Worth the wait.

I was sitting on my surfboard, looking into the NC sunrise which set everything around me aflame, but my heart was quiet. It was my birthday, and in the stillness I felt God whisper. “This is your last birthday as a single woman.” Which was wild. I didn’t even know anyone I wanted to date. The last year had been a wild one, I had wrapped up my time in Australia with YWAM and dove straight into working full time and shooting weddings on my weekends. Dating, much less marriage, was hardly on my radar. But on this birthday trip to the NC coast with my mom, God was nudging me about the tides turning. I paddled ashore and later sat at a coffee shop, trying to process this strange piece of information. “God,” I said, “I know that you always fulfill your promises to me but I don’t have anyone in mind.” Little did I know that I HAD already met the man, but had been so engrossed with work that it never even registered. Just a few weeks before, I had attended a work Barbecue and pool party. It was a blazing hot summer day and I was delighted to jump into the pool to cool off. Brenden, one of my coworkers, brought along two friends who were visiting them for the weekend, Jordan and Katrina. Before long, we were all diving and having a fun, relaxed time. Before long, the meat was pulled off the grill and Jordan and I ended up eating in the same circle of people. But we didn’t engage each other in much conversation. The rest of the evening, I spent my time in the pool playing with the kids and then later joined the volleyball game in the front yard and landed on Jordan’s team. At the end of the evening, as we were saying goodbye, I thought, “I like his height” but immediately brushed it off. “Gretta! Don’t think that.” The next day, he followed me on Instagram. And do you know what? I didn’t follow him back. I wasn’t playing hard to get. I honestly didn’t think we’d ever see each other again.

Over the next few months, Jordan made several trips down to my area. Brenden and Mia kept inviting me to hang out and it never worked, since I worked most weekends. I didn't suspected that it had anything to do with hanging out with Jordan. In November, one day at work, there he was. Jordan was in town to visit Brenden again, but “Have a good weekend” was all I said to him. I had just learned that day that my mom was dating and it was a big piece of news to process. After my aloof interaction, Jordan felt like God asked him to let go of the idea of dating me, which he did. In the beginning of 2021, Jordan was asking God what was next for him. “The door to get to know Gretta is open,” he felt God say. After a few days of praying, he asked Brenden for my number. So the next morning at work, while I was making my coffee, Brenden casually said, “Hey, I’ve got a question for you.” I assumed that it had to do with work. “What’s that?” I asked. “I have a friend that would like to have your number.” “Oh– is it Jordan?” I asked. “I do have more friends than Jordan.” He said, with a smile. “I’m sure you do, but that’s the only friend of yours that I can think of who would be asking for my number.” I called my sister Melissa over lunch break to ask her advice. “I feel like you should at least pray about it.” I’m embarrassed to say, I hadn’t prayed about it yet, I’d just logically thought I’d kindly decline. I didn’t know this guy. But as I prayed, I felt God challenge me, “Can you let go of control and just trust me about this?” That evening I told Brenden, “Hey, you can give him my number.” The next day I got a text message, “Hello, this is Jordan Troyer. I don’t know if you remember me or not from the pool party last summer? I was wondering what time it would work for me to call you? I’ve got something I’d like to talk to you about…” After work that night, he called me. “I’m interested in getting to know you… Is that something you’re interested in?”

We talked for five hours on that first phone call and if that was an indication of anything, it was that we did indeed have a lot in common. After a few weeks of calling and many more long phone calls, we finally decided to meet up in person in the beginning of February. We met up at a coffee shop in Winston Salem and ended up spending all day together. It was amazing how at ease we felt together. We walked all over town, found a place to watch the sunset which just proved to be a slow fade into darkness, and then did an escape room together. Conversation flowed naturally. By the end of the night, we knew we'd like to keep getting to know each other. On February 20th, while we were visiting my sister and her husband in Tennessee, Jordan and I hiked up a bluff and he asked me to officially be his girlfriend. I said yes. And we continued our long distance relationship. Lots of phone dates and traveling to see each other on the weekends every few weeks. Last Fall, Jordan moved to North Carolina to establish his tile business here and so that we can start our married lives together here. We’ve learned so much and grown together throughout the course of this past year as we've continued to seek God together about our future. He promised and He was faithful to fulfill those promises, to both me and to Jordan. Above it all, God’s faithfulness has been paramount. We are so excited for you to be a part of our wedding day and to witness the joy of our union and to celebrate with us what God has done.