Adding a Petree to the Family

In late December, Christmas night to be exact, Leslie came into Texas for a week long visit that proved to be the deciding factor in our decision “for life or longer”. In the first few days, I thought that we had a real connection. You see, it was the first time that we were together for a long period of time and I have a tendency to need my “alone time”. I am typically an introverted person by nature, but very extraverted in my job. I thought that it was going to be difficult after a few days of not having a little space. I have never wanted to spend so much time with someone in my life until now though. One of the reasons for the visit was for Leslie to see if she even liked Texas and I knew that it was going to be a tough sell in the middle of winter. You see, the landscape was lacking on color because everything was dead, and without color, we have very little outside of great people. We have no tall trees or Smoky mountains, just smoothly rolling hills of buildings and small brush.
Selling Leslie on Texas really came down to one day. I had connected with my family and asked for folks to come to the farm to meet Leslie. I was ecstatic for her to see my “home turf”, to see where I grew up and meet my family. I knew that they would love her, but still that first meeting can always be interesting.
Upon arrival to the farm, dad asked us if we would take care of feeding the cows and horses. I was grateful for this chance to show Leslie some of the farm and let her see this part of my past. You should have seen her face! She watched with a look of awe and shock as I began to talk about our lives on the farm. Her look turned to excitement as we went to the top of one of the hills on our property where we had built a Cross a number of years ago. We sat and looked out over the countryside, soaking in the goodness that the Lord had given us.
Then came the family! As folks began to arrive for dinner, we engaged in conversation and laughter as we watched my sister’s and Dad’s kids playing together. My favorite moment of the afternoon was when my niece, Scout age 5, asked her mom if we could all go down to the railroad track. And then Scout came over to Leslie, who she had only just met, and told us to come with them. To watch Scout reach for Leslie’s hand and invite her to be a part of the activities was all that I needed to see. My father even told me later that afternoon that “if I didn’t ask her to marry me, that he was going to ask her for me”. The visit with family was so great and I can’t wait until she and I are back together with the Petree family. It was just what we needed to help make the decision to start the next chapter of our lives together.

Unapologetically Ourselves…

The month of December was full of interesting firsts for Leslie and me. We had decided that it was time to have our first visit so the plan was made for me to go out to North Carolina for a long weekend. As we began to look forward to the time where we would have the chance to sit face to face with one another and be in the same location as the other there was much excitement in the air. Phone calls and emails became more frequent and had an air of flirtation along with them. One example of that was just days before our first weekend together since Windy Gap, where Leslie wrote about a classroom occurrence:

Student- "Miss Unger, you have an email."
Miss Unger- "Ok, thanks."
"Who do you think it's from?"
"I don't know, I get a lot of emails."
"You sure do, you must be really popular."
"Well...."
"No, you are! Do you think I could be as popular as you someday?"
"Well, maybe, if you try real hard and wear a hot pink boa."
"Gotcha. So, who do you think the email is from?"
"Well, it could be from my friend Jason in Texas."
"Texas? Is he a cowboy? A real live one?"
"Uh huh, he grew up on a farm and everything. AND he was driving a truck at the age of seven." "Cool! What else does he do?"
"Sometimes he dresses up in really funny outfits and pretends to be other people."
"Wow, you're lucky to know a funny cowboy."
"I sure am."

Lucky, maybe, but we like to use the word blessed. It sounds much more appropriate. The weekend was a blessed time of seeing where Leslie teaches and her students, meeting some of her closest friends and engaging in life together. I will leave out all the mushy details about walks on the UNC campus and dancing by the lights of the Christmas tree, but I will tell you that it was the kind of weekend that made you want to live in the movie “Groundhog Day”. I would not have minded stopping time and seeing her everyday. (If you haven't gethered by now, Leslie and I are both hopeless romantics. We're not sappy, just not scared.)

We spent the entire weekend realizing that this must be what all those folks talked about when they encouraged Leslie and me to never settle for a mate. For the first time in our lives we were unapologetically ourselves, and we were loved for it. We found out that there was someone in this world that would fit us best and accent the greatest parts of each other. She didn't care that I whooped her in Uno Attack, even though it was on her home court, as long as I grabbed her hand afterwards and asked her to dance in the middle of the living room. And, she didn't mind that I am not the sharpest tool in the shed, as long as she's ok that the shed is kept in an orderly fashion. Cause no one likes a messy shop. (Yes, I am type A) The weekend was an amazing time to spend hours on end together figuring each other out.

I don’t know that we will ever forget our first visit together; I know that there is a bench in North Carolina that I owe our future to though and for that I am grateful. It was there on that bench on a beautiful winter day where I knew that we were to spend the rest of our lives together. Thank God for moments on our lives that cultivate true lifelong friendships.

Patience... I guess it is a Virtue

Our meeting at Windy Gap was picturesque and fun and I knew that it was the beginning of something great. But, I also thought that this amazing woman would never be interested in me. However, over the next few months, between June and November, Leslie and I spent time writing letters and beginning a friendship slowly, even taking a break from each other in the month of September to clarify some outside relationships. Our slow, yet intentional, relationship was full of “bouquets of newly sharpened pencils” (You’ve Got Mail). We had the chance to talk about our common interest and think outside the box of continental relationships because all we had was communication, and what a gift that was and still is. To sit on the phone and talk about all that life has to offer. To keep alive hand written letters, even when the post office loses them. We found out that when you take away the movie nights, and the T.V. watching dinners, and the rushing around to get things accomplished for the day, you would be surprised as to what you really get to hear from those around you.

Jumping forward, yet backwards from now, Leslie and I spent the month of November diving into the meat of a friendship. We began to talk more in-depth and see that there was so much about each other than just a few commonalities. When I think back on those days, I remember the way that we spoke to each other, still not knowing each other that well, and yet, it was as if I had known her all my life. She is the type of woman that makes me “sit up and howl at the moon”, and that’s a great thing! I had asked God years ago to point me in the right direction to help me find the one that he had planned for me but I never knew that He would provide such a gift as He has. I didn’t know if He would grant me this desire, after all, Paul talks about how it is wise to stay single. But I knew that my heart longed for something more, and so much more was shown to me.

I remember in the six years that I wasn’t in a relationship prior to Leslie, being much like Moses in the desert. I would take a step, and then look back to God hoping that the next step would lead me to the earthly love of my life. I remember thinking, “this way God?”, and take a step towards someone new, then look back and say “this way?” Each attempt at friendship ending with thoughts that I would forever be alone. With Leslie, I never thought those thoughts. I was so grateful for every moment that I had with her that it didn’t matter if we were designed for each other. I was simply grateful for the chance to be with this amazing daughter of Christ.
I guess that it is a true testament that patience is a virtue and it does pay off. Being patient and waiting for the right woman to come into my life has been a true testament that God is very good! Just look at Leslie and I and you might just see how very good that He is and we can’t wait to see what He has in store for us next.

The First of Many Great Romantic Stories

On Tuesday, June 15, 2005 an outstretched hand turned dreams into reality. All my life I was taught to be polite and to greet others with a firm handshake and to look them in the eye. I never knew that at that moment I would look into the eyes of the woman of my dreams. Over the next few days we spent time engaging one another in conversation about such wonderful things like A.W. Towzer and pop culture trivia. We spent a few hours talking about family histories and counseling each other on the next few months of our lives. After only a day, it was as if I had known the woman all my life. We sat out by the pool and talked for hours about what made us tick and our passions, but it still wasn’t enough, so we walked together to our next destination, me not wanting to stop talking in fear that it would give her an out to move on about her day. Over the next day or two we stole away moments here and there to tell each other about the mysteries of the world, or just do our best to flirt like crazy with each other. I, Jason, had no thought in my head that a woman this amazing would want to see me after this short encounter, you see, my “chick radar” had been broken for years. Plus, who in their right mind could fall in love with someone as silly as I am?



It didn’t stop me though from doing my best to be me, all of me. I pushed out the voices in my head from the past about, “don’t say too much too soon”, “play hard to get”, and my favorite “you’ve got to play the game”. However, I threw it all out the window and thought, “I may only know this woman for a few day’s, I’m going to enjoy every minute of it”! But the time did end.
There was such a peace about leaving each others company only days after our time began. I felt that the Lord had given us each on opportunity to see, if nothing else, that there is someone out there worth waiting for. And wait we have. But the wait is coming to a end, as the beginning of our story really gets started. Until then…know that Leslie and I are eight months into our lives together and I am blessed to have her in my life. We can’t wait to start our lives together as one body working together for all that the Lord would have us do. While the stories will continue, I think it's only right to give you a teaser... to the future.