First Sight
I first saw Josie in the fall of 2001 at the first night of Saving Lives Through Athletic Ministry aka "SLAM." I was serving as an assistant coach and she was on the programming team. That first night, they did a red carpet theme. So I first "spotted" her walking down the red carpet in a formal purple dress. I was very "impressed" with her from the first time I saw her.
First Words
I didn't actually meet her until the summer of 2002. I went to Kids Across America with our kids from Sunshine and she was on staff at KAA that summer. I'm going to be honest, I became really nervous every time I spoke to her that summer. I felt like I couldn't quite put sentences together in her presence.
The Set-up
During the summer of 2005, Josie's sister Richelle approached me about "setting me up" with her. I didn't need any convincing. I was excited for it to happen. I called her and asked her out, but she informed me that before we could go on a date i needed to come to her parent's house for dinner. That was a daunting thought to me. I had never really had a face to face in depth conversation with her, so the idea of her and I doing that for the first time in front of her parents was a little scary. The Albrights put me at ease, and I quickly came to love her parents.
Not Quite
We ended up dating for a few months in the fall of 2005. However, for different reasons we never really began a relationship. For the next 5 years we would "keep tabs" on each other. We would communicate occasionally via Facebook, and even hung out again in the summer of 2009.
Beautiful Surprise
We both came into 2011 having recently come out of serious relationships. We were both trying to heal and to process what God was teaching us about ourselves, relationships, and what he had for us. In the early spring I had shared with close friends that I was frustrated in my singleness, but that I wasn't really interested in entertaining a "romantic" relationship. I just wanted to "chill" on the dating front. Shortly after both of those conversations, on a Friday afternoon, I got a voice message on my phone from an “old friend’s” mother. Mrs. Albright had called to let me know that “Josie was in Chicago for the weekend.” Then a few minutes after receiving the message, I received a text message from Josie’s sister stating the same thing. I then turned to my good brother Pete and asked if I should call her. He quickly responded “you better call her!” Our first time together this spring was so refreshing and encouraging for both of us. We were able to share with each other with great transparency as we caught up on each other’s lives. Shortly after her returning to Branson (where she works at KAA), we began talking on the phone every day, and the rest is history:)