Jessica, the host of Love Worth Waiting For Camp, is a gorgeous 29 year old woman. She’s half Armenian, but let me tell you Kim Kardashian has nothing on her. Don’t believe me? Just look at her picture above. That’s not just a good photo. That’s what she looks like all the time. She was the most popular girl in all my group of friends, AND… I’m her first boyfriend. When I say first boyfriend, I mean she was a virgin that had never even been kissed till we got married. For a woman that looks like her, and has a magnetic personality like she does, it took massive devotion on her part to stay single till she was 26 (when we met). She was committed to waiting till she found the one that God wanted her to be with.
When Jess was 16 years old her crush at the time asked her to be his girlfriend, but when the guy did she felt like God also asked her to make a commitment to fall in love with Him (God) first before she began to date. So that day she told the boy (that she really liked) no, and made a commitment to date God‘s way waiting till God would tell her that it was right. It became a passion of hers to show the world that you don’t have to date around giving your heart and body away to every guy that comes into the picture, but that it is possible to find deep, committed, life-long love without the heartbreak and sadness of break up after break up that the usual dating scene brings.
Many guys came into the picture and tried to sweep her off her feet. They were popular and attractive guys that had a lot going for them, and they were all lined up wanting to be with her, but in her heart she somehow knew that none of them were the one that she was meant to be with. So she waited, and waited…and waited. Month after month, year after year, as all of her friends began to date and get married she remained single, expectant and hopeful that one day God would make her heart know when she met the man that was meant to be hers. There were times she was tempted to give in, as she was left behind alone at home while all her friends were out with their significant others. All the while wonderful men knocking on her door, trying to win her heart. But she refused to compromise her commitment, and she remained loyal to me long before she ever even knew me. She experienced a lot of lonely nights. A lot of nights praying for blessings on her future husband, and writing letters in her journal to the man that she knew would one day step into her life. She experienced a lot of criticism. Nearly all of her friends at different times stuck their finger in her face and told her that what she was waiting on didn’t exist, and that she would be an old maid. Many friends got upset because she wouldn’t give the guy they were trying to set her up with a legitimate chance. This continued till she was 26. That’s where I come in, but before I get to that part of the story let me share about my path that led me to her. It’s pretty special too.
So my story is a little different, but also very similar. At 19 years old I had come out of a painful breakup with the girl I had been engaged to at the time. After this happened I decided that I was no longer interested in dating, and I just wanted to develop my relationship with God. So starting at age 20 I put my full focus on God and serving Him. I actually made a commitment to not date until I had become loyal to Him the way that I would one day want a woman to be loyal to me. It was my desire to take care of His heart before I asked Him to take care of mine. It was during this time that I was asked to join internationally known CCM (Christian contemporary) bands NewFire and FFH (Far From Home). FFH had 7 no. 1 radio singles at the time, had sold well over 2 million albums, and maintained a rigorous touring schedule. I tell this part of the story not to brag, but to explain the commitment and devotion that I had to exhibit in order to stay loyal to God and my future wife, just like Jessica did.
Whenever girls see you getting off of tour buses, playing in front of crowds of thousands, and people standing in line to get your autograph they perceive that as fame. It doesn’t actually matter what you look like, or what your personality is like, all they see is a position. They think that you are somebody, and thus that they would be somebody to get with you, and so they throw themselves at you. It was during this season of my life that it would have been very easy to compromise my convictions. Living on the road and in hotels I could have embraced a compromised lifestyle and nobody would have been the wiser. But I never once did. In fact, from the age of 20 to 28 I never even went on one single date. I, like Jessica, knew that God would show me when it was time for me to open my heart to someone. So I also remained loyal to Jessica long before I even met her. Even during my previous engagement in my teenage years I had maintained my virginity due to my commitment to God. So it wasn’t until our wedding day when she was 28 and I was 30 that we finally gave our bodies to each other for the first time.
After touring fulltime I decided I wanted to go Bible School and pursue a life in ministry. I was 26 when I graduated and it was around this time that I felt that God told me that when I turned 27 that I was to become open to the idea of romance entering my life. 8 Months later Jessica stepped into my life and changed my world forever.
So now for the part of our story together! The best part! I was 27 years old and leading the outreach department of the young adult ministry at our church when Jessica walked into the room. I thought she was gorgeous! Due to the busyness of that night I didn’t get to talk to her much. Just some small talk with the group after our outreach was over. I had hoped that I would see her and get a chance to know her better the next week, but unfortunately 2 months went by and I didn’t see her back!
Little did I know that two months later after her visit to the outreach that my face just popped into her mind out of nowhere. Keep in mind that we had only met briefly one time at this point. I’m surprised that she even remembered my name! She was sitting alone in her room and she felt like God said, “Chris is going to be your husband.” Regardless of if you believe in God or not, you can’t deny that something happened to this girl that had spent her entire life avoiding relationships that caused her to open her heart to me. She Facebook messaged me and asked me when our next outreach was. I told her, and when I showed up she was there.
We spent the next several months building a great friendship. She felt that God had told her that I was to be her husband, however she didn’t want me to know that. She wanted God to be the one to tell me the same thing. So she never told any of our friends, she never pursued me, she patiently waited to see if God would confirm what she already felt in her heart by telling me as well. During that time many other guys in our outreach pursued her. I know of 7 different guys just from the outreach that either asked her out or came to me asking for advice on how to pursue her, but just as she had the previous 26 years of her life, that precious woman remained loyal to me. Well it didn’t take me long to get with the program and make a move. A little under three months later, right after I had turned 28, I told her I needed to talk with her. I told her the way I felt and the rest is history! We’ve been together a year and 4 months! And now the girl who spent so many lonely nights writing love letters in her journal to her future husband now reads them all to me.
Yes, we know it’s old fashioned – being a 30 year old virgin, not jumping from relationship to relationship, believing in true love and “the one” and waiting for it, but it’s also pure, sacred, powerful and beautiful, just the way marriage is meant to be. We both made the decision to fall in love with Jesus before we ever fell in love with one another, and I believe because of that He has blessed us with the best. Our story is one of great devotion, loyalty, and love to one another even before we knew each other, and it required great sacrifice, but it was so worth it. God wants the same for you! Jessica now hosts “Love Worth Waiting For Camp” where she teaches single girls the many benefits and joys of dating God’s way! View the events page to see the camp schedule and to sign you or your girls up to attend one!
Beautiful picture 🙂