Does romance make you swoon?

So, a bit about me to start things off. I’m a pastor’s wife/stay-at-home mom/inspirational romance novelist. Today, I’m sharing my romance with my then not-so-preacherly husband, that started when I was fifteen and he was seventeen.

Officially, we met in high school. He’d transferred from another district because he was a hotheaded trouble maker. I took one look at him with his rebel long hair and thought, ‘That’s the man I’ll marry.’ I was very shy and quiet, so it took him half the school year to realize I was alive. He was Mr. Popular and I became someone when we started dating.

But a few months into dating, after I’d tamed him and he wasn’t so hotheaded, we realized we’d met before. I have no idea how old we were, but our grandmothers knew each other. We both remember being at my grandmother’s house and playing the same unique games. I remember a bunch of little boys being there and he remembers a bunch of little girls being there, but we don’t remember each other.

Four years after we officially met in high school, we married in our hometown in Central, Arkansas at the church we attended then. The church was adding on a new sanctuary. It had a concrete floor and, the roof was up, but the walls were only studs, creating an open-air pavilion type effect. The pictures turned out great.

Two potential disasters happened that we didn’t find out about until we came back from the honeymoon. First the silk flowers in the reception centerpiece were surrounded with lit candles. Yep, you guessed it, the flowers caught fire. But it was easy to put out and didn’t get out of hand.

Second, my husband’s step-grandparents came from Texas for the wedding, but arrived after it was over. By the time they got there, we were gone on our honeymoon and had kept our destination secret from everyone. They had no choice but to turn around the next day and go home. I still feel really bad about that. But other than that, our day was perfect.

Almost twenty-six years later, we’re still going strong with an eight-year old. How have we been married that long and have a son so young? A long story, but we never separated, divorced, married other people, or adopted.

Funny how life works. We met as children and for the last thirty years, four dating, and almost twenty-six married, we’ve been unstoppable.

Mark your calendars:

• June 2 – I’ll reveal a little-known romantic place for the perfect wedding.
• June 4 – Book excerpt of how my hero & heroine met in my debut novel, White Roses.
• June 7, 9, 11 – Heartsong Presents & Realms author, Martha Rogers shares her real-life love story.
• June 14, 16, 18 – Librarian/aspiring author, Regina Merrick shares her real-life love story.
• June 21, 23, 25 – New Heartsong Present’s author, Julie Jarnigan shares her real-life love story.
• June 28, 30, & July 2 – B&H author Kimberly Woodhouse shares her real-life love story.

At the end of each week, everyone who comments will be eligible to win a book. If the featured story is from a nonwriter or an author who doesn’t have a book out yet, one of my books will be the giveaway for that week.

May 31 – June 4 giveaway – White Roses

June 7 – 11 – Martha Rogers – Morning for Dove

June 14 – 18 – White Roses

June 21-25 – White Roses

June 28 – July 2 – 2 Kimberly Woodhouse books