 It all started on the road, as most good love stories do. I was
traveling for the '08-'09 school year with Bro. Will and his team. I
took a year off of school at Bob Jones University, packed up my cello
and (rather large) suitcases, and headed on the road with the Galkins,
Coffeys, and two other "singles", Reba Snyder and Josh Roland.
I learned so much on the road--but second semester, something scary
started to happen: I found myself falling for one of the guys that I
travelled with. As you can quickly deduce, that person was Josh
Roland.
I don't know if it was the smile, the guitar playing, or his
great impression of Naaman in the children's program--but I was in
love! I was able to keep my feelings to myself...well, mostly. The
Lord taught me SO much during that time--that He alone can be my hope
and satisfaction. By the time May rolled around, I was thankful that
God had kindly kept me from spilling my feelings to Josh, and I was
definitely ready for a break before camp, if only to get control of my
feelings! It took a few days at camp before Josh informed me of a most
pleasant surprise! He had also been falling in love with someone on
the team over the whole semester--and that person was me!!
It was a dream come true. We started dating in May, enjoying our
time
together at camp. As you might suspect, we both had many lessons to
learn about loving God first and each other second. As I returned to
BJU in September, Josh and I entered a new phase--the dreaded "long-
distance relationship". Once again, this held many lessons and many
reminders of God's grace and sufficiency. However, after four long
months apart, Josh and I were reunited in Denver, CO on Christmas Eve!
That evening, Josh told me we would be starting a new Christmas Eve
tradition. So, we drove to a snowy, cold downtown Denver for dinner!
As we got out of the car, Josh went to the trunk and pulled out a
beautiful bouquet and two presents. At dinner, he let me open the
first gift--a C.D. I'd been wanting for a while! After dinner, we
walked around the downtown area until Josh suggested the idea of a
carriage ride. I had seen a few carriages around, but they were
already full of people, and so I did not think we would be able to
find an empty one. We were sitting in a Starbucks (one of the only
places open because of the holiday), when Josh suggested the carriage
ride again and to my surprise there was an empty one sitting right
outside! We enjoyed a beautiful ride around downtown Denver, looking
at the Christmas lights and talking with our carriage driver. She
dropped us off in front of the Brown Palace, one of the oldest hotels in
Denver. It was pretty busy inside, so Josh and I grabbed some
cheesecake from a restaurant and sat down on a couch on the second
floor to enjoy our dessert and the beautiful Christmas decorations.
Josh told me I could open my second gift--it was a journal he'd bought
in Guatemala and had filled with his memories and stories about us,
from the first time we'd met in college about three years ago until
now. We read it together, and at the end, he told me there were a few
pages left that I could fill with memories from tonight. Then, he got
down on one knee, pulled out the most beautiful and perfect ring, and
asked me to be his wife!
I never could have imagined that the Lord would give me such a gift!
But, I'm thankful for the opportunity to spend the rest of my life
with my best friend! We are getting married on May 9th (one day after
I graduate :) and will be working at Northland Camp for the summer
before heading back on the road with the Galkins--this time as Mr. and
Mrs. Josh Roland!
-Caroline Lee
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