We are headed to Seattle today for a little family vacay. The highlight of the trip will be the wedding we get to be a part of this coming Saturday. Micah's little bro is getting married... to one of the most fabulous girls I know! I have already considered her a sister in my heart for years now, and it all becomes official on Saturday at 3pm.
In honor of their wedding and marriage in general, I thought I would share the condensed version of the Russum love story with y'all. I am so excited for there to be another Russum couple to continue the legacy of God's faithfulness through marriage in our extended family. Praising God for that...
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Our story is a long one. It started in 11th grade... no 9th grade... maybe 8th grade...
Then and now...
Micah moved to our small town the summer before 8th grade. He went to the "other" middle school, but I had heard about him... the oldest Russum boy of those athletic and good looking Russum kids. I even saw him one day. Our middle school did a leadership event with the other middle school and we rode a bus over to Micah's school. There was THE Micah Russum leaning against a wall when we pulled up. I could now affirm that his cuteness was more than a rumor...
Micah turned sixteen before anyone else in our grade and was therefore the first in our class to get his license. I had never uttered a word to him before, but on the day he passed his driver's test I said "congratulations." A few months later he used that license to drive his buddies around and egg my house. Thanks, dear. {Disclaimer: Micah had nothing against me that caused this egging incident - this is simply what kids did for fun in our town... egging, TPing, interviewing people on film as they walked out of the local grocery store, driving a car into that grocery store. You name it; we did it.}
In eleventh grade, we actually became friends. We were both student leaders for Young Life and a YL retreat sparked our romance. During the second half of junior year, we began dating.
We happily dated for two years, but then college pulled us apart. Really, God pulled us apart by sending us to colleges in different states. Micah headed off to Minnesota and I moved down to Texas, and we quickly realized that God had called us to different places for a reason. We trusted the Lord and decided to break up to see what He had in store for each of us.
We talked on and off during college, less and less as the years went by. It wasn't until the summer after college graduation that Micah called me up and told me he wanted to pursue marriage in a godly and prayerful way. He was still in Minnesota. I was still in Texas. The next two years of dating were full of uncertainty as we tried to discern our future plans and navigate a relationship while living 1000 miles a part. Honestly, it was pretty ugly at times. I was selfish and wanted to go on living my happy little life in Texas for as long as possible. Then I wanted to get married and move somewhere new with Micah so I could attend grad school. It was all about my plan and my timing. It was not about Micah and it definitely wasn't about trusting the Lord. I had so much to learn...
Finally, Micah called me out. By this point, he had moved back to Washington and he asked me to move back too, so we could live around each other before we got engaged and married. I was reluctant at first, but as soon as he asked me to do it, I knew it was the right thing to do. I left all my best friends in Texas and moved back home to rainy Washington and embarked on one of the most refining years of my life. I lived in my parent's basement, substitute taught at my old high school, and worked through years of pent up pride and selfishness. But it was in my parent's basement, in the most humble and lonely of circumstances, that I clung to the Lord, read His Word with new eyes, and was broken for the first time. I understood the love of Jesus in a new way and He changed me. During those days, weeks, and months, God continued to break me, shape me, and prepare me to be a wife that loves Jesus first and her husband second.
Finally, on New Years Day 2010 Micah proposed and we were married six months later on July 11th. We had a fabulous wedding and an even more amazing honeymoon in Hawaii, and two days after we returned, we packed up a rental truck and headed down to Arizona to become The Arizona Russums. We love it in the desert and have been blessed beyond belief by our new church, new jobs, and new friends in our little palm tree paradise.
But you know what? That is not the most important part of the story. I think it's so easy to focus on a couple's dating, engagement and wedding as their love story... when really that's just a page in the story of a couple's marriage and just a sentence in God's story of salvation for the world. Our story is actually God's story. Long before July 11th, 2010, God was working in our hearts to convict us and transform us and save us and prepare us to be a husband and wife who follow Him. And our story isn't over just because we are now past the newlywed stage. Our story only becomes more important as we grow old and our skin wrinkles and our love stands the test of time and all the trials that are undoubtedly ahead. Our story is what happens when we stand before God someday and give account of our marriage and our family. Our story is the faith, the trust, the love, and the service that happens for as many years as God gives us on this earth, all enabled by the grace given to us through Jesus. Our marriage is not really about us anyway, but about the privilege we have of painting a picture of the way Christ loves his bride, the church. And hopefully when that day comes and we stand before God, our story will recount decades of faithful love to God and to each other and He will look on us and say "Well done, good and faithful servants." And then we will celebrate at the true wedding feast...
So refreshing to see God weaved into a love story, since He brought it all together. Love this post!
ReplyDeletethis is one of the best love stories i've read. it is truly refreshing to see God so involved in y'alls love story. i find it amazing how long you were apart of each others lives and how He took you both into different directions, then brought you back on the same path. truly amazing how He works.
ReplyDeletefirst of all...Micah's hair!! BAHAHAHAH love it. I remember when all the guys poured bleach on their heads, it was soooo cool.
ReplyDeleteBut I love your story. I loved that you trusted the Lord when he pulled the two of you apart
Great story. Beautifully said.
ReplyDeletefabulous story, and thank you for putting the focus where it needs to be!
ReplyDeletealso, you have the same anniversary as my parents! :)
I'm a new follower from the blog hop, and I absolutely love this post. How wonderful to see a marriage built on the foundation of Christ and His church. I must say I shed a few tears reading your story. May the Lord bless you both richly in your marriage as you grow together in Him.
ReplyDeletehttp://faithhopeabound.blogspot.com/
Stopping by from the blog hop. Nice to meet. you.
ReplyDelete~Danette
www.danettedillon.com
You're story sounds a tad bit like ours... Except it was 4th or 5th grades. We went to different schools several hours apart.. became friends, got pulled into different things in high school, back together in college. :) Love to hear that it's not the end of your story!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful love story! I love how the Lord brought you together. Thanks for sharing this :)
ReplyDeleteI'd love it if you'd add this to my blog's life lately link up so more people can read it!
-ashley
http://pencilleddaydream.com/2012/07/31/wordless-wednesday-life-lately-4/