It fascinates me how human souls and parts of this world fight to meet the way our souls did. That split second of divine appointments that were orchestrated to change our lives forever. –C. Elizabeth

Someone once said “Sometimes, right in the middle of an ordinary life, love gives us a fairy tale.” With my dreamer mentality, I fancied a life of fairy tales and a happily ever after, but truthfully, I think I stopped believing in my very own happily ever after at some point. I was afraid to be vulnerable in order to find it. I had been through a lot of heartache from childhood into adulthood. I held my independence and my career at a very high standard. I guarded my heart and was careful with my vulnerability, sometimes a little too much.  I spent years after the effects and repercussions of life- working on me, working on making myself a better person and becoming who I was genuinely meant to be. I understood that I couldn’t love anyone else until I learned to love myself first. And for so many days that I doubted and questioned if my fairy tale would ever come true, I trusted in God’s promises that he was preparing that person for me just as he was preparing myself for that person. Now, almost two years into this adventure with my best friend, I can whole heartedly say that my life is living proof that fairy tales do come true. Maybe not the perfect little fairy tale that we had dreamed of, but sure enough, the very fairy tale meant for us.

I’ve learned in life that there are no coincidences, just divine appointments and the magic of facetime. I had just gotten back from a long run on a warm Georgia day, and a good friend of mine facetimed me from the Bahamas where they were on vacation to check in on the week.  They had run into a local friend from here who was working on a yacht there in the Bahamas and my friend said it’s as if a light switch went off with the idea of the two of us with the biggest connection being our love of adventure with wanderlust spirits. Neither one of us were wanting to date but as soon as we saw each other over facetime, that was where our story began. We talked for about 15 minutes. He asked for my hand in a date, I said yes…and the rest goes down in the first chapter of our story.

Our first date was nothing less than magical. A boat ride, a sunset, and a couple of sweet surprises. We talked as if we had known each other our entire lives. We watched the sun go down until the stars came out. With my heart surrounded by a wall the size of Texas, there was something in it trembling. Our second date- Another afternoon boat ride watching the sunset over the golden pond and before we knew it, it was past midnight and we had trouble saying goodbye. In deep thought on my ride home, it was if a new heartbeat was inside of me. There was a part of me that was terrified to feel what I did, but a bigger part of me whispered just keep letting go. Call us crazy but by the third boat ride we knew where our lives were headed. We became inseparable.  Whether together or afar, our souls collided. I was headed to Asia and he was headed out west but nothing could break this bond that had just begun. It’s funny because even as unspoken as it was, it was as if two souls emerged and began walking hand in hand with a knowledge and a feeling that we had both been looking for in forever. We didn’t find this love, it found us.

I think one of the most special parts of our story that I fell in love with is the time we spent getting to know each other away from being in each other’s company. As we were on two opposite ends of the world, with a 12-hour time difference, we somehow never missed a beat. The butterflies every time his name would light up on my phone were something that I had yet to feel. And the funny thing is, I still get them. He checked on me at all times and truly cared which is one of the most special feelings in the world. We got to share life and experiences together all the while gaining a better understanding of who we were as individuals and what made us, us. My smile was more real than it had been in a long time. Not only was I traveling Asia, but I was falling in love while doing it.

Shortly into our time away and getting to know each other he called me and said, “I know this is crazy and really soon, but how would you feel about sailing the Channel Islands and Catalina with me and then us flying out to South Dakota for a week or so and making the drive back together?” A good mutual friend told him I would never do it, and typically they would have been right. Not with a mere “stranger.” But my heart whispered and told me that a stranger he would be no more. And so, I said yes! It was probably one of the most exciting and life transforming trips I’ve ever done, not only because of the sailing adventures in lands and through oceans that I had never touched but because of the discovery of two people who had finally found that person that their souls had been craving for a lifetime. We were like two kids at Christmas getting ready for this trip! We hadn’t seen each other in almost a month and could not wait to spend uninterrupted time together exploring parts of this world hand in hand. I flew into LAX as did he. He called me and said he was at the baggage claim and I turned around and he was standing there with a huge smile, and my heart whispered, “There he is…” I don’t think anyone is ever truly ready but when they make you feel alive again, it’s worth the risk.

We stayed at the marina docks the first evening with the friends we were sailing with. We got the boat ready, stocked up with groceries for the next week at sea, and spent an evening of quality time. We were on top of the world finally being in the arms of each other. As much as I felt the “L” word, it came into fruition on the very first night of this trip. I still remember like it was yesterday, the night he looked me in the eyes and told me. And we both knew… This was it. I had lost the wind in my sails, and through this, I gained them back.

For the next week, we watched the sun rise and the sun set over the waters of the Pacific Ocean. We got to experience some of the most breathtaking moments to our existence. We rode the waves on the bow of the boat curled up tightly on the bean bags watching the world go by without a care in the world. We watched pods of hundreds of dolphins ride along with us jumping the waves as we smiled in awe. We got to see the bioluminescent lights flutter in the Pacific seas beneath star studded skies. I could go on and on about those little moments, that our minds will never forget. My sweet gentleman would have my hot tea waiting on me every morning with a smile on his face and breakfast served. One special afternoon we were sitting at the top of the boat and I kept hearing him sniffle. I looked at him as I saw tears in his eyes, worried, and asked if he was ok, as he replied, “I just don’t ever think I’ve been this happy.” And in that moment, I knew exactly what he was feeling.

We walked the milo fields in South Dakota that next week and chased the sunrise and sunsets every single day. We lived in simplicity in that old farm house on the South Dakota plains. I got to fall in love with his people and that land just as he had. We found ourselves stalling in leaving that place as everyone asked when we were coming back. We didn’t know what life held when we got back, but we knew we would be doing it together. Somewhere in Kansas on that 20-hour drive home, watching out the window, I found myself with tears running down my face with a heart so full it overwhelmed me. It’s something I don’t think I had ever felt. And for this first time in a long time… I was excited about life ahead.

Throughout the next and almost two years, we have traveled many lands and countries. We have been blessed to have seen and done more than some couples get to do in a lifetime. But most of all we have discovered who we are together and who we are apart. We slipped briskly into an intimacy that we will never recover, and that’s the most precious part about it.

On March 2^nd of this year, my sweet John and I, and a group of very special people to us walked the North Carolina farm where we plan to build our home one day. John asked if we could go find the stakes and as we walked back into the corner of the land that we had planned on putting the house one day, everyone stood back and waited. We searched and searched and finally he said “Chels, turn around.” And as I did, I see him not with the stake, but down on one knee. For the next few minutes and what seems to be such a blur as he asked me to be his wife and to do forever with him in the most treasured and beloved way, tears streamed down both of our faces as our hands and hearts were shaking. As he glided his grandmother’s wedding ring onto my ring finger, all I could do was shake my head yes with true tears of joy. He wrapped me up as everyone was clapping and shouting. To this day, the most precious surprise of my 30 years and a forever of together ahead. He is my greatest adventure. I spent years doing me and chasing this world, Expanding my mind. And now I couldn’t fathom doing life without him.

Atticus said, “I told her I was lost in this world, and she smiled, because she was too, we were all lost somehow, but we didn’t care, we had in the chaos, found each other.” Life the last two years has been so far from perfect, but our love has been nothing less than just right. But what’s important is we found that person that makes us want to fight for each other. That person that makes us want to be better people. That person that has taken our worlds and turned it upside down, only to be rebuilt into something solid and lasting.  Life had broken him, just as it had broken me. But when we began our walk together, it’s as if our pieces became whole for the first time. And we put one foot in front of the other and continued on our journey, together. It’s a beautiful and profound knowledge to have someone who will stand by your side and endure life’s storms with you. Sometimes, that’s all we need as human beings, to know that we don’t ever have to be alone again.

I have a dear friend with a kindred love story to ours that recently related our love stories to Johnny and June. And we’ve asked ourselves would we rather have an uninspiring love story or a love story like Johnny and June? A love story that may change this world through tough days and dark nights or a love story that is so perfect it has no pain for a platform in order to change this world and to be an example of a love worth fighting for? That 5% we like to call it. Everyone says they want a love like Johnny and June, but do you? That love so intense that it consumes every part of you. That love that makes you crazy in the best and worst kind of way. And for me, I would want nothing less than a love like Johnny and June, a love story worth fighting for.

You find that one person in life and you love with all you have. With every little piece of you, so much so it hurts. You put each other first and you fight for them despite what others may not perceive to their own understanding. And all of the sudden life makes sense and people understand what it means to truly fight for someone and to watch them begin to believe in themselves again, if not for the first time ever. Love gives you wings. It allows you to build a team and a bond that can’t be broken. John loves me like I’ve never been loved before- with his entire heart. When I hurt, he hurts. When he hurts, I hurt. He cherishes me and he protects not only me, but my heart. He spends his days learning me and working through my past and current fears. When he’s down, I pick him up and when I’m down, he keeps me going. He builds me up and he walks beside me. He humbles himself in my presence and his manly appearance softens to meet me in a place where my heart is found. And most importantly, he puts God first. I love him more than life itself and would give anything just to make him smile. I value his existence to this world and I applaud him for the man that he is and for the man that he is becoming. I respect him for standing on a firm foundation and for fighting for life and for us and our families, in a way that I have seen no man do before. He has a heart that beats unlike anything I’ve ever seen and judges no man for his past, present, or future. I can honestly and whole heartedly say that he loves as God does. He teaches me every day the true importance in life, and what simplicity and selflessness can do to one individuals legacy. I admire him and I look up to him and I am proud to do life by his side. We make a team in everything we do. In the kitchen, in ministry, or serving this world. Hand in hand, we are doing this thing called life with overflowing hearts because we get to do it together. Hard days aren’t so hard anymore when they are by your side.

Our story may not be perfect, but this is us. This is our story. We have fought addiction and kidney disease, reunited with long lost parents, embraced love and loss. But there is not one second of our entire existence together that I would take back or exchange for any second to be different. During the brightest days and darkest nights, I can see that every single moment was strategically orchestrated in order to build us into what God has planned for our story, for our seasons, and for our next chapters. Just two broken people who are placed together from thousands of miles away, running on a path hand in hand, believing in something again. If I know what love is, it is because of him. And If you ask me where I see myself in 10 years, I will tell you I don’t know. But if you ask me where my heart will be in 10 years, the one answer that I am sure of is right there with him.

Never give up on your very own fairy tale. God has it waiting. Believe in it and don’t miss the miracle.

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