Today 15 years ago is when Sandy and I met face to face for the very first time. She was in KY and I was in GA and she flew down here. We met online on Feb 2, talked on the phone on Feb 4th, set a wedding date on Feb 18th so today 15 years ago we were getting to see who we were going to marry. People thought we were crazy but we just knew. It has been one unbelievable life together. Yes, through my addictions I almost lost it but God knew what he was doing when he sent Sandy to me. He knew I would change and I did and we turned everything around. He knew I needed a huge tender heart woman like her because that was the only thing that would soften my heart through my addictions.
I can’t imagine life without her. She’s been everything to me. She’s been an amazing wife and now an amazing mom too. We knew on March 4th, 2002 that we were in for a crazy life but we had no idea what all we were going to go through.
When I look back, would I ever recommend anyone setting a wedding date before they even met in person who only talked on the phone? Of course not but somehow God placed it in our hearts to know this and since we married, there have been a few things that happened through the years that for sure told that we were supposed to not only marry but to move as quick as we did. You see we married Oct 5th, 2002 so it was only 8 months after we met online and 7 months after we met in person that we married.
She spent 4 days down here with me and wow did we hit it off. I think her parents didn’t really fight her on flying down because they thought we would meet and not go perfect so she would come back and it would be over but it didn’t happen that way because we were even stronger on everything by the time she left Savannah and that was tough.
My mom and I drove up there a few months later to visit them then Sandy, my mom and I all went up to Cincinnati to visit my mom’s side of the famil for a few days. Again, it was hard to leave to come back to Savannah. A few months later that August, Sandy flew back down to Savannah for 4 days again. I was nervous because she came through one of the hottest summers we had and it was REALLY hot in Savannah that August. I was hoping that didn’t scare her but it didn’t.
When she left at that time we knew the next time we would see each other would be 2 days before our wedding and we were so excited.
So as you see today is a VERY special day for Sandy and I. If today didn’t happen 15 years ago, who knows if we would even be together. I am grateful that God led us together and we did meet when we did in person because the month before we had a chance to really get to know each other through the phone before we met which made it that much more powerful when we did meet.
Chris Benton
Latest posts by Chris Benton (see all)
- Life’s Trade-Offs: Making Choices that Shape Us - November 11, 2024
- The Transformative Power of Small Groups: Our Journey to Community - October 30, 2024
- The Power of Labels in Marriage: How Are You Defining Your Spouse? - October 29, 2024