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Charlie's Story |
I have always had a great desire to be loved and to love but, particularly during my twenties, I ended up searching, I now realise, in all the wrong places and going about it in totally the wrong way. My seeking was selfish and invariably I was concerned with what I could get out of it, rather than what I could give.
I started a university course in the north of England and it was there that I met my wife, for the first time. I remember thinking that she was the most beautiful person that I had ever met. As we got to know each other we both felt it was important that true friendship had to be at the heart of our relationship – that was perhaps the first decision we ever made together. For me, who was fairly new to living life in faith, this relationship was unlike anything either of us had ever experienced. There was a long period of getting to know one another and we tried to put prayer at the heart of our friendship; this I think is the key because we discovered the true beauty and dignity of the other through prayer. I think, with hindsight, it also helped us to avoid moments and situations that might have compromised our friendship. I look back now and realise that the struggle to keep our relationship pure meant that we were building our relationship on rock rather than sand.
To begin with I didn’t think that we’d get married; we were just journeying together. However, after a period of time it dawned on me that she was the person I was going to marry. One significant moment I remember clearly, was when I saw my wife-to-be in a photograph holding a baby and I just thought, “She’d make a great mum.” Six years on, we now have a six month old boy. It’s been a wonderful journey so far and we’re looking forward to what life has in store for us.
So, if there were three words I would use to summarise my journey to finding a wonderful wife, it would be: friendship, prayer and self-gift.
I’ll keep you in my prayers and I hope that you find the person who is being prepared for you.