God, Our matchmaker

'.. Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.' Song of Songs 2:7

When I was seven years old, I met a boy in class. He was my first class monitor and I was like the mini seven year old princess, who wore white high heels to his seventh birthday party. We grew closer and closer as the years went by. At the age of twelve, we got our first ever handphones and our first numbers were each others. Since barely anyone at that age (at our time) had handphones, we spent most nights texting and calling one another. 

For the first time in my life, a boy started sharing with me his secrets and I started sharing with him mine. He told me his little crushes and I was opened to a whole new world. Back then I thought it was a completely foreign and abominable thing to do, to confess to a crush that you liked them. He explained to me that boys actually do that. We slowly started to develop this '12 year old crush thing' on each other and when he was about to confess this, he instead told me he did like me but changed his mind (even though he didn't) 

and so, I changed mine.

/ we were about seven here. we're the two people on the left /

Thirteen; and we were upgraded to high school where again we were put in the same class. I thought since this whole crush thing was done and over with, we could now be purely best friends and nothing of that sort would ever happen again (since the same things don't usually happen twice). Lol. Little did I know that his subtle feelings for me persevered and grew pass infatuation to a genuine 'like me exactly for who I am' sort of thing. But, you know girls have this thing where they cram a handpicked bunch of guys into this 'consideration pool' to see who is personally fitting to the list or not. Well, he was never once put under consideration - what is now commonly known as the tragedy of the friendzone. 

Discipleship Camp 2009

Chemistry class

Awards Day 2010

Even though we didn't have the most similar interests (eg: sports and stuff), we were extremely connected by God. Out of most of the people I knew in high school, he was the one I clicked with when we shared about how we saw God and our passion for Him. 

We never had a single chance to be apart from one another. We were thrown into being partners for almost everything significant in high school. We shifted from yellow house to green house together. Placed together as Bible Knowledge partners since 13, and every year till we were 17. Led the sports house together as captain and assistant. (Totally made the theme of our sports house Garden of Eden, just because God is somehow always included in the picture). Took the exact same subjects and extra electives for our SPM and so were in all the same classes. Super kiasu competitors for 1st and 2nd place in class yearly ( we fought alot ). Hahah. Choreographed dances together for school performances almost our whole high school lives.

Green House 2010

Bible Knowledge Quiz 2010

On our last Awards Day of high school (which was like a huge deal at that time), the teacher in charge of the worship for the event prayed about who to pick to worship lead and she told me that God clearly dropped two names in her mind and so the decision was extremely easy. God said "Roy and Faith". 

Awards Day 2010

We moved on from high school and he was actually glad to get away from me cause with me in the way, he apparently couldn't find anyone else worth pursuing. ( he earns points here for sweet talk hehe )

Unfortunately for him, we ended up in the same college and even though we were doing completely different subjects - science and arts , we ended up in the same class for taking Religious Studies. Again, God brought us together. We joined Christian Fellowship and started serving in the YouthAlpha committee, Research and Dev comm, and soon served in the CF comm together too. :D

Last day of MCKL Christian Fellowship 2012 

MCKL High Praise Event 2012

CF camp 2012 

MCKL Midsummer Masquerade 2011

Meeting Mr Yosh, he brought us to MYPG (Malaysian Youth Prayer Gathering) where he picked ten of us from CF to be trained to be used by God in prayer. Now, not only did we meet every day of the school week but also Saturdays to gather and pray! 

................

When we turned nineteen, he finally decided that he would try pursuing me (yay!) and so, invited me to prom as his first prom date. I agreed to this but misunderstood everything, thinking this was just a best friend date and texted him after the night an extremely friendzoned text which he took as a 'never-going-to-happen' reply. :(

Orientation Ball 2012

After college, he was relieved to split ways AGAIN. lol. The Lord told me to take a gap year for certain fulfillments and so I did. Coincidentally, he decided to take a gap year to do some volunteer work too. In this gap year, we went to Israel with a bunch of other families where his mum led the tour. We really fell in love with the nation and the people. (and now we're doing Hebrew together!) Ironically, I remember his mum saying a prayer for me there in front of the whole group, that I would find the man that God had prepared for me. She would have never guessed it would be her son. kekeke

Israel 2012

Gap year over and it was time for uni to begin. He had decided on Singapore and I was planning to head to Canada or UK. Last minute things happened and God spoke to each of us individually; we ended up in the same university in Australia, in the same intake and ended up staying in the same building, diff floors. 

I think he was more annoyed than ever. hehe.

..............

I did really love that my best friend was in everything I did and everywhere I went. Somehow, anytime I was with him, every place would feel like home.

When I was really young, God spoke to me through Scripture and confirmed to me many times that He had prepared someone for me. He also told me many times that I simply had to wait and when this man comes, I would know for certain. I know this sounds extremely controversial since God has given us the gift of choice and also sounds totally cliche sprinkled with much cheese, but it was really true for me. I understood from the Lord that everything was meant to glorify Him and so being a couple should do the same. Finding that one person who loves the Lord passionately can really change the course of your life since it's a journey together. I believed that the Lord had prepared someone for me who would draw me closer to Him, instead of further away and from meeting him, would alongside stir me to my calling.

When Roy finally dropped that 'lifelong secret' major bomb on me that he hated me calling him my best friend because he always wanted to be more, I tell you it was the biggest shock of my life. It was the first time after nine years, that I intentionally considered him and realised that nobody has ever fitted my list like he has. I asked Roy what made him choose me since he knew all my flaws and ugliest moments by now, and he said he fell for how I loved the Lord and how I inspired him every time I talked about God.

He said he spent time with God to search out what he wanted in a girl and he concluded that guys choose to love the girls that they find precious to them; whether physically or emotionally or relationally, etc. And he realised even though he did find me precious in all those aspects, more importantly he found me precious spiritually. And that's what made the cut. I absolutely adored that.

I love how God was never not in the picture. Haha. Reflecting back on the long journey, God kept placing us together for everything even when we never intended for us to work together. God created opportunities to place us alongside in leadership and in servanthood, in the good times and in the bad times. Not one significant event in my life or his, did we go through without each other; which really says so much. Every significant event would feature God and one another. It was always a 3-in-1 sort of thing. Also, he would have never liked me if it weren't for God and I would never have liked him either. I love that every single time I'm asked to share my story, there's no way of not mentioning God because He's so ingrained into this friendship and this relationship.

God was the ultimate matchmaker for the both of us. He sneakily and so subtly intervened in the backdrops of our past to lead up to our present. It sometimes frankly feels like He created us to be together. hehh. I do believe in a romantic God and I do also believe in a God who cares. I'm thankful He's so ever present. I'm thankful He weaves beautiful stories in our lives, for we deserve none of this.

If you know me personally, my whole life people have always mentioned how compatible we are. Almost everyone has.... They have always somehow thought we were together or that we will be one day. You might just be one of them! I always shook it off with a 'no! not roy. he's my bestieeee >:( '.
It's funny how ironic life turns out to be and how plots can truly twist.

I will never forget what my brother said when I asked him for advice on this. 

'If I were to write a book on your life, this would be the perfect ending. He's your best friend. You're living the dream.'

I literally can't imagine a life without this guy. We practically spent our entire lives together. He's my best friend in the whole world, and now so much more. :)

'The Lord has done great things for us; We are glad.' 

Psalm 126:3

xx

'A woman's heart should be so lost in God that a man must seek Him first in order to find her.'