Forty Years Ago Today

What I am about to tell you is not logical. What I am about to tell you makes no since at all but I know it's true because it happened to me. Forty years ago today at 9:30 am I saw a stranger framed in the doorway of the church and I heard in my heart, "This is the man you're going to marry." Okay, that seemed a little weird even for me so I tried to shake off that feeling but it wouldn't go away.

A few weeks before I had read about how Abraham had arranged a marriage for his son Issac. It was such a beautiful story that I responded to it by asking God to do that for me. The next day I met Mr. Jones. Mr Jones prayed a heartfelt prayer for his grandson and I was so moved by his prayer that I went up to him afterward and told him I knew God would give him what he had requested. He looked at me for a moment and asked, "Who are you?" Suddenly, I was completely embarrassed and thought, "Who do I think I am that I can come up to this elderly man and tell him that I know God will answer his prayer?!?"

He recognized my discomfort and when on to ask,"Who is your mother?" As soon as we established the fact that he knew both my mother and my grandparents he quickly added, "I have a grandson I want you to meet!" The stranger I saw framed in the doorway of the church was Mr. Jones' grandson. He had come to church that Sunday on a blind date that his grandfather had arranged. After dinner that day Mr. Jones talked about how when you marry someone you bring two families together. I learned latter that Mr. Jones had encouraged his son to write my mother when he had enlisted. He had tried to bring the families together then but he was a generation off.

On our first date we were together from 9:30 am to 11:30 pm. We shared on a level I had never experienced before. Part of our evening together involved talking to a hurting friend of mine. After we finished talking to her Steve said to me, "Some relationships are exclusive so that when the couple is together if anyone come they feel like they are intruding. Other relationships are inclusive so the people they encounter feel welcomed. Lets make our relationship be inclusive."

Forty years ago today I met the man that I was to marry. Forty years ago today God answered my prayer and the desire of Mr. Jones to bring two families together. Forty years ago today God gave Steve a vision of a relationship that would be inclusive and reach out to others and welcome them into our love for each other.