I wanted to ask Lilly out, but I knew I shouldn’t, not yet, anyway. I was leading the ministry, and the last thing I wanted was for us to get distracted. I kept telling myself, “Keep the main thing the main thing.” So I waited. And waited. Until the very last day of our club meeting.

That day, I asked Lilly if she could lead the meeting. Not because I was being lazy or anything, but because I needed time to pump myself up. I showed up five minutes late, not just because she was late to the first meeting (although that thought crossed my mind), but because I was standing in the bathroom, rehearsing the words I wanted to say.

I finally got around to asking her out, and she said yes. We started hanging out more and more, and I knew I wanted to date her. Somewhere in there, she casually mentioned I’d need to call her dad for his blessing before we could officially start dating. So I did it just that, I called her dad, braced myself for the interrogation, and made it through the full 20-minute conversation. By the end, I had his blessing.

The very next day, I planned to officially ask her to be my girlfriend. I was all set, but something just didn’t feel right before I left. I picked Lilly up, and as soon as she got in the car, I knew something was off. She wouldn’t even look at me. I put the car in reverse. “What’s wrong?” Pause. I put the car in drive. “What’s wrong?” Pause. I put the car in park. Alright, what’s wrong?” That’s when she finally spoke. She said the Lord was telling her to wait.

I was confused. I had just waited months to ask her out, and now the Lord was telling her to wait? Made no sense. But I figured, if the Lord was in this, I needed to leave it in His hands. That didn’t stop me from being hungry, though, so we still went to Chick-fil-A.

Let’s fast forward a bit, I ended up heading to Texas for a couple of months. Lilly and I kept in touch here and there, but nothing serious. On my way back to Kentucky, it was one of those perfect 80-degree days, and I had a 13-hour drive ahead of me. Somewhere in East Texas, I saw a truck with the name “Lilly” on it, spelled just like hers. It got me thinking about her again. By the time I hit Arkansas, I got a text from her. She wanted to know if we could meet that night or have a phone call. Funny thing, I hadn’t told her I was heading back that day.

I told her it’d have to be a phone call since I was on the road. Now, I’m the kind of guy who doesn’t need a bunch of small talk. If you need something, just spit it out. And that’s exactly what Lilly did. About two minutes into the call, she asked if I’d be interested in going on a date. I didn’t answer right away. Instead, I asked her a question (had to make her sweat a little). Once she answered, I said yes.

When I got back to Kentucky, we went on a date, got pizza, she whooped me in axe throwing, and we ended the night swinging on the playground.

At the start of 2022, I asked the Lord to show me three specific things. And during those moments when I thought He’d forgotten or failed, I now see that He was working the whole time. His plan was always better than mine, and looking back, I can see He never failed me, not once.

Registry