A month or so passed and my hope began to build. It seemed like he began to acknowledge my presence more that in the past. My heart soared! Then it happened……
The evening of September 6, 2008 was like any other normal night. I drove to worship at Harv’s fully expecting nothing out of the ordinary. We sang, prayed and worshiped our Lord. Afterwords we all went into the kitchen and ate some peach cobbler. I recall leaning against the counter by the refrigerator, eating my cobbler when he came in. He walked directly to where I was and casually poured himself a cup of water from the pitcher. We carried on a brief conversation about his resent visit to the hospital. When someone else got in the conversation, I stepped outside into the cool night.
The weather had been so dry and dusty so the gentle rain was so refreshing. I sat on a patio chair underneath the porch and pulled my legs up under my chin. I just relaxed there praising God and being filled with his presence. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him come to the screen door and look out. My heart jumped. Would he pursue a conversation with me? He walked away. My heart sank, but I reminded myself that God had control. A few minutes later the screen door squeaked open and he stepped out. He came! He smiled at me and stood there for a moment listening to the rain. “Care to join me?” I asked.
He sat down in a chair close to mine. We discussed the rain and other things of little importance.During a lull in our conversation I started humming “You are my hiding place.” He joined in, his lovely tenor voice mingled with mine. It was a delightful experience. After awhile he mentioned how he appreciated our friendship. Indeed it was special. I acknowledged him on his godly example. Again there was a lull. Why was he staying so long? My heart wanted to hope, but I tried to constrain it. Surely this was just a friendly conversation. Then he spoke. “I would like to see our friendship grow.”
JOY! God was good! He went on struggling to make his words flow. “I hope that I’m not way out in the field with my asking.” I smiled as I let his words sink in. They didn’t stop at my ears, or my heart but into the depths of my soul. After a moment I answered, “Yes, I had thought about it and had been praying for quite sometime.”
“Well that’s a relief.” he smiled one of his adorable smiles. We sat there basking in the knowledge that we had just obtained. “We’ll take it slow,” he said. “And continue to pray!”
No Comments