She had some funny stories about the last few guys she’d gone out with.
One, a Scottish preacher, grabbed her hand before dinner at a local restaurant and, with a voice so much like Sean Connery’s she expected to hear, “Bond…James Bond,” he leaned over and prayed loudly, “GRRRRREAT GODD! We thank ye for this meal!” She could imitate him so accurately that I couldn’t decide whether to laugh or bow my head.
The last guy before him spent the whole night hearing about the man she’d loved and lost. Not a recipe for romance, she decided. So she took a break from the dating scene for awhile.
She worked nearby so I’d see her from time to time. Once when we ran into each other she’d announced sincerely, “It’s been three years since we broke up. I think I’m finally over him,” referring to her missing love.
I hoped she was, because this was one special woman. After her break up she continued to pray for him. He’d suffered through quite a lot and when they split, it was because he didn’t think he could take care of himself or her. He never did say he didn’t love her, although he did finally tell her, “Don’t wait for me. It just isn’t going to work out.”
Her response was, “So that means there is hope?” Maybe she should write the next blog or book or on the power of hope.
Five years later, he called me. “I’m thinking of writing her,” he said.
It surprised me because he didn’t normally consult me on this kind of thing. He’d been praying and felt he had recovered enough, was now strong enough, to love again. And she was the person who came to his mind. After five years of silence between them, she was the one he thought of. Within a week of the time he called, I received an unexpected email from her. She sent me a link to a music video she’d made for a Glee competition, although she really doesn’t like to sing in public. The song she sang was Lean on Me. It was beautiful. I’ll never know why she didn’t get a call from Glee’s casting director immediately. I guess it was because something better was in the wings.
“I’m dedicating this song to you and your family,” she said. “If I can ever do anything for you, let me know.”
She then shared some other details of her life. She’d been training to be a runner, spending lots of time with family and friends, and pouring her heart out on her seven nieces and nephews. She had stopped looking for love but there was clearly a memory of it in her heart.
Much later, she shared something about that time with me. “Everyone kept saying I should get married. I told them I wasn’t going to marry unless I was in love. I didn’t care about being married just for the sake of it. And I had finally come to the conclusion that I’d already had the love of my life.”
No one else seemed quite right for her. She had moved on and was happy. Surrounded by a big, caring family and lots of friends, she had found contentment.
Then, he sent the first letter. It was so large it got returned due to insufficient postage. He wanted her to know his flaws as well as his feelings. They wrote all summer—letters not emails—and spent time getting to know each other again. Then he came to town.
“Are you going to see her?” we asked.
“I don’t know,” he said. “What if things aren’t the same? What if we’re not attracted to each other the same way anymore?”
We all just smiled and nodded.
That very afternoon she was riding around in her car and thought wistfully, “I wish he was in town and he would just call me up and ask if we could get together.” She had no idea he’d arrived earlier that week. That very night he picked up the phone and asked if she wanted to meet for coffee.
They were married in October, a little over a year after that night. They served the cake themselves at the reception so they could thank all the people who had prayed for them for so long. They gave out a CD of the songs that had led them to that point, wanting others to share the love and hope that kept changing their lives. And they lifted up the One who had made it all possible.
This is love at its finest—forged in prayer and reignited by a God who “so loved that he gave,” and who declares boldly that he “is love.”
Love gives us a reason to hope, whatever form it takes in your life. It may not be a romance you find, but it could still be lost love. Maybe it is a parent, a child, or a friend you’ve been longing to reconnect with. So don’t give up—not on yourself, or on God, or on loving. Hope tells us that there is future that we cannot even imagine.
So, do like she did. Go and pour your heart out on the people around you, maybe even on some who don’t expect it. If you do, I guarantee that you will give someone else new reason to hope and, inevitably, you will find some as well.
GRRRREAT GODD! What are ye waiting fore?
By the way, February is the month of love and every week we will be sharing a special blog to give you some new hope for love.