Valentine Moon
I found him whom my
soul loveth:
I held him, and would
not let him go. . . .
— Song of Solomon 3:4b
He was all wrong for her. He threw her around, called her a
"whore," cheated on her, and made her feel small.
Some boyfriend: she got deathly sick
from food poisoning, but he wouldn't take her to the hospital. A girlfriend
did. Upon her release, he was three hours late picking her up, refused to even
draw her a bath, and left her to go drink.
She tried to dump him, but just
couldn't. One night, despite her better instincts, she let him stay over.
In the middle of the night, her cell
phone rang, four times. She hurried to answer it.
It was blank. No one was there.
He became enraged. "WHO THE $%&@
WOULD BE CALLING YOU AT THIS HOUR OF THE MORNING?!?" All kinds of accusations ensued,
even though he admitted that HE had been unfaithful to HER the night before.
She didn't yell. She didn't cry.
"Get out of my house," she said.
She sat by the window. The moon was
really bright, really full.
Her eyes filled with tears. "God,"
she prayed, "I know I shouldn't be with guys like him, but I just can't find
the strength. If I'm not ready yet for the person You want me to be with,
that's fine. Keep preparing both of us. But in the meantime, keep me away from
monsters!"
She felt better. Finally, she slept.
Next day, a girlfriend suggested:
"You've been depressed and reclusive for months. Let's go out, go shopping, get
all dolled up, and go out and have fun!"
Did I mention she's a real, live
beauty queen? I mean . . . tongues hang.
So they walked in, late, to a
popular pub . . .
. . . and the first person she saw
was this cute guy.
Their eyes locked.
She felt a tremendous pull of
attraction. But she thought, "I am NOT doing this again!"
She walked past him with her nose in
the air and joined a group of old college friends. He watched her. Her friends
watched him watch her. "Oh, my gosh, he's coming over here!" they exclaimed.
They ran him through a gauntlet. He
took it, then faced her and said earnestly:
"I know something you don't know. But
this isn't the appropriate place to tell you. Is there a time we can get
together?"
He WAS cute. But what was THAT? A PICKUP
line?!? Manipulation? AGAIN?!? She refused to give him her name or phone
number. Finally, she took his.
The friends ended up back at her
house for chili. They encouraged her: "That was a good guy. You should go out
with him. If anything, it's a free dinner."
She debated. She procrastinated. Finally,
she called.
They talked for two hours. They went
out on a date.
Kaboom! Madly in love.
After a week, she asked him, "Was
that a line?"
He knew what she meant. "I can't
tell you," he replied. "You'd think I'm crazy."
"Try me."
"Well . . . the night before we met,
the moon was really bright and really full. I was looking at it, and praying to
God to prepare the girl that I'm going to marry . . . because I'm ready."
He looked at her.
She looked at him. "You're not going
to believe this. . . ."
He searched her eyes: "You were
praying, too?"
His eyes filled with tears. He said,
"When you walked past me that first night, my whole life passed before my
eyes."
They embraced. They wept.
They got married. They have two
amazingly adorable sons.
They're teaching them this: if you
want to have love in your life - real love - just trust God with His plan. He'll
work it out for you. He has ways, like phone calls from nobody in the middle of
the night. Funny: it never did show up on her cell-phone bill.
Ask Him. Trust Him. It's so simple,
it's crazy.
That's love.
That's the way to have a life that's
really bright . . . and a heart that's really full. †
