Our Story - Part 1

It was summer. 1992. My dad was preaching a revIval (make sure you emphasize the I), in Center Point, a small town in Southern Arkansas. When my dad came home he found me and said, "I've met the man you're going to marry." I thought he was joking, and laughed pretty hard. Fresh out of a long term relationship, I wasn't really seeking a new one. I was graduating a year early from high school and had tough decisions to quickly make about college. Marriage was nowhere on my radar.

I met Shawn the following night at the revIval. He was leading music. He didn't talk much. Actually, he was painfully shy with girls and didn't talk at all to me for the next 2 nights. He was stealing glances at me during the services, but I wasn't paying too much attention. What I did not know until later was that his mom was also trying to set us up. Along about Thursday night, our parents decided we were not ever going to get together on our own and helped us along a little. My dad asked Shawn to sing an old hymn, "Love of God." When Shawn replied that he did not know that song, Dad said that his daughter would be more than happy to teach it to him.

Well, that got Shawn on my piano bench. Most of my friends know that if you want to really connect with me and get to know my heart, that's where it happens. We sang for a long time that night. He finally started making small talk with me. The night ended, without either of us even exchanging numbers. Just idle chit-chat. On the final night of the revIval, I truly expected him to ask me out. I mean, seriously, by Thursday night the boy was showing up nearly an hour before services so he could pick out songs. That translates to page turning while he was stealing glances at me.

Services came and went. We ate supper together at the potluck after church. We were still just making small talk. I was finally walking to my car when Shawn got enough courage to ask me on a date. We set up the date and exchanged numbers. I was excited. I liked him, and it had been a long time since I had been out with a guy. I never dreamed where it would take me.