The Day My Husband Wrote Me a Speeding Ticket

Tomorrow Brett and I celebrate five years of marriage.

This number five is a little extra special to me.

You see, it took my husband Brett five years…

Five years of chasing before this noncommittal girl took off her running shoes.

Five years of consistency before this snowflake of a girl decided to land on the ground.

Five years of chipping before this dense girl finally cracked.

Five years before this happened:

If anyone needs a picture of pursuit, look no further than my husband.

He wrote me notes, sent me flowers, honored my parents, forgave my faults, respected my space, prayed, waited and even got to a point where he let me go.

But not before he attempted quite a few crafty methods to win me over.

My favorite attempt of all?

The day he pulled me over and gave me a “speeding ticket."

I was home from college on Thanksgiving break. Brett and I had spent a couple of days together. 

I found myself falling for him, but my pragmatic self wouldn’t allow it. 

I’m too young! I have a career to pursue! I have goals! I don’t have time for a relationship! I want to “play the field.” (FYI, if there were a “field,” I never played in it.)

So, the last night we were together, I drove away from his house in tears after telling him, “I can’t do this!” Drama. Mama.

Did that scare him away? Oh no. Quite the opposite.

He concocted a plan with my sister, Andrea.

The next day, she and I were in the car on our way back to college when I saw this unmarked vehicle with a flashing red light on top (like the kind you see on a mall cop car) begin to tail me. There was NO way I was going to pull over. It all looked a little shady to me. But my sister, in on the plan, urged me. “Jenna, you don’t want to try to outrun a cop! Pull over!”

So I did.

A tall man with wild grey hair, a retro cop hat and tight, high-water cop pants stepped out of the vehicle and approached my window. It wasn’t until I looked into his face that I saw it was him.

"Brett!" I screamed. "What are you doing?"

He was wearing a wig and a cop costume that could comfortably fit a 13-year-old boy.

He pretended to sign a “speeding ticket” and handed it to me. 

He said that I was speeding and that he didn’t like the way things ended between us.

Then, he handed me the “ticket.”

It was a note. Not a love note. Because he knew that would scare me away. Just one that said he valued our friendship. After that, he walked away. 

You and I were made to be pursued like this.

Okay, not in the fake cop outfit kind of way.

I mean through sunsets, through a child’s laughter, through a mouth-melting apple pie.

Daily, God pursues you. 

Daily, He pursues me.

Yet so often I refuse to pull over. I just keep driving. Missing out on His message of love.

Today, on my five-year anniversary I am thankful for a man that reflects God’s loving pursuit.

And I am thankful for a God that relentlessly chases after me. And after you.

What if today we pulled over? What if today we stopped for a moment, amidst our busy lives and just received His love? Want to?

“Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life” (Psalm 23:6, NLT).