God is great as is evident by Heather Cammack.

Of course I noticed Heather when she came to Evans. How do you not notice someone like her: elegant, tall, blond, beautiful, with a great smile. During the next couple of years she became the talk of the school, kids loved her, other teachers really liked her, her choir began bringing home perfect scores and was the bestin the region.

So the next two years I would see her in the halls and other places around school and we would exchange small talk but nothing more. I remember her playing in the faculty student basketball game in February 2008 and thought WOW talented director, beautiful and good athlete, with great legs to boot.

So I asked a few people that knew Heather what she was like and if she was dating anyone. So I was thinking that I would just go down and ask her out to dinner one evening to get to know her better. Little did I know how tough that would actually be. I tried to catch her for two weeks during passing period, in the lounge, during her conference, or after school. Well, like I noted earlier, she is loved by the kids and every time I went down to talk to her there were kids in her room. Forget about catching her during her conference. She had a 7th period conference and was “sometimes” gone during her conference which ruled out talking to her after school.

Well desperate times called for desperate measure,s so I resorted to a well known tactic that I hadn’t used in a long, long time I wrote her a note asking her out and luckily for her she said yes (hehe).

Out first date was the end of Spring Break, we went to Cheddar’s in Lubbock and just sat and talked for a couple of hours, I gotta say I learned A LOT about Ms. Cammack through our great conversation that evening and loved every bit of it! I tell her and everyone to this day that I really had a great time on our first date even if her version of it is a little different. Either way it was the start of the best 18 months of my life so far.

So what began in March of 2008 and has been wonderful, amazing and better than I could have ever imagined since...

I really wanted it to work with Heather so I tried a new approach while dating her, I moved really slow and by doing so it seemed to her (understandably) that I was not all that interested. I had moved very fast in past relationships because I was biding time but, like I said, I really wanted this one to work.

While we both had and continue to have quite a bit in common we soon realized that we also had many differences. For example my love of traveling and her happiness of being at home, oh wait that is her love of travel. Our Christian backgrounds were also different in some ways, and most of all Heather loves pizza and casseroles and I really don’t. (ha ha) ;)

I guess one of the greatest things I love about Heather and about our relationship is the communication we share and with God at the center of it all always, that communication has brought us through some tough times to where we are today.

I remember going to Oklahoma for Mother's Day and Heather and I talked for about an hour on my drive up there and I really became more convicted of how I felt about her. I told dad that weekend how I felt that she was different and how I was REALLY falling for her!

The summer of 2008 really flew by, the Friday we got out of school Heather’s family came into town and I got to meet her parents and brother and his family. Then Heather went to China for two weeks and when she came back she got to meet my parents who I promise you love her more than me.

Rest of the summer had a few peaks and valleys but God was good and brought us through it all and up to school in August of 2008.

We continued to grow together and I learn more about each other. Who knew I would grow to really enjoy Art Trail, traveling, and the culinary fancies of Cafe J and Home Cafe. I got to be a part of “birthday week” as the love of my life turned 27. Heather continued to travel and went up to Chicago in August while I was playing tennis in Dallas but got to come by one afternoon before she flew out. And told the most amazing woman I know that I loved her, it goes without say that that was the highlight of our first year together.

She may try to convince you otherwise but Heather Cammack is a very caring, nurturing and loving woman. I messed up my ankle pretty badly in mid December 2008 and had surgery on Christmas Eve I couldn’t walk or drive until February of this year. Heather came by every morning and picked me up for school and for church and anything else that I needed for those two months.

The Spring and summer brought many events for both of us, there were the six weddings since December five of which Heather was in. Heather’s choir once again received straight one’s at contest but this time it was a bit different, I was the driver (just kidding) her varsity and advanced women, and men’s choir all received straight ones the only choir in the city and region to do so.

After our trip to Colorado, another wedding, we both had a first together. I asked Heather Elizabeth Cammack to make me the happiests man alive and MARRY ME; she said yes!

It has been a wonderful 18 months and I can’t wait to see what the next year has in store. Heather is an amazing and wonderful woman, which if you are reading this you probably know her and realize that already. God has blessed us throughout this relationship and blessed me by bringing Heather into my life.

I can't wait to be her husband on April 10, 2010!

The next 12 months of my life were some of the most exhilarating, stressful, wonderful, confusing, and blessed times I'd ever experienced. I went to China on a mission trip and missed Jody terribly, but I was so afraid it wasn't going to work out.

The summer was a great time to grow in our relationship and get through that exciting but awkward first few months of dating. I guess I was probably more awkward than him, but this was so new for both of us. Jody was aloof and "cool" in the beginning. When I asked him about this months later, he said he knew from day one that I was different, that HE felt different about me and wanted it to be better and different than any other relationship he had.

And so it was. School started and it was interesting trying to navigate working with my boyfriend. It was, however, important to both of us to remain professional and honor the Lord with how we handled ourselves at school. I will say that one suprising thing about being an educator is the lack of professionalism sometimes in schools. NOTE-I teach middle school, I am NOT a middle school teacher or student for that matter. Therefore Jody and I remained warm, but professional at work.

I think the most significant turning point for us came September 7, 2008. I was about to leave town and told Jody I didn't know if this was going to work. We had differences, in my mind major, and I didn't think I could continue on if something didn't give. Then he said, "I wasn't planning on telling you like this; I've been looking for a good time, but Heather, I love you...like I've never felt about anyone else".

Wow. What do you do? What do you say? I was guarded and yet really smitten with the man that sat before me. All I could say was "thank you." I wasn't ready to reply any other way...I wanted to mean it fully. I had only said it once before and vowed I wouldn't until God sent "the one".

So I left town. Actually I think most of our first year epiphanies involve one or both of us leaving town, traveling, just getting some perspective. I came back and within 2 weeks told him I loved him too and didn't want to lose him-insert both of us talking and crying as we tried to figure out what was next.

Birthday week came and went. Short story-Jody SPOILED me rotten! Little things every day-coffee, breakfast, sweet cards, cupcakes, notes on my board in German, and a wonderful evening at Cafe J.

OCTOBER-Turning Point again. Jody went to Tucson to play the Regional Semis for his mixed team. It was so good and they advanced! His parents were able to go as well and he got to ride home with them back to Lubbock. He spent most of the trip telling them what I meant to him, and how he saw me as the best thing that had ever happened to him. I missed him and was so glad when he returned to tell me all these things he had communicated with his family.

Memory-standing in the driveway leaving to go home. Jody, "Heather, this
going to work. We're going to pray and God will be faithful to answer in
what His perfect will is. I love you and I'm not letting you go, I'm
fighting for you, for us until God says Go or No".

OCT-DEC was trying, as we both confessed later, seeking, praying that God would show us what would bring Him the most glory and us the most joy. Honestly seeking that if we weren't it for eachother that He would end it peacefully and we'd both attempt to go our separate ways.

Dec. 17th-Jody "twists" his ankle playing bball with the girls. We go to the Evans Christmas Party and I finally see it...it's not a sprain. Not when it's black and he can hardly walk on it.

Thus begins what I call "Heather Growing Up a Little" time...Jody couldn't drive.
At all. Not for the next 3 months. What did this mean? I would drive from my Tech Terrace house all the way to his house and take him to school every morning and take him to get groceries, a hair cut, anything.

And it was so good for both of us: slowed us down, reality check on what marriage would look like, caring for the needs of him more than my own and vice-versa, having to talk to "happy Jody" in the morning :)Looking back I am so thankful for that time to really nurture our relationship. God is sovereign in all the things he uses to bring Himself glory.

Dec-Major turning point. Jody decides, on his own, that he wants to start going to Redeemer. Our relationship only got better from here. God continued to bless us with a community of friends, wise counsel, and amazing Gospel-centered teaching that BOTH of us felt and knew was best for us. I can't express how integral this was in God blessing our relationship.

SPriNg SEmeSter- flew by. Jody started driving again. We continued to pray about where God was leading us. I found out he asked my dad for my hand in marriage at Christmas-no one told me! My UIL contest came and went...I can't express how much of a support Jody was through this, he even drove the bus AND brought me coffee every morning!

April-We start talking marriage more seriously. I take a step back, need to process, but at the end of the day always came back to him knowing God WAS blessing this. He wouldn't have let it gotten so much better each month if He didn't want this.

It's impossible to list all the cards, sweet moments, trying times that lead to joy, and growth we've experienced as a couple the last year. All I can say is this:
Jody Bolin is even more than I could or knew to ask for. I began
praying God would send him so many years ago and here he is. He's
different in some ways than what I thought I wanted, but in God's
sovereignty, he compliments me in more ways than I can name.

Anyone who truly knows him sees his character, his huge heart, his
amazing ability to love and care for others. He's not too proud to say
"I'm sorry" and genuinely strive to rebuild relationships through
Christ. He is optimistic and forgiving...such a testament to God's work
in his life.

He loves Jesus more than me, and I wouldn't want it any other way. He
is the most caring, loving, selfless, fun, passionate, and godly man
I have ever been with and I love learning more about him each day.

We are not perfect, but we are saved by grace. God has used our
individual paths, broken as they were, to bring us together- FOR HIS
GLORY and OUR GOOD. (Rom. 8:28)