Today I am sharing something that I wrote for our wedding that took place last Saturday, March 12th. This writing explains how Jeff and I met and I hope that it showed everyone at the service that he and I were always intended to be together and that our meeting was a miracle orchestrated by God.

I am also sharing a few of my favorite pictures from the day. I hope you enjoy the writing and the pictures.

When Two Parallel Paths Become One

We are all walking along a path is life. We often think the path we are walking is random and full of coincidences, but miracles often occur along the path to cause us to see things differently. All things in life work toward a greater purpose, and it is not until we have walked further down the path that we can look back and see how each little curve along our journey has helped us to arrive at the place that we were always intended to be.

We often hear people say, “I was just in the right place at the right time,” but we can all choose to believe that we actually were in the intended place at the intended time. Imagine for a moment, two parallel paths moving forward. Neither person walking his individual path knew the other person existed. Both of these people were born and grew up in the same county in the same state. They both were middle children, both of their fathers were coal miners, and both of them had the desire to become educators. They attended the same university and upon graduation began teaching in towns in the same county. They attended an annual teacher conference and sat in the same auditorium for years knowing nothing of the other person’s existence. They both decided to earn a master’s degree at the same university.

All of this seems random and fairly commonplace, but then on August 19, 2002 those two parallel paths connected. They connected at the intended time and at the intended place. As most of you have already figured out, these two individuals walking these parallel paths were Dan and Jeff. However, there is more to the story that makes this meeting even more miraculous. Jeff was enrolled in his last class before he would complete his degree; Dan still had many semesters to go. The class they were both enrolled in was intended for secondary teachers, yet Dan was an elementary teacher. Dan spent all summer trying to get out of that class. He searched for other classes to take, yet nothing worked into his schedule. Up until the day the class met, Dan tried to change his schedule. He went to class that night thinking this was the worst decision he had made and wondering why he could not get out of the class. However, a few minutes before the class began as he was standing in the hall feeling intimidated by all the high school teachers surrounding him, he saw Jeff come around the corner and suddenly, Dan heard these words echoing through his mind, heart, and soul, “There he finally is!”

So you see, we are not witnessing the marriage of two people who just randomly met. We are witnessing the marriage of two individuals who were always intended to be together. They complement each other perfectly, and when they stand together anything is possible. In many ways their paths became one many years ago, but today the official merging of their paths can be celebrated and acknowledge by the world and by all of us in this room, proving once again that miracles happen every day. We just have to have the eyes to see them. When we see miracles unfold before our eyes, we will have more peace and PEACE MATTERS!

~Dan~

My parents Darlene and George with Jeff and me

Jeff's parents Bob and Donna with Jeff and me

Our wedding party: (L to R) Our sister-in-law, Amy, our nephew, Jake, Jeff's BFF, Amanda, Dan's BFF, Jerrah, my brother, Andrew, our niece, Tessa (sleeping), and our niece, Katie

Jeff with his BFF Amanda

My brother Andrew and me

My BFF Jerrah and me

Amy, Tessa, Katie, Jake, and Andrew

My sister-in-law Amy and me

Jeff and me with my grandma Ruth