Exactly eight years ago today, August 28th, 2014, Stacy and I got married.
It didn't happen the way either of us ever thought it would. She wanted a big fancy wedding and I told her that I would happily give that to her when I got rich..... SOMEDAY.
God had other plans. We were living in Columbus, Ohio at the time. She was a mother of a little girl named Reese and also worked 12-16 hour shifts in the emergency room as a registered nurse.
I was a struggling, but hungry Entrepreneur in the Network Marketing Industry. I actually moved to Ohio to expand my business there, which is how Stacy and I got to know each other.
I recruited her into my business and started mentoring her. She and I were as opposite as The Rock and Kevin Hart. We were NOT each others types AT ALL.
Within a month of moving to Ohio, I was spending every single day with Stacy and her daughter. We still did not have any feelings for each other whatsoever, but she was motivated to make this home based business thing work so that she could be a stay at home mom. So, we were building the business together every day.
Six weeks after I moved to Ohio, I woke up at 3am from a crazy freakin dream. In the dream, I was walking down the road with JESUS. He said these exact words to me:
Stacy is your soul mate. You're going to marry her and she's going to become your wife.
I woke up and said, OMG, what a crazy freakin dream!
The very next night, I woke up around 3am from a crazy freakin dream. In the dream, I was walking down the road with JESUS. He said these exact words to me:
Stacy is your soul mate. You're going to marry her and she's going to become your wife.
What the heck?..... I thought to myself. How could I have the same exact dream two nights in a row? That was freakin weird. To make a long story short.....
For 21 STRAIGHT nights, I had that SAME EXACT DREAM. Finally, I could not take it anymore. I prayed to God and asked him:
Father, will you please help me stop having this crazy, freakin dream?
He responded in my spirit IMMEDIATELY. This is exactly what he said to me:
Christopher, you're going to keep having that dream until you tell Stacy about it.
What? I can't tell Stacy about this dream. She's gonna think I'm hitting on her or that I'm crazy. God, Stacy and I are NOT each others types at all. He said again.....
Christopher, you're going to keep having that dream until you tell Stacy about it.
Stacy was not my type at all. However, I was sick of having this stupid, freakin dream. So, I told her I needed to talk to her.
I met her at her apartment that night after she got home from her job. She said, ok what's up? What do you need to talk to me about?
This is exactly what I said.....
Stacy, please don't think that I'm hitting on you and please don't think that I'm crazy because I promise you I'm not. I've been having this crazy, freakin dream lately, actually for 21 straight nights in a row.
I'm so sick of having this dream that I prayed to God and asked him to please help me to stop having it. He responded and said:
Christopher, you're going to keep having that dream until you tell Stacy about it.
That's EXACTLY what he said to me. So, I just want to tell you about this stupid, freakin job so that I can stop having it.
Ok she said, so tell me about the dream?
In the dream, I was walking down the road with JESUS. He said these exact words to me:
Stacy is your soul mate. You're going to marry her and she's going to become your wife.
Stacy's mouth practically fell to the floor. What?!!!!! she yelled in disbelief.
Listen to me Stacy, I've had the exact same dream for 21 STRAIGHT nights. God told me that if I would just tell you about the dream, I would never have it again. So, now you know.
I never had the dream again. However, exactly one week later, Stacy said she wanted to talk to me about something. So, I went over to her apartment again.
I sat down on her couch in the living room and she sat on the floor with her back up against the wall. Ok, what do you want to talk to me about now, I said?
She said.....
I want you to kiss me so I can see how I feel about you.
OMG! Are you freakin kidding me, I shouted? No freakin way! You're not even my type.
I know she said. You're not my type either.
Ok, then why in the hell do you want me to kiss you if I'm not your type?
Because I just want to see how I feel. God said you were going to marry me, so I just want to find out if that's true.
How is it gonna prove true that I'm going to marry you if I kiss you?
Because if sparks fly we'll know.
OMG, I cannot believe you really want me to do this. Stacy, I'm going to tell you something right now.....
You and I are not each others types. However, I'm an amazing kisser. So, if I kiss you, I know you're gonna love it and you're gonna fall in love with me.
Ok, then prove it she said.
So, as weird and as awkward as it was, I told her to come up and sit on the couch next to me. She did and we kissed..... and kissed and kissed and kissed..... all freakin night long. We ended up making love to each other that night.
We went from not even being each others types, to not being able to get enough of each other. EVERYTHING changed immediately.
So, we became a couple and I moved in with her and her daughter. The three of us became a VERY CLOSE family.
We started going to church, reading the Bible, paying tithes, giving offerings and leading small groups together.
A year later, after the Sunday morning church service was over, as Stacy went back to the children's church area to pick up Reese, our Pastor came up to me and asked me how I was doing.
I thought my life was great, but that's not what came out of my mouth. I looked at the Pastor and said.....
"Something" is missing in my life, but I don't know what it is.
He immediately responded:
HOW IS YOUR MARRIAGE DOING?
I thought to myself, my marriage?..... What the hell does that have to do with anything?
So I said, I'm not married.
Well then who's that girl always sitting next to you at church every week?
That's my girlfriend.
Are you two living together he asked?
I thought to myself, gosh dang dude, you're getting awfully personal.
Yes, we live together.
You're living in sin he said. The thing that's "missing" in your life is God's blessing. God CANNOT bless you because you're living in sin.
Then he said, have a great day and walked off.
I then met back up with Stacy and I was speechless for the rest of the day.
Finally, around midnight, Stacy said she had to know what was going on with me? You haven't spoken a word to me all day. What's wrong?
I told her what Pastor said to me.
Her mouth fell wide open. OMG, she said. Christopher, I do not want to be the reason why God can't bless you and make all your dreams come true. We need to make a decision.
She asked me..... do you want to marry me? I said, I don't know.
Do you want to marry me, I asked? She said, I don't know.
We thought about it for a few days and decided we should get married so that we could have the blessing of God on our lives.
So, on Thursday, August 28th, 2014, we drove to downtown Columbus, and went to the courthouse. It's been exactly 8 years TODAY, since we said "I DO".
It wasn't the million dollar wedding we dreamed of. Shoot, it wasn't even a $500 wedding. However, it's what we felt we needed to do. It probably never would've happened if our Pastor didn't tell us we were living in sin. We thank him so much for being a TRUE man of God and speaking the truth, even though it's not what people want to hear.
The last 8 years for us being married feels like it's been 20 years. We've been through so much together.
The ONLY thing that kept us together is because Stacy got pregnant with my son. This happened right as I started GAMBLING.
You can't see Stacy's belly in the photo (below) because of the Posterboard we were holding up, but exactly three years ago, TODAY, we were at the Chicago White Sox game celebrating our 5th year anniversary, with baby Christopher joining us just six weeks later.
In the last three years since our son was born, our lives have NEVER been the same.
We truly have lived like Rock Stars. Today, we're happy, healthy and wealthy. We're absolutely INSEPARABLE. We spend every minute of every single day of our lives together. That would drive a lot of couples nuts, but for us, IT WORKS.
So, to my wife, my best friend, my soul mate.....
I want to wish you a very Happy 8th Anniversary. I cannot even imagine my life without you and Bubs. You two are the greatest things that have ever happened to me. You complete me. I wake up happy every single day because of you two. I look forward to spending every single day with you for the rest of my life. I love you more than anything.❤️