Our Story - Part I

A quiet day in September of 2007 a young man sat by the beside of his dying Grandmother and promised that he would do his best to make her proud, and would, as much as it depended upon him, find a godly wife who exemplified the characteristics he loved and cherished in his grandma. She died not long after, and since that day, the young man’s quest for a woman of God has been in earnest.

While he pursued his college education, and endeavored to realize the call God had placed on his heart to be a minister of the Gospel, a young (very young) woman was waiting, O, so anxiously and patiently for the man God was preparing for her. She was told to wait and hope and pray, and he would come along eventually. In the meantime, there was a lot to DO!

He was extroverted, good-humored, passionate and either loved or hated by those who knew him. She was quiet, sweet and loved by everyone. He grew up with two working parents, one older sister; went to the public schools in Tampa, FL. She relished the vivacity of a home school family of 10, with hard-working father, and a stay at home Mom in a rural suburb in Ohio—not quite out with the cornfields, and yet not close enough to the city to see the smog.

She wanted 13 children, he wanted 18.

They were perfectly matched.

Actually… that’s not quite how it went. The first time the name Daniel Wells was ever heard in the Willeke household it was between two sisters, one smitten in love, and the other calmly resolved that, “only the deepest love will induce me to matrimony. So I shall end up an old maid and teach [my sister’s] 10 children to play their instruments very ill!” (Pride and Prejudice). He was acclaimed as “hilarious… and a very godly, and intelligent man,” and then sadly, very soon forgotten. However, when the name Ashlee Willeke rang in his ears, “beautiful” was all he was told, and he was determined to be at least introduced to the girl.

Many thanks go to modern day conveniences such as cell phones, the Internet (and therefore chatting, facebook and blogging) which were all important factors in teaching this couple about each other.

Thursday, July 17th, 2008

Ashlee, fresh out of high school, not even a month over 18, and totally oblivious to the change that would happen in her life in the next four months, sat contentedly on her bed. Angela, bubbly and exuberant as she is, soon was nearly on top of her sister with her camera phone on, “I MUST take a picture of you!”

A playful fight then took place where older sister attempted to divert the phone from the younger, whose persistence and animation eventually won. “It’s for that Daniel Wells! He’s out with Peter tonight, and he wants to know what you look like!” (Reader, please note: Daniel Wells had never said such a thing.)

Snap. Click. Sent. (or so we thought… upon investigation months later we realized the picture was actually never received.)

The conversation between Angela and Peter immediately preceding this event had been a simple dialogue between a curious girlfriend who was an adoring sister, and a loving boyfriend, with a biological make-up inducing him to match-making. He told her his plans for the evening, that he was going to a movie with Daniel Wells, had to remind her who he was, and then quickly said goodbye.

The conversation was not ended 10 seconds before both Angela and Peter dialed back out. “Were you calling me?” Peter asked. “Yeah! Were you calling me? Babe! What about Ashlee and Daniel!?!” “I was just thinking THE SAME THING!” Thus the tackling of the older sister in an attempt to match-make.