How We Met

It was January 22, 2004, and Tara sat down before the first discussion of ‘Prophets of the Bible’ class. The desks were in a semi-circle, and facing Tara was a dashing young man. When she saw him, she jumped up, ran to the bathroom, and fixed her bangs. Yes, the young man was Trenton. A year later, though we were very good friends, it was obvious that Trent was not ready to commit.

Bothered by Trent's behavior, Tara's mentor advised her to pray about committing some time singleness. A few times, she felt the Lord saying "three months," but she needed more confirmation. It would be quite a feat for a sophomore girl to try forgetting about boys for three months!

One morning, Tara prayed again. This time God said "March 10." Confused, she whipped out her phone to check the date. There it said "December 10, 2004"- exactly three months beforehand!  That was confirmation enough, so she dedicated at least three months to be single and focused on God.

During winter break, Trent had his own talk with God. He asked to be released from his desire to constantly attract the girls. God did just that.

After winter break, Trent looked at Tara differently. He saw her inner virtues, and they blew him away. In mid January, he asked her to become his girlfriend.  Tara, saddened but committed to the Lord, said no.  She knew she couldn't tell him details of what God had asked of her. If she did, she would never know if it was God's hand or her's at work in the relationship. "I need time to focus on God," was all she said.

Two weeks later, Trent asked again. Carefully, she told him that the Lord directed her into a time of singleness. Poor Trent was left in the dark. He had no idea when "the time" started, how long it would last, or even how long it had been. For all he knew, it could be a year before Tara had the "green light" from God. And Tara couldn't give hints! That would defeat the whole purpose. She prayed that God would take him away during the last couple days before March 10 because of the temptation to give hints.

So God took Trent to Reno. Seriously! He and his dad went to a dairy conference that went through the 12th. This separation helped Tara, but Trent had trouble sleeping. One night, he woke up every hour pleading with God and wondering why they couldn't be together.

The night Trent got back, he decided it was high time that he took Tara out for dinner. At the end of the evening, Trent finally spilled all the thoughts he wrestled with that night in Reno.

"What does God have against two people that are trying their best to honor Him, but are totally attracted to each other?"

"Nothing," she replied.

"No, more specifically, what does he have against us being together?"

"I was being specific," she responded.

"Oh, well, wait- oohhhh… So does that mean that the time period is... and you are done..."

"Yes!"

Tara wondered when exactly Trent was troubled by all those thoughts, and he said it was Thursday night. For those of you without a 2005 calendar handy, that was March 10!  On March 14, after much prayer and excitement, we were "official."

The summer of 2005, Tara's passion for the French took her to Toulouse, France for 6 weeks with CCC. Meanwhile, Trent was enjoying his job as a camp counselor at Arrowhead. While she was gone, he felt confirmation from God that Tara was the one he would marry.

In early 2006, Trent went on a number of exciting trips to Campus Crusade for Christ offices in Minneapolis and Orlando. He was pleasantly surprised to find that his interest and giftedness in computers could be used in lifetime ministry. He then transferred to Herzing College.

We seemed to be called in different directions—Tara to French campuses, and Trent to use his gifting in computer networking and security technology.  Quite frankly, neither of us was excited about what the other wanted to do.  We even tried to talk each other out of it!  And eventually, we broke-up.

But God had it all worked out.  Trent was informed about a certain office with Campus Crusade that greatly needs networking and security technology because they run the communications into closed countries, particularly the Middle East.  Can you guess where God might have placed this office that greatly needs Trent’s expertise?  Yup, France!  Once we realized that neither of us had to give up our calling to be together, we re-united and our relationship was more purposeful than ever.  It was such a God-thing that Trent's love for computers, Tara's love for France, and our love for eachother could all work together for the advancement of God's purposes!

Two months later, Trent had something up his sleeve (actually it was in his pocket). On a dock, the photographer suggested, "Tara, you could look out at the scenery, and Trent, you stand behind looking at her." So Tara complied, not noticing how sweaty Trent was... click here to watch the proposal video!