Valentine Story

deacon blues · #1 02-13-2010, 07:13 PM

I met her right before service started. Her friend Tammy, a member of our church introduced me to her: Mary was her name. She had bobbed blonde hair and deep brown eyes, almost black. She was beautiful. She wore a navy dress with copper colored polka dots. She was 19 and a college student. I was a 24 year old youth pastor.

We had an evangelist preaching that night. She said later that she cried all through the service. During the altar service I found my dad praying with her. Tears streaming down her face, Mary was repenting and turning her life over to Jesus. She was a Methodist girl, but she had been running from God throughout her teen years. She was ready. There was only one problem, according to my dad: "Tell her to spit out her gum and she'll get the Holy Ghost!" I leaned forward and gently said, "Mary, spit your gum into my hand, it'll help you pray better." She did. She was speaking in tongues mere moments later.

My pastor had me do the water baptisms in those days and there were several candidates ready to go under. Mary was in line with her white baptismal robe on. I baptized her in Jesus Name.

She started coming to church. She came to my youth ministry activity. My friend and I went to hang out with her and some other girls from our church. I asked her out to lunch that next week. I picked her up at the university. We ate Chinese at the Imperial Dragon restaurant.

We began dating. Once at her apartment, we were watching a college football game and as she walked passed me I pretended to ankle tackle her as she walked by. She lost her balance and fell backward and hit her head on the sharp corner of her coffee table. She cut her head and cried and I felt like a big dork. She laughed about it later.

We had been dating a few weeks when my cousin got married. She went with me to the wedding. After the wedding, I kissed her and told her I loved her. She said she loved me. We made commitments to each other.

Sometime later we started talking marriage. I never formally proposed, but we talked about it. She and her mother went shopping for wedding dresses. I got scared. I backed off. I broke her heart.

That summer, I was given an offer to be an assistant pastor a considerable distance away. I accepted the offer. She decided to finish college somewhere else. We both moved away in August of that year. We said a tearful goodbye, promising to stay in touch.

Something strange happened a few months after we moved. I missed her horribly. I was lovesick. I couldn't eat or sleep thinking about how much I loved this girl. We talked by phone. We wrote letters. She at first missed me too, but later she hinted she had met someone and was going to move on with her life.

I was confused. What should I do? Then one morning I knew what I had to do. I went to Friedman Jewelers and bouth a diamond ring for $600. I called her and told her I was driving up to see her. She told me not to come. I told her I was coming anyway.

When I arrived in that little college town in central Kentucky, I was full of anxiety and anticipation. This is what she wanted and I was now putting my money where my mouth was! That other guy was a boy, I was a man, a knight as it were, coming to rescue my fair maiden and sweep hwe away to my castle!

She met me in the lobby of her dorm. We went for a walk, we talked, I apologized for all I put her through. I told her how being apart made me realize how much I loved her. We arrived back at her dorm. We sat down on the steps leading up to the front door. It was dusk, a cool Fall breeze was blowing, the scent of colored leaves wafted about. I got down on my knee, pulled out the ring, and I asked her to marry me.

She cried. She said she had wanted this for so long. She said however that things had changed. She was going to go to school. She had moved on with her life. She said she couldn't accept my offer.

I went home confused and heartbroken. I, for the first time, really turned the whole thing over to God. I prayed and fasted. I told God I would get over this if He had a different plan for me. Every time I sought God, He would confirm to me that Mary was the one for me. I had 30 days to return the ring. Mary was unwavering in her rejection. It was a test of faith but I held on to the ring.

That Christmas I came home. She did too. She brought her boyfriend home. They attended church. I introduced myself. It was hard to see her woth someone else, but after I met him, I felt more confident. He left town, she was there another two weeks. I asked her to lunch. We went out and had fun. We went back to her parents house and I played a song for her I had written. She cried. I told her I still loved her and that I kept the ring. She said she loved me too. I left with her sitting on her parents porch wiping tears from her eyes.

I knew it was just a matter of time.

She finished the school year in Kentucky. She broke up with the boy. We started talking again. I moved back to my home church and started doing youth ministry again. She decided to move back that August. We went to the zoo, we had a blast together. When we got back, sitting in her driveway, I pulled the ring back out and asked her to marry me. This time she said yes.

Four months later, on December 12, 1992, Mary walked down the aisle with her daddy escorting her. We got married at the same altar where she spit out her gum into my hand and received the Holy Ghost.

We've been married 17 years, God has blessed with three beautiful kids, and she's as pretty today as she was back then. We've made it through tough times, God has blessed us with lots of good memories. And I still love her.

Its Valentine's Eve. My wife is out of town on business. I'm home with our three kids, but my heart is with her. She comes home tomorrow evening. I bought her the new Corinne Bailey Rae CD. She's one of our new favorites. With church in the morning and a small group study tomorrow night, Valentine's Day won't be too eventful. But that's okay. I love her anyway.

I'm lonely for her tonight, but I'm thankful that God gave me the gift of my wife so long ago.

Now share your Valentine's Story with us!