The Date

I went about my busy life and never really gave the man with the disconcerting smile another thought. About a week later, I instant messaged a friend from church and she asked me if I was attending the party I had been invited to earlier. I told her I did not think I was going to go. I, then for some reason, asked her about the man I had met since I knew she was friends with the couple he was sitting with at church. I asked her what ‘his story’ was all about. This is when she told me he was the brother in law of my son’s football coach. She went on to say that he was widowed with three young children. I really could not believe I was even asking about him. She went on to say he was really nice and had only recently moved to Oklahoma.

She abruptly said she needed to go but would call me later. Only a few minutes had past when she called me back at work. She said she had talked to Mike and had told him I was going to the party and that he needed to go too! He wanted to attend and next thing I know they had worked it out so that he would pick me up….it was going to be a date…well sort of a date. I had not dated in the nearly ten years I had been single again. I did not want to date. I only wanted the Lord to bring to me the one that He had for me. If that ‘one’ never came, then I was content with being single the rest of my life. It was a LONG process to get to that place of contentment. Only after many years of struggle, denial, and finally sweet surrender had I come to the place I knew as long as the Lord was guiding me I could handle anything that came my way.

So now here I am on the phone with my friend, being told that I am going to the party with this man, and all I could think about was, “How did this all happen?”

The rest they say is history. This story that I am sharing impacts me each time I remember it. The intricacies of this story and how it all fits together is testament to God's faithfulness and redemptive love. There is still so much more to share and I will another time. One thing I know the Lord truly restores what the locusts have eaten. His promises are fulfilled. It is almost certainly never in our time frame but His ways and timing are perfect. I have come to realize that His weaving the tapestry of our lives is so beautiful. It may not always be so to our own eyes but when the piece is finished it reflects the glory of what Christ can do when one is completely and totally sold out to Him.

We did go out that night. I met the whole crew. It was a little uncomfortable at the party since all these people, his brother and sister in law included, were watching our every move and were all SO excited for what was taking place. Some were people that I had known for a long time. We had shared in our singleness the sorrows and pains we endured. I had seen each one of these couples come together and marry over the years. Now here I was in front of them all on this date with someone that I did not know. It was all very surreal. It was not until we left the party and he began to drive me home that I was able to see more of his heart. to be continued