Some History...

From all the way down in El Segundo, California, Adrian was denied final acceptance into UC Irvine after initally being accepted prior to his high school graduation. Reason for his revoked acceptance? Low GPA during his senior year of high school. Consequently, Adrian opted to apply to San Francisco State University (SFSU) in hopes of "partying it up."

From all the way up in Mount Shasta, California, Genese was just completing her pre-requisites for nursing school at a local junior college. Disappointed that no Universities of California offered an Undergraduate Nursing Program, she opted for SFSU over other California State Universities because her sister lives in San Francisco....

The How...

Both Genese and Adrian knew that they wanted to be a part of a Christian fellowship while in their college years, and chose to attend the only one at SFSU in existence at the time. The Asian American Christian Fellowship (AACF). It was here that both of them met and began the long and treacherous journey together.

At first, Adrian didn't think Genese was all that pretty. In fact, Adrian wasn't even attracted to Asian women. It wasn't until the sweet natured goodness of Genese's heart was seen (and the occasional bed making surprise visits and early morning wake up calls), did Adrian begin to think seriously about Genese.

Genese, as well, did not think that much of Adrian upon first impressions. She had her own male members of the "Genese Fan Club" at her disposal. In fact, she even shunned Adrian's attempts to win her over. Only until Adrian told her to "get a life" did she truly realize the deep seated feelings that she felt for him (it's all about the challenge...).

The Moment...

So the game went on for approximately six months, when both got tired of playing the game. In the subsequent months, their lives were smooth sailing and they never had a single fight, argument, disagreement, or problem. Just kidding....

They had several breaks, with the longest one lasting seven months, consisting of many hurt feelings and many nights with hearts unsettled. During this time, Adrian was busy with AACF leadership, work, school, and events. As well, Genese was busy with school and making the transition from student to eventually entering the workforce. There were some trust issues involved and even some unforgiveness too.

Alas, Adrian also graduated, and went off to spend one year in Philadelphia while Genese furthered her career as a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit nurse. It wasn't until this year that the decision to commit their lives to each other became more than just a casual thought, rather, it became pretty serious. One night while Adrian was laying on his cardboard bed in the inner city of Philadelphia, he prayed that God would answer his dilemma of whether or not he should marry his girlfriend of three years...and then went to sleep.

The very next Sunday, his prayers were answered in the form of his pastor taking a break from the regularly scheduled sermon series to preach about whether or not a person is good to be your spouse (based off of Genesis 24). Adrian then knew that God had made it clear. During the weeks that followed, he did not tell Genese what had occurred with his answered prayer. He just proceeded to ask Genese if she had asked God whether or not they should get married.

Genese then realized that she had not really been praying about it and thus started to do so. Two weeks later as she attended a Sunday service in Mt. Shasta, at a church other than her regular home church, she happened to hear a sermon on Genesis 24. She was certain that she had received confirmation that God believed the marriage permissible. Later that night she called Adrian and learned that just two weeks prior, the same sermon had been preached to Adrian, and that this was the reason for the question two weeks earlier of whether or not she had been praying about marriage.

Is it a coincidence that Adrian's pastor happened to deviate from his series? Is it a coincidence that Adrian held his tongue and decided not to reveal his confirmation to Genese, but decided to simply ask her if she was praying about their relationship? Is it a coincidence that Genese didn't attend her regular home church in Mt. Shasta that day...and decided to go to her friend's church instead? Perhaps not, perhaps they were all divine interventions! Now that makes for a clear confirmation!

The proposal happened on Christmas Eve of 2004 during Adrian's Christmas break from Mission Year, yet it wasn't until Adrian had returned home from Philadelphia for good and recuperated enough from his trip, that the wedding planning was to begin. And this web site is just a manifestation of it....

The Verse...

Click here if you would like to read the story outlined in Genesis 24. God used the same text to confirm different things to both Adrian and Genese. For Adrian...the sermon he heard was about certain characteristics of a wife (which were portrayed in Rebekah)...in his mind, Adrian ran through a mental checklist, and Genese passed with flying colors!! For Genese, the text gave her peace about something she had been struggling with in considering spending the rest of her life with someone involved in "ministry." Being as practical as she is, she was thinking of security...financial security for their future...and living a life of ministry isn't exactly a life of affluence. But perhaps, God was challenging Genese to step out of her comfort zone and follow God wholeheartedly...by responding, in like, to His faithfulness. And in Genesis 24:57, when Rebekah's family hesitated to let her leave with the servant to go marry Isaac, she faithfully responded with "I will go." That's when Genese responded to God's calling and decided in her heart that she too, would be faithful. It was made clear that day...the decision to marry Adrian.