The Return

This vision-message is a witness pointing to what's coming.  It aches for the coming--it can hardly wait!  And it doesn't lie.  If it seems slow in coming, wait.  It's on its way.  It will come right on time. - Habakkuk 2:3 The Message

It's been almost six months, but I have returned.  And so did she, sort of.

We had just ended our May 25th bible study and we were saying our goodbyes when one of the members of the group said it was put on her heart to share Habakkuk 2:3.  She didn't know why, but only that somebody needed to hear it.  As soon as she had finished reading it, I claimed it for me and my relationship with Rebekah.  I felt like God was using her to speak to me.

I usually worship at my church on Saturday nights, but I was meeting with some friends for lunch on Sunday so I opted to go to the 11 am service.  After the service a friend and I were hanging around waiting for others in our group.  She had gone to get some coffee and as I was standing and waiting for her, Rebekah, wearing a pink blouse and black slacks, walked past me not more than ten feet away.  My friend returned and I told her "she who shall not be named" had just walked past me and I pointed her out, about forty feet away talking to some friends.  She asked me if I wanted to go up to her and start talking to her, but I said no.  We did walk past her and her friends as we walked into the church's bookstore to kill more time waiting for our friends.

I walked around briefly, looking at the selection of CD's and DVD's and realized that I wanted to get the DVD of the last service that the choir sang at.  I was standing at the display of, and searching through, the service CD's and DVD's when out of the corner of my eye I noticed the partial form of someone with blonde hair wearing a pink blouse and black slacks on the other side of the display.  I went back to my browsing and when I turned to my left, that person was standing just two feet away from me.

It was Rebekah.  Did she follow me into the bookstore?  Was this just fate or was this a divine appointment?

We made small chit-chat talking about what had been going on in our lives.  I felt uneasy and nervous in the beginning, and I think she felt the same way too.  I had a death grip on my bible as I held it to my chest.  My friend came over and asked if I was doing okay and I said I was fine (she later told me it was to give me an out from the encounter if I needed it).  As we spoke though, I became more at ease and she seemed to relax as well and even smiled a few times.  It became time to leave and I said I'd see her later (I don't like saying goodbye).

I heard it, I claimed it and God made it happen in His time.  To be continued...

Knock And... Dinner

So I got home, and was ready to crash for a while when there was a knock at my door no more than five minutes later. Now Rebekah and I were housemates. She had a studio "apartment" behind our landlord's garage and I had a room up on the second floor on the opposite side of the house. I'm guessing she heard me enter the house, waited just a few minutes, then came upstairs to knock on my door.

I have learned increasingly over the last few years that God is in control. Not sometimes, but always. I learned recently that when you pray using Scripture as an example for God in your prayer, it becomes even more powerful. Unknowingly, I asked just as Isaac's servant did when searching for the wife for Jacob. I firmly believe that there is no such thing as coincidence, but it's God's Hand at work, and His Hand was definitely at work here. How does anyone explain answered prayer like this? I prayed that if He wanted me to tell Rebekah that I loved her, that she would come up to my room when I got home and ask me if I wanted to go out to dinner. And that's exactly what happened!

So we went off to a restaurant just a couple of miles from the house in her car. On the way we were making small talk, but in the back of my mind I was trying to figure out when and where I would tell her. We got there and dinner was brought to our table. The small talk continued as we ate. There was a break in the conversation, so I told her about the prayer I had made earlier in the day and all the sightings I had. All the while, she listened but continued to eat her dinner with her head slightly down. Did she know what was coming? Was the Spirit clueing her in?

The moment arrived. A peace came over me as the nervousness subsided. I told Rebekah about my final prayer that afternoon and what God had prepared for me. Then the words came out gently, "I love you."

The restaurant was full, but you could have heard a pin drop. Rebekah turned the brightest red that I had ever seen anyone become. She didn't say a word. She continued to eat. Now what? Do I say something or just be quiet and let her say the first words? After what seemed an eternity, she continued the conversation we were having beforehand like nothing had ever happened.

Okay. Now we're just going to politely finish dinner before we walk out and she takes off without me. It was a nice evening out and it would be a nice two mile walk home. I could use the exercise, right? Well, no. We walked out to her car and she automatically unlocked the door for me. Instead of taking off without me, we both climbed into her car and went back to the house. What was going on in her mind? Did she erase that moment in time from her brain? It was like that brief moment had never happened. We got home and talked about getting together again in a few days.

... to be continued.

The Beginning

Have you ever had one of those days where you're hearing God AND you're listening? Last Sunday was one of those days for me. It was a day that is taking me on an impossible journey. God used our church's worship pastor to challenge me. God asked me to pray for the impossible to happen and the first thing that came to mind was the relationship that I wanted reconciled with Rebekah (not her real name). And not just reconciled, but the prayer to be fulfilled of us being man and wife.

I know many people will call me nuts. How can I expect anything like that to happen? She hasn't spoken to me in three years. I've reached out to her and there's been no response or acknowledgement. People will say the relationship is dead. They will say that what I want to happen is just impossible. Exactly!

Rebekah and I were housemates and had been doing things together for several years when one day I asked God that if He wanted us to be together romantically, He would show me white Saturn cars while I was out and about. Although this may seem foolish, it is biblically sound. Abraham's trusted servant prayed a similar prayer when he was sent to search for a wife for Isaac. He prayed for a specific thing to be said and a specific action to be taken by the woman that God intended to be Isaac's wife.

I spent the day traveling by bus to run errands in different parts of the county that I live in. Every time that I got off the bus, you guessed it, I saw a white Saturn. I was so amazed every time that it happened, I must have had a grin stretching from ear to ear. My faith was weak, though, and I had to ask for one more thing. Before my last connection to get home arrived, I prayed that if God wanted me to tell Rebekah that I loved her, He would have her come to my door and ask me if I would like to go out to dinner.

I got home and started to unwind, when no more than five minutes later there was a knock on my door. If you're a hopelessly sentimental romantic like me, you know what happened next. I went and opened the door and there she was. If you're wondering if she asked me if I wanted to go out for dinner, well, YES!

What happened at dinner is for another time, but what you must know is that God has continued to show me white Saturns to this very day, and more specifically like the car she drove at the time.