Our families met when Anna was eleven years old. This brown-haired, bright-eyed bundle of sweetness always thought of others before herself. She is very Pontier in her adeptness to think of others. Anna and her siblings got along well with our crew, mostly in an older baby sitter helper way, sweetening life all around them. When our Sunday services were over and everyone had visited long, inevitably we would say, “Ok kids, it’s time to get going.” That meant, ‘start buckling as we load the final things and I finish the cherished adult conversation for the week.’ Anna would help our little ones buckle into our van and tell all our kiddos stories which she made up on the spot. Oftentimes she had them contribute names and circumstances along the stories’ way. She was just kind-hearted and ingenious like that.

At most social or church events, Anna greeted me with, “Hello, Mrs. Poling! Can I help you with anything?”

“Oh, well yes,” I would respond. Our Andrew was eighteen months old and James was just three months when we first began attending Household of Faith. Help was something I never turned down with six children ages nine and under. Her warm, willing nature allowed me to breathe peacefully after the hustle and bustle of getting everyone out the door. At first it was simply church services in Gresham. Then Anna’s father, John, and my husband, David planted a church together in Hillsboro. There were bible studies, dinners, birthday parties, eventually dances, and of course church services. The kids also helped, working hard to set up, tear down, and clean up necessary sound equipment, chairs for shared meal after the service, as well as playing long hours together.

Anna was at first quiet, but pushed passed her own borders to love and serve the people of the congregation. Her quietness took on a whole new challenge when David and I decided to run an apologetics class in our home. This was a class for teens to learn about the nature of God from the Bible, then prepare and deliver a six minute speech on a given topic, everything from God’s sovereignty to Christ’s Humanity. We later learned that Anna and her brother Josh only came, at first, because their dad required them to be there. So from trembling to confident speakers, we watched a major transformation in character take place in the teens that took part. Friday night coaching became a night I would sit on the edge of my seat and take notes like a student, when I was supposed to be judging their delivery. My soul was being fed by the youth of our church. Anna became one of our prized new discoveries of creativity and strong delivery.

Then, while practicing driving our big old van on a back country road one day, Josiah confided in me that he thought he liked Anna. Each time we drove together he had more to say. Eventually he talked to David, expressing, “I’m not ready yet…career wise.” He was only seventeen, but she was soon to be nineteen. “She’s a catch and you don’t want her to go away.” I advised.

“I know,” he countered, “but I trust God to hold her for me if it is His will.”

In time he did talk to her dad, in a Can you keep me in mind for her sort of way. He was encouraged to begin the process of making his intentions known. In time, together with Anna’s parents, John and Barbra Pontier, David and I met with this radiant hopeful young couple. Excitement rang in all of our voices.

Sitting across the table from this same group, a few weeks later, Mr. Pontier brought a close to their relationship. “There seems to be some details I misunderstood when you first approached me.  I bear all the blame for not figuring this out sooner. You can start again when you have finished the career training you are in the middle of. If God wills for you to be together, we can discuss it at that time.” I couldn’t breathe. Had we misled him? This all happened so fast. We only intended a private discussion between Mr. Pontier and Josiah. How this escalated to courtship at age 17 was not the original plan. Yet, we had reasoned, David and I had courted long and young, allowing us to grow up together. That surely could be a possibility for them. Couldn’t it? But here we sat, that Sunday afternoon, across the table from a young lady we had grown to love and it was being called off because he was not yet settled in his vocation.

Watching Anna’s countenance that day made an impression on my soul. Her decidedly contented gaze was fastened lovingly on her father. “She trusts me,” he choked out. This decision was not easy for the humble man. Yet he was adamantly committed to the success of his children’s futures.

Then Josiah spoke, directing his gaze at Anna as if no one else were in the room, “I am willing to wait, but I am not backing down. I know you are the one for me. I believe God is in this and I have a lot of admiration for you. I promise to work hard to finish what I need to do so you won’t have to wait so long.”

Anna’s eyes were bright with hope, yet brimming with tears at his declaration to move forward.

There was not a dry eye at our table. Our food came but none of us could choke down a bite. I’m sure our waitress wondered why we even bothered to order, because we left with our food in boxes or just walked away from untouched plates, disillusioned.

Can you guess which family led worship that night at church? Yep, and Anna on the piano sang with all her might as I had never heard her before. Who is this woman, that the very one she wants to be with in life is ripped away just hours before, and she turns to God to comfort her and give her strength? I wanted her in our family! I spent the next several weeks crying. Even though I had peace, I grieved. Our first born grieved like we had never seen him. This son that normally brightened each day with our visits and camaraderie had no words for weeks. But then he found a peace that seemed unshakeable. He dug into God’s word and gained something that he has never lost, a deeper confidence in God. Now when we talked about his future, he was confident and resigned. Often he would tell me, when I asked how he was doing, “God has this!”

“God, could you give me the peace he has, please?” I prayed. In time He did but the grief was real and drove me to my knees in prayer for our first born.

That’s as much as I will share for now. The rest is a steady growth of two very mature young adults, whom I admire to their core. My purpose for sharing is twofold:

1. So you can get a glimpse of this beautiful lady that Josiah is marrying, June 25th, whom we have earnestly come to love.
2. That you may see the impact Anna has had on my soul through the character God is forming in Anna. Countless times, God has used Anna’s deep trust in her father to stir my own heart into submission to my heavenly Father.

If sharing this causes our failings as parents to show up (the fact that we encouraged Josiah so young to talk with her father, the misunderstanding of where Josiah was in his trajectory of life once he got to her father, etc.) so be it. Perhaps it will allow you a glimpse into the interworking of God even when we mess up. God is so caring and detailed in His thoughts toward those who look to Him.

Those who know your name trust in you,
for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you. Psalm 9:10

There is so much more that I could say about Anna. The girl with the stylish boots, quick smile, gentle nature, long flowing brown hair, and audacious laugh that rings from room to room declaring her easy going nature and her “without-hesitation” enthusiasm to have fun. She is a profound thinker and willing to share in conversation her values and view on life. Josiah has certainly found his match in wit in her. We all marvel at her desire and ability to throw a celebration and make it a success, whether it is hosting a dance, catering a wedding, or organizing an entire team to raise support for her favorite charity. Together they are purposeful, fun loving, inclusive, jovial, yet profound, full of principle and a love for God’s word. The rest you can discover on your own. For now, three cheers to the happy couple and the God who made all this loveliness, we call Anna, even possible.

An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.” Proverbs 31:10

Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Pontier for raising Anna in the fear and love of the Lord. Your dedication and strengths have given her so much to run with. We are forever grateful to you for your loving example.