Love, It's Worth the Wait

Being on the mission field is great, but it's even better when I came back with my husband! This is Heather writing to you, and I wanted to share a little bit about Mark and I. You see, our relationship was not normal. It wasn't even normal for abnormal people.

Mark and I met in 2006 at the old Healing Place Church Annex on Airline Hwy in Baton Rouge, LA. I was new to church and especially new to the video campus, and met a friend named Joy Parker at service that morning. The Annex was the coolest church ever. It had a laid back feel, live worship, free coffee, and a video message from the HPC Saturday night service. The whole thing felt different from any church experience I ever had. Well one morning when I was perched on the overstuffed black leather sofa in the back of the sanctuary waiting getting my offering ready for the usher, I looked up and saw Mark...he was walking straight toward me...all tall, dark and handsome...and then he held out his hand, and I put my offering envelope in the white bucket he held out. That was it. I didn't know his name, but I recognized something inside of him and said..."I want to marry a man like that, someone with a heart to serve." I had no idea that I would actually marry him, 4 L-O-N-G years later.

Mark kneeling on far left, Heather in pink jacket 3rd from the left.

We were friends for a few years. Our paths would cross at church events, friends houses, missions classes, and parties. We traveled on the outside of circles that ran together every now and then. We learned about each other through other people, and as our conversations grew longer and more frequent I started to back off. You see, I was in an internship program called Elevate. I was being trained to move to the mission field, and I had made a commitment to focus on God and laying the foundation that would make me a stable missionary.  I did NOT need a guy, or maybe that should read: I did not NEED a guy. Either way, we stopped talking so often, the text messages dwindled down, and we only crossed paths at church.

I started to get a little nervous when Mark expressed his desire to become a missionary in Latin America. I got a little more nervous when he started talking about enrolling in the Elevate Internship, because that meant I would have to be around him a lot more. That would literally be torture since I could not, and would not act on any feelings I had for him. I told myself, "Even if he is the right person, it's not the right time. And the right person at the wrong time is still the wrong person."

Then came my rescue...God moved me to Honduras! Whew...I breathed a sigh of relief. I began working with Healing Hands Global (at the time it was called Healing Hands International Ministries) in Rio Viejo, Honduras. I was able to immerse myself into the culture, language and lives of the missionaries there and become a part of their team. I was able to be completely myself, and I realized that I was, indeed, made for the mission field. I was 6 months into my 10-month internship with HHGlobal when Mark came to Honduras on an HPC mission trip. Of course I had already told the missionaries I was working with all about Mark and my crush on him, so they were on the look out for potential missionary qualities or big red flags. I think it was on this trip that Mark and I really saw each other as God saw us, and that was refreshing and rekindling.

Mark and Heather looking out over the Rio Viejo.

Funny thing was...I knew God was calling me to stay with HHGlobal for longer than my internship. Actually, He had already given me the time line of 3-5 years, so I knew that there was no way I could possibly start a relationship with Mark. I surrendered again to the Lord's will, and I trusted Him to fill all of my needs. Besides, Mark was scheduled to return in August for another week with a construction team that would replace the leaking roof on the hospital, so I would see him again before long. =D

It turns out that Mark was actually placed in a position to help plan that construction trip, so we were emailing back and forth a lot talking over materials lists and arrangements for the team. When we asked HPC to send someone out a week early to help us prepare for the team and order materials guess who they sent down...yep, Mark Younger.

Mark and crew working on the hospital roof.

So this time, Mark and I got to hang out and work together for a week, and then we got to see him in his element as a construction worker for another week. It was great to be around him, and get to know him again, and when it was time for him to return home...I just knew we would stay in touch. We started chatting online, and by the time I returned to the States in September we had both developed feelings for each other - however hidden they may have been.

We went on a few dates, took a long and painful break for a month, and tried to sort thought the logistics of dating long distance for a loooooong time. By the time I left for Honduras in January of 2010, we knew the relationship was serious, and that we would continue to keep in touch over the internet, snail mail and packages sent through visiting teams.

Mark found out in March of 2010 that HPC was going to send him to Honduras a missionary!!! This was sweet, sweet news for me. I just knew the time was coming and God was going to turn this bittersweet love story into something so unbelievably wonderful. I returned to Louisiana for Easter in 2010 to renew my visa papers and spend time with family, friends and of course, Mark. On April 3rd Mark laid out this elaborate and romantic proposal event and popped the question! We were getting married!!!

Proposal at HPC Missions Cafe.

But before that could happen...I had a busy summer of mission teams back in Honduras, and Mark had to finish out his 2nd year of internship and finish fundraising for his time in Honduras. There was barely time to eat and sleep, let alone plan a wedding and do premarital counseling over Skype. We both admit, that our time apart made the time we had together so much sweeter, and on July 31, 2010 we were married.

Wedding Party

We had a short and blissful honeymoon on Utila, an island right off the coast of Honduras, and a week later we found ourselves moving into our cozy apartment on the second floor of the HHGlobal dormitory. We were home! Married and on the mission field!

Kayaking adventure in Utila.

I write this on our website because it is an important part of our story, and I want it to be a testimony to all those who are looking for the right person to spend their life with. If you are really following God's will, then you will end up in the right place at the right time with the right person! Don't settle for mediocre. Don't settle for Mr./Miss Right Now. Hold onto the dreams God has given you, walk the path no matter how difficult it may seem, and press on because the rewards are so worth it. Waiting is so worth it.