Pertinent Information

Hotel Accomodations Ramada Conference Center - Ocala 3810 NW Bonnie Heath Blvd I-75 Exit 354 Ocala, FL 34482 US For a map to this location click here...	Wedding Ceremony Date: Saturday, Sept. 1st, 2007 Time: 3:30 PM Location: PASSAGE Family Church 2020 NE 15th Street Gainesville, FL 32609 352-336-8686 Website: www.passageministries.org
Rehearsal & Rehearsal Dinner Friday, August 31st, 2007 5:30 - 8:00 PM PASSAGE Family Church	Wedding Reception (by invitation only please) Date: Saturday, Sept. 1st, 2007 Time: Immediately following ceremony Location: Eventfuls Banquet Center 13840 Newberry Rd. St 100 Gainesville, FL 32669 352.333.8690 Website: www.eventfuls.net

The Story of Our Union

I can say that I NEVER knew what true Love between a gentleman and a lady was up until now.  As I recap all of the relationships that I have been afforded the opportunity to be involved in, none of them even came close to the relationship I have been blessed to be a part of right now! God has truly smiled on me.  I saw Charles a lot in passing.  We said an occasionally hello when we crossed paths but nothing extensive. I saw him at a Christmas Gala being hosted by our church, which is, by the way, PASSAGE Family Church and I noticed how handsome he was but we sat at the same table and never talked, I don’t even think, as good as I looked or so I thought, he noticed me.  We were and are still in the same Ministerial Leadership class and we saw each other then but still there were not many interactions.  He was involved and I thought I was involved (surprise, surprise).  I invited him to be a writer on my website and we talked a little more but not much. 

Until November 4, 2006, during a youth outing my eyes were opened, I mean wide!!!  I noticed this extremely handsome man of God, who interacted so well with the children that I had to get to know him better, not knowing the entire situation, I inquired and I contemplated doing something I feel was totally out of character!!!  I had a feeling come over me to talk to him, now this is something I just don’t do and never had to, but this time it was different.  I rehearsed all the way home on the bus what I was going to say and prayed I would not sound stupid because it was not something I was not accustomed to doing, me, Romona, approach guys, NOPE, out of the question!!!  But as I said Charles was different!  I remember getting off of the bus and feeling nervous but I was determined he was not going to drive off without me saying what I had rehearsed, when I saw Him I said this is it!! It is all or nothing.  I made the corniest statement in the world, “if you weren’t taken I would invite you to lunch!” His reply, “who said I was taken?” It was funny!  We still did not talk much nor did we ever go to lunch but initial contact was made. 

I prayed and said God you have your way if it is meant to be it will be.  I will not have to force the issue or run after him.  We really began to talk when I had some notes for class and I gave them to him and I think on that night we talked for a few hours, just talking and I remember saying to myself I really like this guy.  From that point we went through a lot of ups and downs because of extenuating circumstances, but I thank God for AWESOME leaders! Our Pastor took him under His tutelage and guided him until Charles was ready to move on.  Even after that mountain, we still had more to climb but it was worth it all to end up here.  My Pastor counseled us and made us fast and pray to ensure that we were lined up with God’s will and not our own!  We went on our first date to the movies and we saw “The Pursuit of Happyness” and we stayed in the parking lot for hours just talking and then drove around town and just talked and I began to really like him more and more!

He is a great and dynamic man who LOVES the Lord and HE treats me like a Queen!! HE prays for me harder, I believe, sometimes than I pray for myself. He affectionately calls me Beautiful each and everyday without fails. Daily he reminds of the love he has for me and just how much I mean to him! I NEVER had that! This is the answer to my prayers and I am going to cherish it with all that I have for all the days of my life! But, however, he reminds me that nothing will come before His relationship with God and I love and admire that about him.

Who said chivalry is dead???  I say it is alive and well and the author is Min. Charles Akins IV, He opens doors, carries my things, walks ahead to ensure I have a clear passage way and that is just a few of the plethora of things he does for me.   I look at him and my heart melts.  I hear His voice and I smile from ear to ear and to think God is allowing me to marry this man and spend the rest of my life with him.  I cannot ask for a better blessing!  I always dreamed of getting married, so I began to do as it states in Habakkuk 2, I began to write the vision, I planned my entire wedding one year ago to date!! All I needed was the man!!  We all have our “ideal” Mr. or Ms. Right.  We find ourselves saying, they are going to be like this and like that and they must have this and they must have that and if he doesn’t I am moving on!!  But I am so glad that God knows what is best for me!!  He created the Perfect man for me!! 

After I planned my wedding, I got the unction to pick out my dream ring and not only pick it out but put it everywhere and that is what I did.  I put it on my refrigerator, my wallet, and my computer at work and at home, taped it to my dashboard, this picture was everywhere, and people thought I was looney.  But I stood on Romans 4:17 and put it on the bottom of each picture along with the date.  I prayed and asked God and I left it alone.  I knew Charles was it! It was just a matter of staying focused on the Kingdom and letting go and letting God and that is what happened.  I always dreamed of the day the man of my dreams would propose to me!  I never imagined it would be as beautiful as June 16th!!!  He picked the perfect day, the perfect time and the perfect place and God orchestrated it so that my parents were even witnesses to the most spectacular event of my life!!!  Now today, I am wearing the same ring that was in the pictures!!!  God is awesome!!!!  There is so much I can say about Charles but He is the best thing, outside of God and Salvation that has ever happened to me. 

I love him so much and I know it is God.  He has blessed us with a powerful relationship that is going to be an equally powerful marriage and I cannot wait to be Mrs. Charles Akins IV by God’s Grace.  As I always say, if going thru all of the ups and downs, the disappointments and the trials, shedding the tears of loneliness and having the constant worries and fears of being alone for the rest of your life; suffering thru the hurt of relationships gone bad, mending a heart that had been wounded over and over again, if all of that meant that I would end up with Charles, guess what? it was and always will be worth every shed tear and broken heart. He is a wonderful man, and wonderful is an under-statement, who loves God and is an awesome provider, covering, supporter and confidante!!  He is my best friend!! As TD Jakes once told his wife, I will coin his phrase in the converse, “Charles is who I would be if I were a man!”  I love him with all that God had given me the ability to do so!  He is my greatest blessing and I praise and thank God for Him each and every time I get the chance, which is ALL-ways!!!

Written by Romona Jackson