The Path of Two Becoming One

We both have our own versions of the story. But together we came to a great description of the start of it all. When Admir was first introduced to Carine, she was not present in the moment the first time they met. He took note of this at the Singles retereat and still was persistent. It was then again, he said hello at a church conference in St. Louis and Carine was oblivious to the pleasantries. Third time's a charm they say. Admir took a different approach to get of hold of Carine's attention just as He was moving on. He prayed! A Facebook friend request came from Carine as so the story is narrated by Carine. Thanks to Jasmine Torres for "accidentally" clicking add. 😉 He kindly accepted her request and he went on to do a little research on her page to inquire more. To his surprise, she loved Michael Jackson. He intentionally decided to post on Facebook music video rendition of kids singing a Michael Jackson song which brought her to tears. He waited for a few days, deliberately, not to give the wrong impression. Then he went for the D.M. to check up on how she was holding up after shedding a few tears. From there on, it was history ... Thank you, Facebook. Or should we say Jasmine.

July 07, 2018 Newport, RI It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon when I (Carine) received a text from Admir. I was out with my girls, when my best friend told me to check my phone. The text read. "Hey babe. I have reservations for dinner tonight at the Gurney's Newport Resort Marina for 7 O'clock..." I was confused as to why I received this text because I was no where near Newport! The struggle was real. How will I make it in time. MORE IMPORTANTLY what will I wear? (Thank God for Mrs. Benbow who taught me always keep a pair of heels in the car to spice up a basic outfit). I also felt bad to ditch my girls. Come to my surprise they all were in on the engagement. Amen. Slowly I thought to myself this is adorable. (giggles) Look at my man! And I found myself on I95 North. I got a message on the way to not arrive a second before or later. Welp I arrived at 6:28pm. I decided to run to Walmart to kill time. 6:58pm! Oops! Thank God for Grace! The resort was incredibly beautiful! The restaurant was by the water. The food PHENOMENAL! The view BREATH-TAKING. Admir expressed he wanted to do something sweet. Proposal never crossed my mind for that evening honestly. Admir quickly asked for the check, which caught me off guard. He explained he wanted me to see the sunset by the water. Can't argue there, I am a sucker for the masterpiece God creates in the sky. The view just blew me away as we walked. The path was made of crushed seashells beneath my feet. Now ladies heels & seashells?! Yes my focus was split in two. We arrived at the light house. Admir asked to read me a poem. I laughed & snorted because I never knew I was dating a poet. He started reading & off to fairy tale land I went. Oh My Goodness! the poem got deeper in content! I could hear my heart beating faster. I thought to myself NO WAY! Could this be HAPPENING!?! He ended the poem with my full name & got on one knee. I couldn't cry! I was just in shock! He proceeded, "Will you marry me?" Absolutely I said YES!

"Samuel then took a large stone and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah. (in our case Pawtucket, RI and West Haven, CT) He named it Ebenezer (which means "the stone of help"), for he said, "Up to this point the LORD has helped us!"' 1 Samuel 7:12 ~Dedication to God~ To God Be All The Glory 'Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” We are only able to share this incredible moment in our lives because of God! We are very grateful for the vital role God plays in our hearts as a couple. Entrusting and learning from God's words allowed us to form a beautiful friendship. That friendship over time formed into a special bond that resulted in falling in love with each other. As we continue to learn from God and grow in Him by encouraging each other, He led us to this path of becoming ONE. We are able to reach this pivotal moment because God loved us first and orchestrated for us to love each other! We fully understand we are nothing without Him. To God we dedicate this LOVE.