How We Met, and Husband of the Blogger Introduction
I was so excited to receive an invitation to join a Husband of the Blogger Group within my Christian Blogging Support group. I want to start this by introducing my husband in my own way- by telling you our love story.
I've almost always known that I wanted to marry a pastor.
Or at least someone committed to ministry. But there wasn't anyone with
goals like that in my childhood church or in my small public school. I remember at about the age of 13, looking on a large atlas of the United States and pointing to different states, different towns. With a heart full of hope, I would close my eyes and put my finger down. Maybe he's in... Rochester, Minnesota! Maybe he's in Daisy, Georgia. Or maybe he's in Alaska!My heart was full of both hope and uncertainty.
The only thing I was confident of is that I wouldn't meet “him” in Jefferson County, Kansas.
At one point, during some little tiff, I remember telling my mom: 'It's not like my future husband is gonna walk into the real estate office!' I was determined that I was going to meet my ministry-minded husband somewhere fun and exotic. Maybe on an international mission trip!But here's how God works. Between semesters at Calvary Bible College in Kansas City, in the summer of 2010, I had been working for my mom in her small-town real estate office. She wanted me to do some of the technical parts of the office work and help her set up her website.I liked the work and I liked being with my mom. The one thing I didn't necessarily enjoy about working at my mom's real estate office was being solicited... especially by all of the census workers. A few came and went. And a few more. Always with the same questions. Rather time-consuming, and all without pay. How many will there be? This has gotta be the 5th or 6th one!?
Enter Census Worker # 7...
...a tall, rather lanky young man who seemed like he was all arms and legs. He was wearing neon green sunglasses. I could tell by his clipboard that he was one of “them” so I didn't pay him much attention. Or maybe I should be more honest...I full-out ignored him, even when he spoke directly to me. He left, probably feeling a little lost. After all, he was essentially asking for directions.Ben found something he liked in that office- maybe it was a Thomas Hart Benton painting my mom had on her wall. 😘 He came back to ask about it, but I wasn't in the office that day. But he took advantage of the situation, he spoke to my mom and tried to figure out how he could get what he wanted. Upon noticing a Christian radio bumper sticker, a light came on above his head, and he made sure to mention to my mom that he went to Moody Bible Institute.I wasn't there, but I have heard the story from both sources, and it seems to me that they kind of plotted a first date. All that I know is that my mom was soon encouraging me to pay attention to “Census Boy”.
He got his foot in the door...
On about the 10th visit to that office (he didn't even bother bringing the clipboard anymore), he mentioned a friend of his who went to both Moody Bible Institute and Calvary Bible College. We had some laughs about this mutual friend and he sensed that he had his foot in the door and was bold enough to ask me out on a date... tomorrow night. He came to the office with his motorcycle. At promptly 7:29 pm on July 29th.
The date went well.
So well that we were engaged 5 months later. We were married on July 29th one year later... at 7:29 pm.
So without further ado- here's five questions, answered by my husband- the love of my life. My reactions are shown in the emojis.
Husband of the Blogger
-
Who are you?
“Ben Hardee.” 😏
2. What's your favorite thing about my blog?
“I like that you are passionate about it and that it helps people. I also like that it brings us a little extra income.” 🤗
3. Do you have a favorite blog to read? If so, what?
“Always interested in reading what you write. I also like reading some from The Gospel Coalition. I also like to read sports forum boards about Kansas Jayhawks... that's kind of like a blog, right?” 😆😆😆
4. Whats your favorite thing about our life together?
“That's so hard. I like the church. I like our son, Cyrus. I like being a pastor. I like that you like being a pastor's wife.” 💑 😍
5. What is one thing you want my followers to know about you?
“I wear flannel shirts and have a beard. I play worship music and bluegrass music on my guitar and I actually know how to change a tire and run a chainsaw... so... I'm not too worried when people call me a hipster because... chainsaw.” 😹😹😹🎸😋
Haha!
I loved transcribing what he was saying... I was laughing so hard I made him repeat it several times.He's the family pastor in our church- Living Water Evangelical Free Church. We currently live in the town between where he grew up and where I grew up.
I did this Husband of the Blogger post in conjunction with several other bloggers, and I was so glad I got to read about them and their husbands! You will love this fun series. Check it out: Rebekah Hargraves of Hargraves Home and HearthKayla Nelson of The Accidental Nomad LifeAmber Durgan of The Homemade Helpmeet
Thanks for joining and don't forget to head over to the other blogger's blogs and meet their husbands as well! This Husband of the Blogger series will happen next month too, Lord willing!
Love, Sarah
*These Amazon links are provided because I genuinely like these products! If you choose to buy these, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you.*