Save the Date 1/23/21

On Good Friday, our church ANF decided to show the movie "The Passion of The Christ" to those that wanted to watch before the service. It was the first time Johnnie had seen it, and it really made him think hard about the gravity of Jesus's love and sacrifice as well as his own purpose in life. Later, a few minutes before service, Johnnie took a seat in the back corner of the room, still impacted by the movie. Christina came by and sat a few seats to the left, and Johnnie asked Christina, "What is life?" To which she responded, "I don't know." Now keep in mind, we haven't really talked much or hung out together before, so this conversation was totally random. After service, everyone went to Pastor Daniel's house to celebrate together. At one point, Myungjin (MJ) asked Johnnie if he wanted to hang out together the next day, to which Johnnie agreed. The next day, Johnnie was on his way to go pick up MJ at her school, but on the way, she called him and asked, "Is it okay if Christina joins too?" Johnnie was confused by the sudden change in plans but had no reason to decline, so he consented. So Johnnie goes and picks up MJ, and they go to Christina's home in Ft Worth. Here, Christina takes all of them to Ninja Sushi, where they all got to know each other a bit better. When they got to the Gardens, MJ started to have a photoshoot as Christina took the pictures. Randomly, MJ asks Johnnie to take pictures with her, to which he was internally conflicted, but decided to take some. At one point, MJ switched things up and decided to take some photos of Johnnie and Christina instead (the photos that resulted are in the "Flutter Me Shutters" page). It was awkward, but at the same time Johnnie and Christina both had a feeling that standing together and taking photos felt... right. Later, Christina took MJ home, and she and Johnnie had a 1-on-1 talk on the way back to Christina's home...

So chilling in the car, Johnnie and Christina got to know each other better, and they felt a connection. Here they talked about their dreams - Johnnie's thoughts about becoming a pastor, and Christina's dream to own a coffee shop. Johnnie, still impacted by the movie, asked Christina, "What do you think Jesus will say to you when He comes back?" To which they both agreed that they would want to hear Jesus say, "Well done, good and faithful servant." Johnnie also showed her the song "Oxygen" by Steffany Gretzinger, to which they both felt spoke about their current life situation - lost and weak and in need of Christ. So the talk came to an end, and Christina asked for Johnnie's number, disguising her interest as wanting to make sure he got home safely (heh). Some weeks later, they were once again alone at 9 Rabbits after a church hangout. Christina was studying for a class called "Motherhood of Technical Wombs", which sparked a conversation about women's rights and gender roles. This in turn lead to talking about roles in marriage, to which they both became more curious about what God had to say. Johnnie knew of a book called "You and Me Forever" by Francis Chan that was free online. He wanted to read it to learn more about marriage and shared it with Christina too. They both began reading the intro, and were surprised with what it mentioned. Chan talks about how he really desires for his wife to hear from God, "Well done, good and faithful servant." This felt odd to read, since they had just talked about this not long before. And as they continued to read the book, they felt that God was mysteriously drawing them together - the verses that Johnnie shared with her, coincidentally Chan would use. Similarly, the verses that Christina shared, his wife would use. This lead them to believe that God was leading them to be together, and after talking to their spiritual leaders, family, and friends, it became official :)