When you least expect it....

When you least expect it….

I used to hate that phrase, and I mean really hate it!!  As in, cringe and want to punch someone when they said it, hate it!!  I mean, really in all reality, when are you not expecting or hoping for something!  As a single woman I most commonly heard that phrase in reference to meeting a guy, or “the one”.  I found it hard to believe that there would come a time in my life that I wouldn’t be expecting it at least a little.  But to my surprise, over the past year or so after several months of really struggling and doing a lot of praying and “soul searching” I came to a place in my life that I was really at peace with the idea of being single, and I was content if that was what God had planned for my life.  I have a good job, great friends and family, an adorable nephew and another niece or nephew on the way, and people that I love and care about all over the world!!  I have had the opportunity to do amazing things like go to Africa and volunteer with Children’s Heart Project that I probably would not have been able to do had I been married or had a family.  I had finally found my “happy place” being single.  And then the unexpected happened…during my recent trip to Uganda and Kenya, God placed Daniel in my life, and things have not been the same since that day!!  The last thing I wanted or expected from this trip was to meet a guy!!  Especially after a bad experience a couple years ago!  There I was, in Kenya for the first time, just trying to take it all in and get to know the children at the ministry we were visiting, and in the middle of it all God was up to something!!  Prior to ever arriving in Kenya, our trip leaders told us how wonderful our driver, Daniel, in Kenya was!  I admittedly took that with a grain of salt because how could anyone be any better than our awesome drivers in Uganda?  I was completely surprised when I met Daniel and connected with him in a way I definitely was not expecting!!  I can only describe our connection and the way things have played out since then as truly God ordained!!  I never would have expected or dreamed to meet someone like Daniel, but God had other plans!  I have met this man that is one of the most kind-hearted, honest, compassionate, God-fearing men I have ever met!!  I’ve met a man who tells me I’m more beautiful when I don’t wear makeup than when I do, who tells me how much he cares about me daily, and who makes me feel more loved than I ever have by a man.  Daniel has come so far in his life, and has such big dreams, I know God has amazing things in store for him!!  Meeting Daniel has been both completely unexpected, and completely natural and welcomed all at the same time!!  Getting to know him more and more over the past couple months has been wonderful!  Thanks to technology and the internet, we are able to talk on the phone every day!!  We talk about silly things, serious things, and everything in between and we love every minute of it!!  I have laughed, and smiled more in the past couple months than I have in a very long time!!  There are times when I feel like nothing could wipe the giant smile off my face!!  I have no idea what God has in store for Daniel and I’s future, but I know that it will be pretty amazing!!  I am falling for a man that lives half-way around the world, and I have no idea what that looks like for our future, but I am so ready for this adventure with him!!  I could not be more grateful to God for bringing this amazing man into my life!!  I’m so grateful for the way He has brought us together, and written this beautiful story that I get to be part of!!  So…I guess it is like everyone says…you never know what might happen when you least expect it!!!