished aloud, "WHY didn't I just come when he first called?" So many nights I wished I could go again to that dream in my sleep and accept his invitation by cheerfully jumping into the pool with him as fast as I could. The heartache the dream brought about in me was the confirmation I'd been awaiting from my Lord.

 So when Johnathan did ask me to marry him December 25th 2010, 

I gladly accepted with abandon because 

Jesus had already smiled at me and said 

"Go ahead, Love.

That is such an awesome summary of your courtship Meredith!! 

Thank you for taking the time to put it all down for us so that we can rejoice in the Lord with you and Johnathan. 

They will be getting married in June of 2011.