“Your husband is at this church.”

It was January 2023 when the Lord whispered these words to me as I sat on my Khmer couch in Cambodia, searching on my laptop for churches in Green Bay. I didn’t know anything about Green Bay. I only knew that I needed to find a charismatic church where I could quickly get plugged in and intern as a pastor. As I scrolled through Central Church’s webpage, the Lord told me that Central would be the place for me to intern, and then… He said that.

But what if it was my imagination? And because I had much more important things to focus on as I packed up my life to move to the other side of the world again, I put it in the back of my mind. Don’t get me wrong, I was on the lookout for a husband... and had been since I was practically 15 years old. I just knew that my priority was getting out of culture shock, finding a job, and an apartment all within the course of a couple of months. I had waited this long, I would wait longer.

I saw Daniel on the webpage and noticed he was single—a daily habit for people who have been single for so long! But that was legit my only thought. I didn’t think that he was the one God was referring to. I was sure there was more than one single man in the church. God could have meant anyone.

… Until I attended Central for the first time and saw a tall man who dressed incredibly. I am a total fashionista and style means a lot to me. A rare Green Bay find, Daniel’s style was on par with the European men that I had found so attractive. I couldn’t believe he was single. But, I knew that my focus was to get settled and pursue credentialing and training. Plus, I figured we would get to know each other over time.

“Daniel’s one of those guys who's too cool for us.”

I was meeting with an AG missionary couple about getting credentialed, and these were the words they dropped into the conversation. I didn’t even ask about Daniel. Looking back, I think they were looking for an opportunity to name-drop.

But they weren’t the only ones. Everyone in the church had only incredible things to say about Daniel - and I didn’t even ask. They just talked him up. That meant a lot to me. A person’s well-known integrity is invaluable to me. If the older, wiser adults in the church respected someone, that must mean something.

But three months had passed and Daniel had not talked to me. I chose to break the ice at a young adult bonfire event in May 2023. We chatted throughout the night, so by then we were acquaintances. I told our friend Charisma that I was interested — that I liked what I saw and that I just knew that he saw it too. There was a mutual understanding and easy chemistry. Plus, as I began working at Central, I couldn’t believe how smart he was. Like… he knew what I was talking about in theology and sociology. He could keep up and challenge me.

But as the months went by, I kept getting mixed signals. Sometimes, I could have sworn he was ridiculously in love with me, while other times, I thought that my mere existence annoyed him. I could not read this man and it was driving me nuts. The worst part was that the more I came to know him through work, the more I loved him. I wasn’t in love with him, but I knew that I wanted him in my life. But it seemed there was no room or opportunity to make a real friendship happen.

I cried so many tears over this man!

“Have mercy on him.”

These were the words that the Lord spoke to me concerning Daniel. God had not allowed me to confront Daniel for seven months. He kept saying “no.” Until finally, He said “yes.”

I talked with my siblings and friends about what to say. I told the Lord He would have to miraculously create a time and place where Daniel was not occupied with something else and no one was around (a near impossible feat!).

On Christmas Eve, a week after praying that prayer, I found myself left alone with Daniel Reed in the photo booth. He was doing literally nothing. Just sitting.

My brain was like, “Welp. This is it.”

[See Daniel's side of the story for what happened after that.]

“The real miracle would be finding a husband.”

I prayed this prayer to the Lord many times. And Daniel is that living, breathing miracle. Daniel is patient. He is calm. He is godly. He is intelligent. He is a co-laborer. He is adventurous. He is kind. He is handsome. He is a hard worker. He is wise with money. Daniel is my equal. He is mine and I am his and I am incredibly in awe of a God who would give me a gift in the person of Daniel.

Thank you Jesus for Daniel. Hallelujah!

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