God Spoke on 08.23.75

God spoke to me loudly and clearly on Saturday, August 23, 1975.   It was shortly after 7 p.m. that it happened.  Up to that point I was a little nervous, especially when I stepped out to face a crowd of over 150 people.  Friends, family members, and total strangers all stared at me standing there in that tuxedo with the ridiculous ruffled (seriously!) shirt.  By that time in my life I was accustomed to getting up and speaking before crowds, but this was different.  My knees went kind of weak.

And then I saw her, and the sight took my breath away.  Coming out of the pastor's office and down the aisle on her father's arm, and all the nervousness evaporated.  I became instantly obvious to the many people sitting in the church pews.  I could have been standing up there in front of them in a tie-dyed T-shirt and a grass skirt as far as I was concerned.  All that mattered in the world was this gorgeous, loving woman, dressed all in white and headed my way.

That's when God spoke; not in an audible voice, but I got the message...and I've remembered it ever since.  God said, "Do you see this?  Do you see this woman?   Do you realize what's happening here? Do you appreciate this gracious good humor, this loving heart, this gentle spirit, and this unfettered faith in Jesus that she is?  Do you understand that she is coming to know you, to know everything about you, to know you better than you know yourself, yet she is still willing and eager to spend the rest of her life with you?   Do you comprehend what an amazing, undeserved, freely given gift of my grace she is to you?  This, Geoff, is how much I love you....You're welcome."

Happy 37th, Elaine.  Thanks for saying, "Yes."

I'll see you all around the next bend in the river.

(Posted today, 08.22.12, as I'll be "off the air" for a few days, starting this evening.)