our story

This post is dedicated to Brian Leung.

So, Brian and I have been dating for 3.5 years (March 26th is our anniversary, thus September 26th would be the half point) and I don’t know about you, but that’s a crazy amount of time. My 2nd-longest relationship before Brian lasted exactly 30 days... we broke up right on our “one month”. It shocks me every time I think about it.

During this time, there were many ups and downs... events that have changed me and shaped me. Brian played a big part in my devotion to Christ and in turn, Christ has molded and become apart of every aspect of my life. I’m very thankful for him and Him; they’re the 2 biggest influences and 2 very important people to me.

And as a commemoration on the years past, I’m going to tell the story of how Brian and I got together (in 3rd person because it’s more amusing to write).

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It’s the winter of 2002 and Julie came to ETCBC like she has done for the past year, but now as a new Christian. She and her friend Helen sat in the front aisle. Before the music began, everyone was asked to stand up and greet the people around them. Brian and his friend David, who usually sat in the next row of pews, ended up sitting in the pew right behind Julie.

“Hello, I’m Julie.”
“Hi, I’m Brian.”

This was their first exchange of words.

About a month passed with little conversation between the 2. One day, after Sunday school, Julie and Brian were found stranded at church because everyone else had left for lunch without them. So they started talking and after a while, Julie mentioned to Brian that she needed to go to Toys ‘R Us to buy gifts for her little cousins, and being the gentleman that he was, he offered to go with her. As they walked and talked, they decided to go to lunch together at Memories of Japan.

They became good friends quickly and attraction between the 2 began to mound as they got to know each other more. As Christmas day approached, Brian and Julie ran into each other often and saw each other’s names in obscure places (i.e. a gift receipt, street signs, advertisements, etc.). It soon became evident that they liked one another and one strange conversation over ICQ and phone, they told each other how they felt.

Knowing they liked each other, it was very important that they find out whether or not God wanted them to be together. Julie, not knowing what it meant to “ask God” for guidance, was very dependant on Brian for what she should be doing.

“Just pray and read the Bible,” he said, “You’ll know when it’s God speaking.”

So, for the next 3 months, they both earnestly prayed and did devotionals – waiting for God’s response.

One night, as Julie was reading through Matthew, she had to go to the washroom midway through. She placed her pen where she had left off and went. When she returned, the pen was at a completely different section of the Bible; the first page of Ecclesiastes! On and on it went about how things were meaningless... she began to feel as if this was a sign and that they shouldn’t be together. But determined to finish the book, she kept reading and came along to a passage that read,
“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” Ecclesiastes 4: 9-12

Julie phoned Brian immediately after reading this and told him about the passage. To his surprise, that was the exact same passage as the one his previous girlfriend had read when they were deciding whether or not to date (and as their title states, they did date). Crazy isn’t it? Anyway, not too long after, Brian began to feel as though God was leading them to get together also. Then, after months of waiting, praying, and seeking, on March 26th, 2002 around 1:30am, Brian asked her out.

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Ahhh, the memories... I wish I can remember them all... -_-"

I love you, Brian. =o)