Photos taken during my first trip to Ethiopia...
Samuel and I first learned of each other at a Mission SOS Jesus-festival that took place in Thailand in November of 2007. We didn't talk to each other then though. No, he just opened a door for me. Or actually he opened it for someone else and just held it for me to pass through... that was it.
In Thailand. Samuel praying for the sick to be healed in Jesus' name...
One morning while we were at this festival in Thailand, Samuel got up to lead prayer. Umm. Wow. It was a powerful time. Something jumped in my spirit. While I watched (and prayed of course) this man pour out his fiery heart to God... a standard rose up in my life. Do you get it? That man made a standard in my life that only he could fill. (Umm.. hello all you single Christian ladies?!! Stop settling on all those nice fellows... there is a wild, dangerous, fiery lover of God out there waiting to sweep you off your little feet!) I just didn't know that yet.
A year later, at the end of 2008 I started a 4 month journey by myself around the world where I would write a book for Mission SOS and live on each of their mission bases. I would be living in Ethiopia for December and part of January. Samuel was the base-leader in Ethiopia. We had sent each other a few [business] emails leading up to that time... but I must admit, I was already sold. Some of my old Bibleschool friends will laugh at this part... because the months leading up to my departure, I was already talking about marrying the man in Africa :) They even wrote me a song about it (and sang it at my wedding - haha Asia!)
So I arrived on the Horn of Africa. Alone. In a strange and big capitol called Addis Ababa. In the middle of the night. Alone. My heart was overflowing. I was created to venture into new lands and bring the gift of Jesus to the lost and the hurting. I discovered that as a little girl. Now finally, I felt that a door to destiny had swung open in my life. I fell asleep in a terribly over-priced and fancy hotel that night and set 3 alarms so that I could catch a plane to the base in Harar at 6 in the morning. In the back of my mind (though I wouldn't admit it at the time) I knew I would be seeing Samuel the next day and I was terribly excited!
Okay yes, I was excited. But you must understand that I was madly in love with the Jesus-honeymoon I was having. So on the second day of my living on the base in Ethiopia, when I had a moment alone and heard myself say the words "I'm going to marry that man!" (Yes I said it out loud and I can still remember the exact spot) I freaked myself out! I was so happy being alone with Jesus that I didn't want someone else to come along and take up some of my heart. But then this incredible peace flooded over me. I was wrapped up in a romance with God and at the same time becoming a great friend with this wonderful man and there was no butterfly-nonsense to distract me at all. I just knew. And then I continued on with my job. Does that make sense? Yes of course my heart jumped a bit when he walked into the room and of course I sometimes stumbled over words... but deep in my gut, I wasn't stressing it. I simply knew.
Samuel and I love coffee. Black, strong coffee. Maybe that was the reason we stayed up late a few nights. Or maybe it was just our excuse :) We sat in the team-house talking about bands, about sports, about cultures, about Jesus, about life. And then we said goodnight and went away to our own rooms. And so it went. My heart was falling in love.
My hero...
Samuel would take his first trip to America in February of 2009 and I promised him coffee when he came..
I cried when it was time to leave Africa. God planted a burning desire inside my soul for that land, those people. But He also planted a grace inside of me that would carry me through the seasons and continents to come... and so I left Africa for Asia(which was incredible and God continued to romance me into a new woman). And after another month passed, I left Asia for America.
I started getting emails during those weeks when I left Ethiopia. "Hey Gab!..." That surely made my heart flutter! Finally February came. I got a phone call on my way home from Church one night. "Hey 'ol buddy 'ol pal..." (Yea, I don't know why that started..) and after a few nervous lines Samuel said, "Gabrielle, I have feelings for you. And I'd like to call your dad and ask him if it's alright to take you out." ...."I have feelings for you too" I replied in a far too squeaky voice. By the time my car pulled up my drive, the call had been made and my dad's blessing had been given. You see, my dad had also been on that Jesus-festival in Thailand and the same standard that had been placed in my life, was also set in my dad's life :)
So we went out for coffee. We were so nervous! You know when you're meeting someone special and somehow you slurp too loud, or you get salad stuck on your front tooth, or your throat makes a weird noise??? Yea we were both afraid of all of those things, but thankfully, nothing embarrassing happened! The next day we planned a day together in downtown Pittsburgh and we got lost (like just about everyone does in downtown Pittsburgh) for two hours, but we didn't even notice. We were having a blast together. That was the day Samuel knew he would marry me. We talked for over 12 hours straight - without stopping. We were turning into best friends. It was on that day that Samuel told me, "Gabrielle, I can't offer you everything. But what I can give you is an adventurous life in the nations with a sleeping bag." That was all I've ever wanted.
So Samuel left for Ethiopia again and we made a promise to pray and fast while we were apart. We were seeking God for our future together. Samuel came to the States again in April and after the few first nervous days... we had "the talk" by the river in Mill Creek Park. We would get married one day. God knew it, we knew it, our families knew it, our mentors and pastors knew it. There was such an incredible favor upon our relationship. Samuel invited me to spend two weeks at his home town with him in Sweden that June, and then he left for Ethiopia again. And we wrote a LOT of emails.
I'll share my umbrella with you...
In Sweden with my boyfriend :)
It was that summer in Sweden when Samuel told me that he loved me for the first time... by the ocean. It was that summer in Sweden when I fell in love with his family. It was that summer when Samuel said "You'll be the queen of Ethiopia".. and danced with me to no music in the late afternoon. Does a chick-flick get any better than that?? The time came for us to say goodbye again. We literally boarded planes at gates opposite each other... going in opposite directions...
me to America. Samuel to Africa. And we started writing emails again.
Samuel booked a flight to come see me in September. We thought maybe we would have to wait until 2010 to get married because we lived in different continents and we had no idea how everything would be worked out. But along the way I got a crackly phone call. "Gabrielle, I want to marry you." We decided we would just make his visit to me in September - the time for our wedding!
Samuel's plane landed on September 12th. I swear he let everyone on the plane leave before he did because I stood at the bottom of that escalator not breathing for far too long before he finally appeared before me! He said "Hey love!", wrapped me up in his arms and took my car keys. Then, late in the night(that's when his flight landed) he drove me up to the top of Mount Washington and got down on one knee! He asked me to marry him just four days before our wedding! My engagement ring is the most beautiful gold band from Ethiopia that he engraved Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 into. And I said Yes!
Happy 2 year engagement anniversary love of my life! I'm so glad you asked :)
(And by the way... one of our wedding presents was a sleeping bag - for two!)
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