Proverbs 3:5-6  Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

I thought that the summer of 1969 was going to see me working in a beach ministry in New York.  It was something I was really looking forward to, but the man leading the group, informed me that he believed the Lord had something else for me and I couldn’t go along.  That was the first major disappointment that I experienced since becoming a Christian the preceding fall and I struggled so trying to understand.

Since that door was closed, I pursued other opportunities for ministry.  I went to Columbia and then was a counselor at several Christian camps.  At one camp in Michigan, there was a group from Tennessee & Georgia who were there to observe the youth ministry going on.  By “chance” I happened to sit with them for lunch one day.   I was looking for more opportunities so I asked them if they needed any counselors for their large camp in August.  The leader thought they might need one more counselor.

A month went by and I didn’t hear anything from them.  Then about August 16 the call came informing me of the opportunity to be a camp counselor there at the camp in Georgia that began August 24.  Within a couple days the Lord provided my transportation.  It was at that camp, on the second afternoon, that God did something beyond my wildest dreams. 

On that day, as I approached the auditorium for the afternoon meeting, I saw David, a young man I had met there the day before.  He was one of the few people there that I knew so I went over to him.  As we were talking, up walks this lovely young lady named Donna.  She too didn’t know hardly anyone there, but like me, she had met David the day before as well.  So she joined us and we went in to the meeting.

Thanks to what can only be described as the miraculous intervention of God, we were engaged 2 hours and 15 minutes later!  We’ve joked that the reason it took so long was the first hour was in a meeting and the second hour was at dinner.  God supernaturally communicated, independently to each of us that we were His choice for each other and were to be married. 

In essence, what happened?  God chose to intervene in the lives of two ordinary people, who had just met, with a divine purpose.  He made known to us that we belonged to each other.  It’s as though we had been betrothed to each other without ever knowing it.  But God did more than just let us in on it.  He gave us a foundation to build a marriage on.  God imparted (in computer terms, think “downloaded”) knowledge, understanding, wisdom and a passionate affection for each other – into each of us.  He not only imparted this to us, but He gave us the incredible experience of a manifestation of His presence as confirmation to us as we sat on a park bench together in prayer.  He gave us in a moment what many don’t experience in a lifetime.

The date was August 25, 1969 and today is the 44^th anniversary of that incredible experience. 

 To be continued…