once upon a time.

Once upon a time there was a college girl trying to figure out what God had for her next.  There was also a young business man who had just got saved. The year was 2001 and our first introduction to each other was at a christian retreat. At the time I had short red hair which was one thing that Mark later said caught his eye. I was kind of quiet and innocent. He was new in his salvation and full of zeal. We said "hi" to each in the cafeteria.

From the very start there was something that attracted me to him. He had a passion for the Lord that provoked something inside of me every time I was around him. But I would not let my heart go there. If my roommates mentioned his name I would shrug it off, "What's the big deal about Mark Buckwalter, maybe I would be interested in someone like him but he probably wants some high maintenance blonde or something. Plus, I am sure he would never be interested in me"  A lot of girls were interested in him and I remember thinking to myself "I am not getting on the Mark Buckwalter band wagon."

So I shut off my heart to anything to do with Mark Buckwalter.

By now I was in my senior year of college and seeing Mark every week at Tuesday night bible study, which was a gathering of up to a thousand young people meeting weekly. Mark would often get asked to speak at youth retreats and share his testimony and would also invite me or my roommates along with him to minister to the girls. My interactions with him were always short and sweet. My walls were still up.

During this time I began to get approached by several different guys about dating. I had not dated since high school but felt like a relationship might be coming soon. I really struggled to believe the Lord knew my heart's desire in terms of a man. I was afraid that I might have to settle for someone who I was not really attracted to or someone who couldn't lead spiritually. I had been asking God for a love story. I didn't just want to date. I wanted the next guy to be the one.

 Mark circa 2001

The young college girl