Once upon a time.. *G* I love a good beginning, a long time ago, in the year 2000,  a lovely young lady, aged 21yrs entered a chat room.
*where she had often been but it sounds just as good here*
and chatted. Nothing unusual in that. Millions of people do that every single day.

It was a Christian chat room, on a non-Christian site now long gone  called start..

Yes it kind of looked like that.. *G*

Her chat name was (and is) Anamchara.. this is a Celtic word meaning 'soul friend' Anamchara, is a Christian girl, and often spent time helping people as best she could via this chat room.

One day, a tall dark, handsome stranger... err we will call him Water.. entered the chat room.. announcing that he had just become a Christian.. and God went with it all from there..

Ok here's the actual story.. as I used to have it posted on my site..
My side of this story started when I was sixteen (yes as long ago as that) it seems silly now, some of the things I wasted my time and energy on to do when I was that young. But if you have ever had a desire to belong – with someone… a knowledge that you aren't quite complete.. And God has a plan that involves you and.. You would know the heart ache that watching your friends and peers ‘pair-off’ causes you. I think you wont be surprised by my side of the story starting so long ago.

I finished high school in 1996 and progressed as was normal into University. Only I didn’t quite progress to a normal course or a normal Uni. Instead I went to Wesley Institute for Ministry and the Arts in Drummoyne NSW to study eventually a Bachelor of Theology. I cant condense into one or two paragraphs what God taught me there, but just say to follow what He wants me to do in my life. I’m a stubborn person by nature hence ‘following’ doesn’t come easily.

However… I know God has it in control. I'm still on a learning curve with the whole staying inside His will.

Two months before God got Trev and myself talking, I found myself sitting at my desk praying. Asking God what was wrong in my life, why things were feeling so stale. I had a ministry I did, chatting on the Internet, at an Australian chatting site (now folded), in a Christian chat room. I was getting drained by this.. Surprisingly it is a hard thing to do. I had one or two people I was counseling. And well it takes its toll. Particularly if you neglect your own walk..

How can you feed if you yourself do not eat? .

This spot was not my favorite one, and as I sat there, I came to a moment of complete clarity. God spoke.. Saying to my heart “Stop chasing the desires of your heart and I will bring them to you." The biggest desire of my heart I had been chasing was a husband.

Not a basket case (yet) because I never ever went in search of a relationship, I wasn't throwing myself at the feet of any and every guy. Just wanted it. However God always has the better option. So I let go of my “heart’s desire” and reached a moment of complete submission to God. An amazing time of completeness that I never knew could exist.

God worked that very week. I met Trev, online in the chat room.

I heard a testimony of a guy whom God had really gotten into the Kingdom. I was ecstatic, as I usually am when a person becomes a Christian. I enjoy that, the fresh faith, the thirst for knowledge and the passion for God. So this guy was really nice (I thought) and I enjoyed chatting with him, on a fairly regular basis. Something I got from Sydney was calling a Christian brother and sister exactly that. When I met Trev, I used to call him my “little brother” because he is a younger Christian than I, not because he is younger than me (he was 27 to my 21 *grin*) and he took to calling me “sis”.

Over the next month we chatted online, and reached an element of trust, enough so I could tell Trev where I was going in terms of driving and the people I was meeting with. One night, I was going off to visit a friend of mine (nameless to protect but a male) and mentioned it to Trev. Whom I had passed my details to. Something I don’t do as a rule.. Since there are a lot of dodgy people on the net! Anyhow, the crux of the matter is that Trev and I got talking, we worked out we liked each other and wanted to know each other better. Over the next month we chatted as much as we could, online, on the phone and so on.

On August 4th 2000, Trev arrived in Perth. He bussed across from Melbourne and I met him for the first time.(if you don't know it, bus travel across from Melbourne is a LONG trip) We were really sure at that point, that God had bought us together, of course convincing friends and family of that was not an easy thing :)

Regardless, at around 10pm on the night of the 4th, Trev proposed in Kings Park West Australia. On bended knee - prince charming and all. 51/2 months later we were married at Mt. Hawthorn Baptist Church in Perth.

~written in 2001~