The story of Sara & Raef

I'm getting married. I say that with a period, rather than an exclamation point because I feel like my heart is so full, so blessed, so loved -- I really get to spend the rest of my life with the kind of man I never thought I could have. I feel like it's not going to be a marriage of fleeting excitement, but one that is covered by the Lord's faithfulness and joy.

Our story starts in August of 2003...

First weekend before classes start, freshman year, Eigenmann Hall, 9:30 am. I got dressed for church and went down to the food court in my dorm to grab some breakfast before my sister picked me up for church. There was one other person awake, dressed for church eating breakfast that morning, too -- Raef. Since it was the first weekend of college, I was naturally striking up conversation with new people I met, and after deducing the fact that he was awake on a Sunday morning, dressed in fresh clothes -- and not just coming home from the night before -- I didn't say hello, but said, "Hey, where are you going to church?" He smiled. We were both waiting on people to pick us up for different churches, and we were both dating other

people so neither of us was looking for anything more. But, from then on -- for four years of

college -- we would run into each other, say hello and that was it for our four years in

Bloomington.

Jump to June 2007

I have decided at this point to move to Thailand. I had signed my contract and was getting on a plane at the end of the summer. I had had some college friends over for a weekend of boating a sun before we all departed for our new cities and jobs. On the Sunday before we all left I was

talking to my friend Jon, and we were talking about how I was moving to Thailand. He says, "Hey, do you know Raef?" (In my mind of course I remembered Raef -- extremely cute boy that

loved Jesus)

I replied, "Yea, why?"

"He's moving to Thailand this summer too."

"Really?!"

"Yea, I can see it now... you two are going to get married."

You don't tell a single girl that she is going to marry a really handsome man with out having her mind already jump to planning the wedding. So, Raef and I become facebook friends so I have a contact point, learn he is moving to Thailand in October 2007.

Bangkok Airport October 2007

After doing my research, I see that he is single and moving to Bangkok. (The summer before our Senior year of college he spent a summer in Chiang Mai, so he was familiar with Thailand already) I have this trip planned to India, and have a 3 hour layover in Bangkok. So, in my mind I think, "Cute. Single. IU boy. Lives in Thailand. We should probably hang out." Send him a short e-mail that says, "Hey, if you want to see a familiar Indiana face, I have a layover in BKK." I found out he is thinking, "Cute. Single. IU girl. Lives in Thailand. We should probably hang

out." Where he was living in BKK, it took him (I found out later) about 2 hours to get to the airport, but I'm glad we did. We made a plan to meet in front of the Starbucks, and I won't

forget him coming down the escalator in his green t-shirt, khaki shorts, leather sandals and a backpack. We only had about an hour and a half to talk, and I loved every moment of it. I was smitten.

Between our first meeting and December we texted (on our Thai phones), and sent a few e-mails back and forth. Nothing much, but I had a crush.

December 2007

My friends and I decided to go to the beach for Christmas and New years. We ended up meeting Raef and Bank along the way. If you are a faithful blog reader, you have already seen this video. But if you haven't you can click on it to see our time there. It's funny to listen to the song I chose for the video now, because it is all about how someone waits and swears this is the person they are going to be with, but it just wasn't time yet. After that week with him at the beach, I wrote my parents and a few friends how I had met my "dream date" but I didn't think he liked me back... my mom just sent that e-mail to him the day before he was going to propose.

Over the next few months we would text and e-mail a little bit here and there. We had some mutual missionary friends that kept on trying to set us up. But, Raef only being in Thailand for a year, and he wasn't supposed to be dating anyone during that time, didn't think it was the best time to start something. He came to visit that April and stayed for 10 days. We would meet for dinner, ride on motorbikes together, hang out with my friends -- they all loved him and my heart grew more for him. After he never pursued me back, I realized I was just going to have to close the door to my heart and I started dating someone new that summer.

Raef and his friends came back to Chiang Mai one last time before he left to move back to Chicago, that October. We all went bowling, and out to eat together...

I thought that would be the last time our paths would cross.

Obviously, wrong -- it has a fairy tale ending!

March 2009

At this point I am single, again. I would send update e-mails back home, and every once and awhile Raef would respond. Every time he responded my heart (two years later) still went "pitter-patter." After two years of waiting, I finally had had enough of wondering. I weighed my chances of putting my heart out there and telling him that I had liked him... so I did. I wrote a message to him just saying that I had liked him for a long time, and he was just an incredible man of the Lord, and he loved this country that I lived in -- and if he didn't feel the same way just to take it as a compliment.

He responded.

He said that he would love to take me out on date when I was closer to home, and that I had every quality in a girl he could ever want. When I read his e-mail my heart rate went up for the next two weeks, and there was lots of screaming between me and my Thailand girlfriends. I found out later that when he read my e-mail he started doing karate kicks and dancing around the apartment. Our first date was set for 4th of July in Chicago...