Jennifer & Gabriel
A Love Destined by God’s promise
We met in college. I wasn’t taken by him but he was so into me. Two years after meeting, we finally connected over hot chocolate and beignets at Coffee Call in Baton Rouge, LA. “Do you know I have waited two years for this date,” he said as he smiled at me with his beautiful almond eyes. I knew at that moment he was full of it or I was just afraid that he may actually be the one. Eighteen months later Gabriel and I were married. We were in love. We were inseparable. We were foolish. We married at the Justice of the Peace and moved to our first duty assignment in Ft. Irwin, CA. Yep, right smack in the middle of nowhere- in the desert. You know when God really wants to deal with you he will take you to the driest land. Ignoring the pleading and begging of my two closest friends and my sister to wait to marry because it wasn’t time; I dashed to say those precious vows to Gabriel. The irony of this is I could hear the Holy Spirit telling me it was not time. I felt the tug of and pressure in my heart before marrying Gabriel. I knew deep down that it was not our time but God did not say he wasn’t the one. Like magic, I felt we would go through a little of this and a little of that and God would just put us where we were supposed to be. Right? Well, God is not a God of abracadabra.
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| Me and Gabriel one year after our second time around |
After a little over a year, we started feeling the turbulence of our impatience. Gabriel grew distant and silent which forced me to grow closer to the Lord. I was forced into the arms of my Lord. The man I pledged my love to did not want to be in the same room with me, no longer told me he loved me, and did everything in his
power for me to sign divorce papers. Where did we go wrong? What happened? It seems as if the death of our marriage happened all of a sudden without any warning signs. And one day it hit me, the sign was always there. God spoke and said it was not time but I took matters into my own hands and married Gabriel anyway. God and I really had a time issue. I did not want to stay with a man who no longer wanted me. Once again the Holy Spirit shared, “it was not time”. It was not time for me to leave Gabriel. I was really confused but I listened and stayed through the hard rough time of not being respected and a number of infidelities. But through it all, I found a deep love for God and a love for Gabriel that was beyond me. God loved Gabriel through me. No matter what we went through, I continued to serve him as my husband, love him and encourage him. He did not understand my kindness (as I did not either) but I soon realized it was a Godly love. So, a little- of -this and a little-of- that snowballed into a divorce two years after our marriage. I had been released from the disrespect and the infidelities that occurred. I left the marriage with a beautiful 6 month old daughter (Salina), $10 in my savings account and an intimate love for my Lord.
Houston was the most sensible place to relocate to. I packed up my baby girl and we were on our way. After landing a full-time job and saving $10,000 I bought a home right around the corner from my big sister. It was the perfect life for me and Salina. I even started dating a great Christian gentleman. Things were going great and I was finding my love for God and the single life growing each day. Hearing from Gabriel wasn’t a frequent occurrence. He was now living in Europe and back and forth on deployments. I received a check each month and that was it. Gabriel needed his time to deal with Gabriel and find himself. Salina and I were in a great place.
As time went on I began to have dreams about Gabriel and I reconciling. Much thought was not put into it so I continued to pray for him and move on with my everyday dealings. However, the thought of Gabriel and I remarrying grew stronger in my spirit. Although I loved Gabriel, my disdain thoughts would not let me see us together. He ruined our marriage. But God…. there is always a “but”. My Lord started dealing with me more and more. I learned life is not about what I want but what God wanted for me. Through dreams, prayers and even the Christian-gentleman-boyfriend revealing that Gabriel would come back to his family, I surrendered to the will of God.
Soon after I received complete revelation, I let go of the Christian-gentleman- boyfriend and dated God for four years. There were rough times but through waiting for Gabriel, the man who God NOW had for me, my faith in God sustained me. After two years of not speaking, Gabriel moved back to the states in January of 2009. We saw one another for the first time in five years. It was awkward but there was still love and a lot of uncertainty. While never breathing a word to Gabriel about our promise from God, I waited patiently for God’s promise of restoration to be fulfilled. After a few more ups and downs, twists and turns, Gabriel and I were remarried in October of 2010. Three years later, two additional kids later, we are happily married in God’s perfect timing. He is a new man who loves me unconditionally and only God could delivered a promise such as this.
