How on earth are you ever going to explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as ... love
~ Albert Einstein

If you ask scientific minds to explain love, you might expect them to expound on human beings' proclivity to be compelled by this force which - based on observation throughout man's existence - seems to have the most profound physical and mental effect on people. After all, the spirit and the intangible heart are seldom factored into any scientific deduction on the subject of 'feelings'.

You might even expect them to postulate some particularly mind-boggling equation or argue some little-known theory to illustrate why people are driven together and why they fall in love.

If you ask André Greenidge and Janelle Carrington, both aged 26, to explain their love to you, the answer from these two scientific minds will be simple and precise: It was an act of God.

Over time man, and particularly the scientific-minded, has doubted and even questioned God's role in life. And history has repeated itself on this occasion because as the two have found out, mere mortals still have a hard time understanding and even accepting God's infinite plan for mankind.

At Hillaby Church of the Nazarene, St Andrew, a woman carried a seed of friendship that she was to plant between two people. It was her divine instruction. And one Sunday, after three attempts, she did just that.

"One Sunday, Mummy [Joycelyn] Hunte, came up to me and she told me she had this young gentleman she wanted me to meet. She said she would invite him to church next Sunday and we would see how it goes," Janelle told Forever I Do, recalling just how carefully she picked out her outfit and the fact that she actually spent time on her hair. Janelle was excited, the prospect of meeting someone new was thrilling. She went to church, but the mystery man didn't show. He didn't turn up the following Sunday either. She was disappointed.

Why didn't he at least put in an appearance? Well, it wasn't for lack of being told. André's calendar was full: "I was supposed to go the first week and I had the flu. The second week I had something [an engagement] and I had to go, I couldn't get out of it. "The third week I wanted to postpone again and that week was the most difficult for me because, I had performed at a church concert the night before and that had finished late. "And the day I [actually] met her, I had my church harvest in the afternoon, and we had to play for a church cruise on the Harbour Master later in the afternoon. So I decided that I couldn't keep putting her off, I was going to go meet this girl and see what is going to happen."

Mummy Hunte and André had become friends after they'd worked together at a previous job and he had confided in her the little known, deepest secret of his heart: He carried an unimaginable amount of love inside him but had no-one with whom to share it. So touched by his earnest words, Mummy Hunte prayed on it, asked God what to do. That Sunday when André showed up at the church there wasn't a doubt in her mind what her role would have to be.

After two Sundays of being 'stood up', Janelle was nonchalant about the idea. Her little sister, however, hatched a plan for a covert operation: she and her best friend would 'scope out' the territory and give her the all clear, or not, depending on the intelligence they gathered on the mystery guy. After a thorough inspection, Janelle's operative gave her the thumbs up.

André had been to the church before on several occasions but had never seen Janelle - she always happened to be visiting at another church. And Janelle, who sat two rows behind him that day, had to settle on seeing only his profile - no matter how much she craned her neck. So she followed through with her original intention, enjoying the service. They would have their introduction after church. Janelle remembers how nervous she was after Mummy Hunte brought him to her and then took off, leaving the two of them to water the seed of friendship with flowing conversation.

"I can't remember the last time I was that shy around a male. I didn't see André's face at all that whole time, I looked down at my shoes during our entire conversation and because of his height I only saw his tie," she admitted

André didn't let that stand in the way of him getting to know her even just a little. "I realised she was cool. She had a lot of passion for her work - told me she was in the science field . . . I kept telling her how I wanted to do research - I was teaching at the time. I told her my life-long dream was to do scientific research and we hit if off," André told Forever I Do.

When they got home they got the third degree - their families wanted to know what each thought of the other.

Janelle surmised that the only way to form a real opinion of his character, and to see if she had anything in common with him, was to give him a call.
"I didn't expect her to call first," said André remembering how shocked he was. He hadn't planned to call her until the following Wednesday and wanted to play it cool. "Then I told her I just got home from the gym and that I'd call her back. I ate, had a shower, then I watched the clock, trying to pick a time that wouldn't seem too obvious," he said playfully.

When he did call, they talked for hours - seven hours to be exact.

Janelle momentarily lost herself in the memory: "We talked about life, our past relationships, about what we would want in a future relationship. We talked about children, marriage, our jobs and everything … and he told me about his life at UWI (University of the West Indies) and his group of friends called the 'Step Crew'." By now André was mirroring her smile. "I was able to make her laugh . . . That was important to me because I had determined that I'm a bit crazy at times and my sense of humour's my best point. If I couldn't make her laugh, it didn't make any sense. I was able to make her laugh non-stop."

The seed that had been planted between them started to germinate. It seemed as though André's prayers had been answered.

What had he asked God for? "I remember saying: 'God I am faithful to you and I want you to bless me with a woman', any woman, and nothing was happening. So then I said 'Lord, bless me with the woman that I want' and after a while I realised nothing was happening still.

"I then realised I was going about it all wrong and I asked the Lord to bless me with the woman that He has for me and whatever package she comes in I'll accept because inside will be the person that is most compatible with me, the person that is going to bring out the best in me," he said, smiling over at Janelle.

After that, their friendship sprouted roots, their constant conversations providing the optimal conditions for its growth.

One month later, the young sweet leaves of a relationship curled open and pushed past the darkness of past relationships, hurts, misgivings and fears. Then came the time for them to face the music, they had to tell their parents. The thought of it talking to Janelle's family, let alone telling them that he wanted to date her made André break a sweat.

After a good laugh, and even better prayer, André was feeling better. When Janelle's turn came around, it was smooth sailing - or so it seemed. "My father had met her and they would talk my name together and laugh at me . . . . For the most part my family accepted that she was my choice - until later when we started talking about marriage," André said with an expression that gave away his disbelief. Their relationship had matured and blossomed. But for some of the key members of André's family, it had grown too fast. The issue threatened to stunt the young couple's love.

"To go from that [having a few, brief relationships] to hearing in eight months you find the person you want to marry . . . I think people didn't understand the love we had," André explained.

"They didn't take the time to get to know me either they just wrote me off," whispered Janelle, the solemnity clouding her voice.
André shook his head: "It was just ... rough at that point in time."
This rift could have forced them apart. It was important that those in his family accept their relationship - all of them. Instead, it drew them closer together. They were resolute in the faith that God had a plan for them.

"It hurt my mother a lot," Janelle argued. "But we've prayed about it and we believe that the Lord is going to work everything out. Regardless of how you look at it, he's marrying me, yes, but he's also marrying my family, so to speak, and I will also be marrying his family."

The couple was determined to work on their relationship and focused their attention on making each other happy. Their impromptu evenings turned out to be the highlight of the time they've spent together so far.

Besides sending her flowers, writing her poetry, and baking a mean cheesecake and a wicked flour-less chocolate cake, Janelle has been won over by the great times she and André have shared.

She recalled one rainy evening in particular: "I just popped some popcorn and I opened a bottle of wine and I pulled up the Luther Vandross songs [on my computer] and we danced. It was really nice and we always look back on that night as that, we didn't really set out for it to be anything but it just fell into place and we had a really romantic evening."

For André, his memory comprised a formula of band music, a long drive, hunger and moonlight. "One night we [Vibz Inspirations] had to play in St Philip, Gemswick. It was late, we were hungry and we decided to stop at KFC in Hastings ... We had the ice-cream, went outside by the rocks and it was full moon . . . that was totally unplanned, unscripted and it was one of the most romantic nights we had," André remembered with a smile. Janelle's sentiment matched his own: "That was even more romantic than some of those nights when you go out to dinner … it just felt right".

André felt it was right too, in so many ways. It felt so right that he wanted to create even more special memories with Janelle. With that he set about planning. Even though they had talked about marriage and he knew what kind of ring she liked, and the fact that she would be content to get engaged even with a no frills ceremony, André contended that he wanted a proper engagement.

"I told her no," he said flatly. "I can't ask you to marry me on your front lawn, I want you to have a memory to last for the rest of your life," he said to her.
He also knew the place he would pop the question. She had been there, and so had he. On each occasion she visited, she confessed to André how much more she liked the place. He set about planning - he started by telling the family circle. However, his plans for a birthday proposal were side-tracked when Janelle got the flu, and later had to take a work-related trip out of the island.

André wasn't swayed. The root of all that was good and right and pure took hold. This was the woman God had chosen for him. This was the woman with whom he fell in love. This was the woman he wanted to be with forever, amen.

The day after Janelle returned, André busied himself, avoiding Janelle altogether. He called the venue, Hilton Barbados' Le Careenage restaurant and told the manager Paul of his plans. He helped André put everything in place.

Meanwhile Janelle was baffled by her soon-to-be fiancé's erratic behaviour. "I had only come back that Thursday and he deserted me," she said with a pout which eased into a smile when she remembered what else the teasing she got. "My sister and my mummy had a ball about me."

That evening, before they left home, André reminded her it was just dinner - just to celebrate her birthday. She was so convinced, that when the host greeted her by name, she didn't even realise.

"As we went through the bar, there were people in short pants and shirts watching football and drinking beer. I could look at the expression on her face and it was saying: 'I know he didn't make me dress up to bring me in a bar for my birthday'. I thought to myself, well it sorta looks romantic … if you imagine," André laughed.
Janelle was wowed when they were ushered into the restaurant. After a full course and dessert - accompanied by the birthday song, no less - they took a stroll along the Old Fort.

As they walked and talked, André slipped the ring into his pocket. After he deposited her on one of the benches, he allowed his artful conversation to keep her distracted while he got to his knees. Janelle didn't realise, even when he asked her to take off the ring which she was wearing on her ring finger.

Under the full moon André held her and told her how much she meant to him and that he loved her. With those words he slipped the ring on her finger.
Janelle cried - for a good five minutes. And André even had to ask for her response a second time. Hers was an affirmative response.

Even though that memory is still fresh, the two can't believe how fast their wedding date is approaching - but they couldn't be happier.
Janelle and André are going all out to bring their plan for a tropical fairytale wedding to fruition - right down to the salsa dancing bride and groom.

It was actually André's competitive spirit that prompted them to enter the competition. Janelle was more than happy to tag along and make friends with all the other couples.

"Speaking for the brides to be, we're all excited and looking forward to our weddings. We're happy because we all think that we are blessed to have found the person that we want to spend the rest of our lives with," she beamed up at André .

Since they both come from large families, the couple hope they can have as many of their relatives attend the ceremony. And Mummy Hunte not only got to see their relationship blossom, but will be arranging the blooms for that special day.

And, in addition to thanking her for introducing them, the couple is more than thankful to God for bringing them together. Janelle and André are in unison: They are blessed to have each other. And what God has brought together, they plan to let no one put asunder.