And it proves that those who seek God, will find him, because He is always near.
The
very first time I met my late wife, we were 11 years old. I looked into
her eyes and it was like I had been hit with a stun gun; my eyes
started watering, there was a roaring in my ears, my tongue swelled in
my mouth, and my whole body went numb. I remember thinking, "Is this
love at first sight?" Then I thought, "Nah, couldn't be. I'm only 11
years old."
I'm convinced now that God was making me aware of
how important this beautiful, blonde haired, blue eyed girl with the
sunniest smile I'd ever seen, would be in my life. We flirted and
feuded for several years, and I suspected she was just as sweet on me
as I was her, but being an awkward preteen in a much more innocent
time, I never expressed my feelings, and she eventually moved away. We
never forgot each other but didn't keep in touch, either. What a shame.
Forty years later, almost to the day we first met, a classmate
of ours contacted me and gave me a link to my childhood sweetheart's
website. She now lived close to me and had been diagnosed with a deadly
cancer. The site was how she kept friends and family informed of her
status, but I was unable to connect and put it aside.
Some
months later I was helping this same classmate prepare Thanksgiving
dinner at her home in LA, when she asked if I had ever gotten in touch
with my sweetheart. She had the link on her computer so I clicked right
on, and there was my Sweetie, grown up and and a little sickly, but
with the same big, bright smile on a face which simply glowed with
faith and trust in God.
I fired off an email to her and got an
immediate response - sure, she remembered me. The rest of the day was
frantic for my friend, who was afraid my cooking skills would be
distracted by running back and forth between the kitchen and the
computer. The dinner was a fantastic success and my Sweetie and I
agreed to get together when I made it back home the next day.
To
make a long story shorter, we reconnected and rekindled our long ago
affections for each other, but there was something much deeper. Her
illness had strengthened her always abiding faith and my haphazard
Christianity was brought into focus. We instinctively knew that God had
brought us back together for a reason: she was tasked with setting my
shaky beliefs in concrete, and I was directed to give her as much
happiness in her remaining time as possible.
We were married
very quickly and set about touching each others' lives, and hopefully
those around us, as Jesus Christ directs us to do. The overwhelming
love and devotion between us was so above anything I had experienced in
my life, I finally understood God's Love and what a marvelous gift he
has given man and woman if they can bring His Love into their
relationship. It amplifies by an immeasurable factor, a low voltage
connection by plugging into the most powerful, I believe, force in His
creation - Love, which like gravity, can't be seen or explained, but
holds the universe together like glue.
She's gone now, and the
love she took with her is now a part of Heaven, waiting for me like a
401K that I cannot touch until I retire permanently from my worldly
wanderings. I still have the recipe, though, and know it is the best
and true one:
Man + Woman + God = Abounding Joy!
Now I wait to see if He is preparing the ingredients to bake that wonderful confection again.
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