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He spent only ten days in Jakarta. We celebrated our engagement with a party hosted by my pastor. Two days later, he returned to Canada.

We agreed to marry in the summer of 2002. In the meantime, we continued sending letters via e-mail. Sometimes we chatted, or he called me by phone. The longer the time went by, the greater my conviction that he was the person that God had chosen for me as a lifelong companion.

Since we were separated by half a world, when I wanted to see him, I couldn't. I could only look to the sky on a peaceful night, see the stars, and wonder if he saw the same stars. In the morning, when I heard the sparrows chirping on my roof, I wondered if the same birds could fly to his country and convey my regards to him.

Three years after our first e-mails, in our mid-thirties, the day of our marriage came closer. It would be held in Jakarta. My Mom and Dad, sister, and other relatives and friends prepared for it joyfully. In the midst of our happy anticipation, however, I got the news that my fiance had lost his job on the farm. It was only 40 days before our big day, and I already had resigned from my job as a piano teacher. Our plan had been for me to move to his home in Canada after we were married.

This was a strong test for me: I would come to a new country, without employment, with a husband who also was unemployed. Could I trust God for the future? Could I still say to my fiance the marriage vow that I was to recite in the church, "Whatever the future holds, I will love you and stand by you"?

God had carefully built our relationship for three years. So why did I doubt his almighty power now? The situation only inspired me to trust God more.

Finally, we were married on the first day of June 2002. Ten days after marriage, we left Indonesia and embarked on the 20-hour trip to Canada.

In Ontario, Clarence's parents warmly welcomed me. We lived in their home for one month, and then started a new life in our own small apartment.

Though Clarence received unemployment insurance for several months, we had to live frugally. We quickly learned the importance of placing our future in God's hands.

Finally, at the end of August, my husband found a new job at a farm, and I began teaching piano part time.

In our daily life, we had to make numerous adjustments, because we came from such different cultures. And, of course, things always seemed easier when our main channel of communication was the Internet. Now, there was no way to log off from the relationship or hit "unsend" after saying some unkind word. We were both convinced, however, that as long as we practiced the love and forgiveness that Jesus Christ had bestowed upon us, everything would go well. And it has.

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