A Life of Love
The first time God spoke to me in a dream, I was a junior in high school. I had asked the Lord to select the guy He wanted me to be with, the one I would one day marry and love forever. I was afraid that if it were up to me, I would select the wrong guy.
I had accepted Jesus into my life three years earlier, and since then I had tried to make only right choices, but of course, I didn’t always. My sisters can confirm this for you. However, my experiences had taught me that, sooner or later, there are always consequences for bad decisions. This would be one of the most important decision ever. I didn’t want to risk being paired with the wrong guy. I wanted who God wanted for me.
I began praying and asking for the Lord to lead the right one to me, to help me be patient in the wait, and to let me recognize when he came into my life. Within a few weeks, I had a dream in which I saw Tom Wolf asking me out, and I very cleary heard July 16th.
When I told my mother about the dream the next morning, she was skeptical. What was she to think? She wondered if I’d really heard from God.
Mom knew Tom. Tom and I started first grade together. Because of our small class size, we spent our school years hanging out with the same friends. We lived on the same road, two miles apart. We went to the same church and were both actively involved in the youth group. Mom liked Tom, but she just had to ask whether I had a secret crush on him or if I had heard that he had one on me. Neither was the case.
A month after Tom appeared in my dream, the youth group went to Indiana Raccoon Lake for a day of boating, swimming, and picnicking. I can’t say if it was the sight of me in a bathing suit or not, but I can say that at the end of the day, Tom asked me out for the following Saturday. July 16th. The calendar date was like a neon sign flashing: Tom is the one! Poor Tom, I thought, he has no idea I am his future wife.
A few months after dating, I told Tom about my prayer and the dream I’d had of him asking me out. His eyes got big with a look of astonishment. It was then I learned that Tom had been praying a prayer very similar to mine. He was asking God to lead him to someone he could grow old with and love forever. Tom even told the Lord that he only ever wanted to have one first date; He prayed for the courage to ask out the girl God would choose for him–whoever she might be.
God heard the prayers of two friends seeking the same thing: a life of love. He somehow intertwined our prayers to make us one–to make us one with Him–to make us a match made in heaven.
Thank you, Lord, for a life of love.
I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. – Psalm 16:7
Note: For our 30th Wedding Anniversary, my gift to Tom was having our story put to song. I would like to thank the “Higher Ground Family” for writing our song, “Life of Love.” Click here to listen.