How Great Is Our God!!

I am a HUGE fan of Christian Musician Chris Tomlin's music and follow him on Facebook.  A few days ago the following post from Chris Tomlin came across my news feed:

With the upcoming release of How Great Is Our God: The Essential Collection on Nov. 15th, some media are looking to highlight a few stories showing what these songs have meant to people.

If God has used any of these songs in your lives and they've meant something special to you, we'd love to hear it.

Send your story to info@sixstepsrecords.com by October 21st. Thanks.

It didn't take long at all before I KNEW I had to email them my story of how and why "How Great Is Our God" is such a special song to me!  I thought I would share that same email with my blog readers.  I didn't include the picture that I included below, although now I wish I would have! We have been married for 100 days today! :)

Here is the email I sent:

     This is an extra special song for me! It brings me back to my wedding day, which was just this past July 8th, 2011! :-) My Fiance and I wanted our Wedding to be a Worship Service. You see, we were both single for a very long time. I (Jennfer) was 37 and Jonathan turned 36 two days after the wedding. We were both single, never married, with no children. We both knew what it was like to be alone in a "couple's society". Our hearts yearned for someone to share our life with, but that just didn't seem to be happening for either one of us. My Dad was called home to heaven when I was 25 years old. Two months later my Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. Life alone, with out the support of a significant other was difficult. But our God knew exactly what he was doing and brought us together at just the right time! March of 2007 I was living in Milwaukee, WI where I had lived for 15 years (I went to college there and stayed). I was praying about moving back to South Bend, IN because of how Mom's cancer had progressed. I lost my job the very next day! I had NEVER lost a job before. If that wasn't an answer to prayer, I don't know what is! I moved back to South Bend, IN where I was born and raised 5/1/2007. South Bend is near Elkhart, IN which is the RV Capital of the world. Needless to say, jobs were extremely hard to come by. I was on unemployment for 6 months and then finally got a waitressing job to pay the bills. March 17 of 2008 I finally got a better job at a large insurance company. October of 2009 an acquaintance in my department at work said she had a friend who worked in our building who was interested in me. She set it up a double date for me, Jonathan, and her and her fiance. That date was 10/09/2009. The rest is history! We got engaged 12/10/10. Now December holds a happy memory for me. You see. Dad passed away 12/8/99. Ever since then December has been a very hard month for me. Now it is a month that holds good memories too! :) We planned a beach wedding on Sand Key Beach in Clearwater Beach. FL. His Best Man was also our Pastor. He did an amazing job! There were 18 of us total who traveled down to FL. The wedding was scheduled for 7:15pm. It rained SO hard ALL day the day before the wedding and all day the day of the wedding. We had to get married under a pavilion. But thankfully the weather cleared and afterwards we were blessed to get amazing pictures at sunset on the beach.

 

Anyways, the reason "How Great Is Our God" is so special to me, is that we sang this song, with the track, at the beginning of the ceremony. The wind was blowing, the spirit was moving, and I was holding back tears. God knew what He was doing all along and I knew my Dad was there in spirit. There aren't words to describe the joy that filled my heart that day and that continues to fill my heart as I watch the wedding video and think back to that day. God doesn't always answer prayer in our timing, but His ways are best. It just took a long time for me to get my "Happily Ever After". I'm blessed Mom could be at the wedding. Her cancer has since spread and is in her bones in addition to her stomach and bladder. She has fought this ugly disease for almost 12 years and is the strongest woman I know. I finally feel like I belong with Jonathan, who is in many ways, God in flesh to me, showing me daily what it's like to be loved unconditionally.

 

 

 

I invite you to visit my blog to learn more about me and see pictures of us! :) I will also post a link to the wedding video below so you can see us sing "How Great is Our God". Thank you Chris Tomlin for making our day even more special. There's nothing sweeter then singing that song in worship to our King, on the beach, with powerful winds, as you are about to marry the one God had planned for you all along! :)

 

 

My Blog: http://www.Jennifruit.blogspot.com

 

 

Our Wedding Website: http://www.mywedding.com/jenniferandjonathan2011/

 

 

Our Wedding Video: http://vimeo.com/27437017

 

 

God Bless You and Your Ministry! :)

 

 

 

Jennifer Stanley

South Bend, IN