How I Met Eric Hall

I suppose I should start back in High school, Junior High actually. I was in an all girls Sunday school class. Katie Kubiak (then Hobi) was the teacher. She encouraged us to make a list of attributes we wanted to find in our husbands and to pray for our future husband every day. I had a list of “ideals” then, so I prayed. Slowly, as time passed, my “ideals” turned to real requests. I prayed that the Lord would keep him pure. I prayed that the Lord would keep him free from the entanglements of this world. I prayed that he would have a heart to do what was right when everyone around was doing wrong. I prayed that he would have a sincere heart for ministry.

I kept praying for that man all through high school as I also developed my relationship with the Lord (which is still ongoing, mind you). Well, I went off to college and saw many guys around. I had a crush on one at the beginning of my freshman year, but he didn’t reciprocate. I was pretty downtrodden until I came across a passage of scripture one Sunday. I was in a New Testament Survey class and one of the assignments was to read through the entire New Testament. One Sunday I was reading the book of Titus when a list of character qualities jumped off the page. These were the characteristics of both the pastor and deacons. I quickly grabbed a piece of paper and wrote the qualities down: blameless, one-woman man, godly ruler, not selfish, not easily angered, not a drunkard, level-headed, just, holy, self-controlled, and able to hold his ground on doctrine. I knew that the Lord had called me into the ministry, so I prayed that God would give me a man fit for ministry as well.

It was during my sophomore year that I met Eric. Of course, at the time, I only knew his name and that he was dating a girl that used to be Mennonite. I knew he had worked with my brother Ben on night crew and was working on trash crew with one of my friends, but outside of those few things I didn’t know much of anything about him. Well, a week after Valentine’s Day, his girlfriend dumped him, so he didn’t have many friends to hang out with. He knew my friend Evan (from trash crew), so he would hang out with us. One day, Evan, my friend Leah, and I decided to ask Eric to join us in going to a Dramatic Productions Minor’s play “A Murder Is Announced” by Agatha Christi. Eric helped me avoid my “stalker” by sitting on one side of me while Leah sat on the other. It was during that play that we struck up a friendship. I thought him incredibly funny, kind, good-humored, and intelligent. I decided that night that he was a man that I would love to introduce to my family, church, and friends back home, but knew I would have to wait and see how things panned out.

A while later, Leah and Evan invited me to go to the park with them. I was very willing to go, but we needed an approved chaperone (basically any room or floor leader). Leah called her brother, but he wasn’t interested. I suggested Eric (he was a floor leader). That began a regular tradition of taking Thursday afternoon walks. We four enjoyed those so much. It was great just being four friends having a great time together. Well, time passed and slowly, our four-some became two two-somes. We were all still great friends, but we all knew the direction we were headed. One day in April, Eric told me that he wanted to date me, but he first wanted to meet my parents and ask them first. This further proved to me that he was a man of great character. We knew with him graduating that a long-distance relationship was inevitable. However, we sought the Lord and were certain that He wished us to be together. He met my family (and I met his) on the day before graduation, so that is when our dating relationship officially started.

Over the past one and a half years, the Lord has taught us much about love, communication, patience, and trust. We both have consistently sought the Lord and are confident that the Lord still wants us together. I could not have asked for a better man in my life. I could not have asked for a better friend to spend the rest of my life with. He may not have been the man I wanted back in eighth grade, but he is definitely the man I need to grow my faith in God and my love for ministry.