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Show Notes
Last week we heard from Kent and Willina, all about how the Lord brought them together, this week it’s Jonathan and Lydia’s turn to tell us how they met and what the Lord has done in their lives.
Where It All Began
Let’s look first at Jonathan. Jonathan, as we vaguely saw last week, was born in the United States and moved with Kent and Willina to Holland at the age of 9, so let’s pick the story up from there. There came a time when he started becoming interested in girls, (this was obviously a little while after arriving in Holland). Wanting to find the perfect wife, he asked his mom how to know who the right one was. The answer he would receive was never “concrete enough” for his liking, he was told “when the right one comes along, you’ll know”. So, armed with this thought, he continued on his life, being active in the church and attending a Bible study. After 8 years of attending this Bible study, in early December of 1989, Lydia also started to attend along with her brothers and sister. Dad instantly knew that this woman was the one, just like his mom had previously told him. He spent the next few weeks “discreetly” observing her, watching her until their eyes would meet before quickly looking away. After this “observational” period, they finally met in the hallway and exchanged their very first “hi”. This set the ball rolling, and in the following weeks they would grow closer together. Dad invited her to come with him to a friend’s house after the Bible study and after her father extended her curfew, it was all systems go. This was yet another way for them to grow closer together.
Meeting the Parents
When it was finally time for both of their parents to meet, they set the date. They started out their day alone, walking down the beach and conversing, however, this time was so precious they lost track of all time and were late for the rendezvous with their parents. Albeit a rather awkward meeting for their parents to meet alone, it was a beneficial one and both families started a bond which would continually bloom into a great relationship. After everyone had met, Jonathan asked Lydia the very next week if she would like to be in a committed relationship with him, of course Lydia didn’t have to think twice, the answer was a confident yes. The next few months moved very quickly and before they knew it, the time had come for Jonathan to propose, and what a proposal it was!
The Proposal
It was now the 17th of March and the family who had usually hosted the Bible study were away, so Jonathan hosted it at his place in the woods, and Lydia came early to help set up. Little did she know that Dad had planned and rigged a whole system out in the woods. The principle was simple, he would step on this rigged twig, which would break a string, which would then send the box with the ring down from the trees to land perfectly at Lydia’s hand height…well, that was the theory at least, unfortunately he hadn’t tested it. The time had come to put this plan to action, but when the twig broke…nothing happened, the string got caught up around his foot. He had to resort to breaking the string manually but then the box comes crashing down to the ground and bouncing up down, all the while Lydia is wondering what on earth is going on!? Finally, after the dust had settled, the box rested at the desired height and Dad continued with the plan in asking her to marry him, and again, Lydia didn’t have to think twice!
They got married on September 27, 1990, less than a year after they met, and have since had two children, Michael and Elisabeth.
