Gary & Laura Powell

I met my lovely wife Laura back in 1996 while I was living in Denver, Colorado next to the state's capitol. Laura was living in my home state of Oregon in a mid-size town called Eugene.

We met through a mutual friend and had our first contact via the Internet. Later, we talked on the phone and soon came to an awareness that God just might have something in store for us down the road.

Of course, we had to date to find out for sure whether or not we were right for each other. Laura had just gone through a divorce, and I was entering into my first serious relationship in quite a while.

Being a Christian, it was important for me to find a life partner who shared common beliefs with me. This was the only bump in the road early on in the dating process. But little did I know at the time that God had been working on Laura's heart long before I stepped into the picture.

After dating "long distance" for several months, I decided to move back to my home state in July of 1996 to court Laura "in person." It was only a short two months before Laura gave her life to Jesus Christ in September of 1996. He had been calling her for many years before I met her, and I was simply the final piece of the puzzle that God used to turn her toward Him. It was truly God working in His infinite wisdom and power.

Laura and I soon came to realize we were meant for each other. Her three wonderful children, Erin (then 12), Ashli (then 12), and Tyler (then 7) also accepted me as a new addition to their lives. I'm sure it wasn't an easy thing for them at the time, but they seemed to adapt well to this "new man" in their Mother's life.

I proposed to Laura on Christmas day of 1996. She made my day by saying "yes" to my proposal, and we were married on April 5, 1997 in the small town of Shedd, Oregon (just 10 miles from my home town of Corvallis, Oregon).

So now you know a small part of our story that serves as an introduction to this new Blog. Laura and I have been married for 10 years now. Many things have changed, including being "empty nesters" at this point.

Through it all, these past 10 years, we've come to realize who our true friends are in life. They are the people who accept and love us just as we are, with no "conditions" laid down, accepting our weaknesses as well as our strengths.

In reality, our only true strengths in life are found through Christ. That is one message I wish to convey throughout this blog.

Blessings. -GP