Heaven's POV:

So, if I’m going to tell this story correctly, I have to go back to the summer of 2022. That spring, I had been presented with the opportunity to do Ministry to the Point (MTP), which is where you get a job at Cedar Point and minister to your coworkers. I felt that the Holy Spirit deeply desired for me to sign up, so I obeyed. I ended up joining with a couple other students from Western as well. One of the two was Christopher Verhil (Topher). I had met him previously and informally, but the day we left for Ohio, I found myself at a cafe with him and our other friend. It was the beginning of the greatest love story I could have ever asked God for.

Topher had done MTP the year prior, so he sort of became the group leader during our mission down in Sandusky. Quickly, I noticed how incredible of a man we had on our team. He stood out to me right away. But not in the way you’d think… No, I thought to myself, “Wow! This is such a great guy! I bet my sister would like him!” So I started purposefully hanging around him more and more to get to know him with the prospect of setting him up with my little sister. As I got to know him more, I started forming a deeper friendship with him. I actually was in the car with him one day and he told me that he kept a journal for his future wife and I was like, “Shut up, no way! I keep a journal for my future husband!” And in that same moment, I felt that the Holy Spirit wanted me to pray for his future wife. So I did. Little did I know that I was praying for myself…

However, later in the summer I found myself sneaking away from group activities to go find him and clean up the church we would meet in every Sunday night. We would wash the dishes together every week and just talk about God. By the end of the summer, I made a regretful realization: I had feelings for Topher. I denied it for a few days, but then caved and had to come clean to my friend, Tori. She convinced me that this was my husband (her faith was pretty huge). Fast forward— it was one of the last Bible studies of the summer, and Topher turned to me on the picnic table where we sat and he said, “Heaven! I have something to tell you!” I turned back to him with so much excitement in my heart. Then, he said, “I have a girlfriend.” As you can imagine, I died inside a little.

I decided that— in this moment— I was not going to end up with Topher. I mean, duh. I went to Tori’s apartment that week and cried to her about it. She just looked at me and said, “This doesn’t make any sense… But you never know.” I thought she was delusional.

I decided to give up on that dream of being with Topher rather quickly. And upon returning to Michigan, I decided to stay as far away from him as possible. I wanted to respect him and his relationship. I also made the decision not to tell a SOUL about it because we shared the same friends, and I didn’t want things to get awkward. So as far as I was concerned, it never happened.

During the next year (2023), I went through my dating trials and came out at the end (around the late spring time) done with forcing my own will. I chose to walk in singleness with intention. But to my surprise, Topher messaged me on instagram. I thought nothing of it because I was under the impression that he was taken. Then, one day I was swimming with our campus minister in the middle of a lake, and he told me that Topher was also going to be doing work with the ministry during the same season as me. I was thrilled to get to work with Topher again, so I messaged him and asked about it. But Topher wouldn’t let the conversation die.

Over the course of two weeks, I still found myself talking to him. And I discovered through some sleuthing that he was no longer in a relationship. But that “changed nothing” in my mind. Nevertheless, I still felt those same summer 2022 feelings. So, I prayed, “Lord, you know that I want Topher to be the one I marry, but I want what YOU want for me. So I am giving You the pen. You can write my love story. This is how I will know that someone is my husband: they will pursue me and make their intentions clear. I won’t do anything. I will just wait for them to make the first move. And this is how I will know. And don’t let the wrong person pursue me. But let the first man who pursues me with clear intentions be the one You want me to marry. And that’s how I’ll know.” That same day, Topher had a phone call scheduled with me for 11am before my shift at Walgreens. He proceeded to tell me from his apartment in Florida (he was interning at Disney) that he had developed feelings for me during the few weeks that we had been in communication and he said, “I want to be clear and pursue you with clarity. I want to get to know each other more as friends, but with the intention of dating you.” And at that moment, I knew this was my husband. Exactly one year after that phone call, Topher asked me to marry him.

There were lots of other signs along the way that confirmed that this is the person God always intended I would meet and fall in love with. He is the best man I have ever met, and I thank God for him every day of my life.

H&C