Polycarp Ministries

In the middle of all this Calvinism (actually in the middle of my investigation of it) I met my wife. My senior year in HS I told myself I was not going to spend my college life looking for a woman. I would be friends with lots of women and treat them as sisters, but I would busy myself with the task to which God had called me. When He was ready for me to have somebody, He would bring her to me and open my eyes just like He did for Adam in the garden. Well, guess what? That’s exactly what happened. My freshman year was filled with late nights at coffee houses and movies (I must have studied during the day), and I met tons of people. I even met this girl who liked to slap her playing cards on the table when she played Nertz. I can only remember a couple of “dates” with girls but it was more just treating a good friend to dinner and a movie. My eyes were closed.

That summer, while working as a youth-camp dorm manager, it happened. Knock, Knock, Knock. I opened the door and there she was, the card slapper! She was a camp nurse needing to give a student his insulin. My eyes were opened and it was as if God were saying, “Here she is. Can I make it any more obvious?” I don’t even remember if I showed her the guy’s dorm, but I do remember inviting her over for an elegant dinner of hamburger helper (cheeseburger macaroni!) and creamed corn that my co-worker and I had made. Maybe it was the onions, or maybe it was romance, but we became fast friends and I knew she was the one. Listen, when a girl will watch The Godfather and Monty Python: Search for the Holy Grail in 1 night, hang on to her! After much prayer, I told her how I felt, and we began a ministry of praying for each other so we would know what to do.

I remember the first time I met her father. His first question for me was literally, “Are you a Calvinist?” I didn’t even fully understand the term at that time, so I admitted that to him. I think he said something about seeking truth (which was and is my goal) and we engaged in small talk. So, fast forward to Nov. 1995. I proposed to her in the library because it was so windy outside (and we had papers to finish. I think I got a B+). Don’t laugh. She thought it was sweet. We were married in December 1996, just 1 month after her parents came into the Church (my attempt at forshadowing), and she has been with me on this journey 100%. She is the greatest support and friend I’ve ever had, not to mention a great mother to our daughters. I thank God every day for this card-slapping woman (then a baptist as I was) who had such an important role in my conversion.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 1st, 2005 at 12:56 am and is filed under My Story. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.