The Story You've Been Waiting to Hear

 I have had a lot of people asking me for the details of the new relationship in my life. I thought rather than write it numerous times on Facebook, I would just summarize it here and then you can read it if you want. So, here goes...

I wanted to go to a real live service on Christmas Eve 2020. We had lost so many privileges due to Covid-19, this was one more that was potentially taken away. Because my own church was only doing virtual services, I was searching for a church that was meeting. As a nurse in a hospital, I have worked every other Christmas Eve for about the past 35 years...maybe not consecutive, but often enough that on a year I am not working, going to a service has become of great importance to me. I mentioned this to a friend of mine who informed me that her church was meeting and I was welcome to come. I was speaking to another friend at church about the service and she too was disappointed that there was not a live service at our church. We decided to go together to Cross Pointe church on Christmas Eve.

My friend is single also and on the way to church had told me that her close group of girlfriends had encouraged her to move on in life and find a man. It was time. She told me about an online dating service called, "Silver Singles" for the over 50 crowd. My immediate response was, "OK, hope that works for you, I am not going that direction right now."

Well, with a bit of encouragement from a lot of my co-workers, I decided that really the only way I would meet someone with potential relationship interest was to go to a dating site. So, on December 27, I created an account on Silver Singles and started my journey. 

On my profile, I answered the "What is most important to you"? question this way; "The most important thing in my life is my relationship with Jesus Christ. It is something I work on daily and I will not waver on this." My thoughts were that it would scare off 99.99999999% of anyone, then I could say that online dating doesn't work and move on. 

I don't recall the actual day that I got a message from a man named "Michael" age 66 from Wauwatosa. I think it was the 29. He said, "I like what you say about Jesus!" I was still a bit skeptical. I mean, maybe he just thought it was a loosely thought out answer and really he didn't care one way or the other. I replied with something like, "Felt it was a good place to start, then no surprises later." 

We started chatting about things and it seemed as though we could at least converse. That was a plus. One of his interests was reading. I thought knowing what someone is reading really says a lot about a person. So I asked him what he was reading. He told me the book "Heaven" by Randy Alcorn and then some other book that sounded way too deep and philosophical for me. But the next part was the part that really got me, he said, "I try to read my Bible every day." TRY...the word that struck me. He didn't claim to be a perfect scholar of the Bible and he showed me in that one word that he was an honest man, not trying to make a good impression. 

So, we continued on corresponding in the site. I was scheduled to have shoulder surgery on January 8. I had told him that I would be having that done. The day before my surgery, the conversation seemed to have stopped. I was a bit disappointed, thinking this all was too good to be true and he probably found someone else and I would be left to wait on another. Then, just before getting ready for bed, a VERY long message came from Michael answering every question I had posed. I worried too about what denomination he attended. Most of his answers to questions regarding his relationship with Jesus seemed real and acceptable, but I feared he would tell me he attended a mainstream church and I would have to "convert" him. By the end of that long message, he told me that for 22 years he has been attending an Assembly of God church. I am thinking he was a bit worried about how I would respond to that, I think the next paragraph was saying, "I hope you understand that there is a good reason I go there and that you are all right with it." That isn't what he said, but I am thinking it may be what it really meant. 

I knew that there was one church in the Milwaukee area that the pastor is a son-in-law of some friends of mine. So, I asked which church in the area he attended. He said, "The Bridge". Then I asked who was the pastor, and before he could respond, I googled it and realized it was the church pastored by Todd Pope, the person I had a bit of connection to. Suffice it to say, I was pretty excited. 

Being the shy person that I am (I really am, I just sometimes become bold) I asked if there was a chance we could exchange phone numbers. Then I realized I didn't really need to ask, so I just told him mine. He sent me a text soon after and told me he was headed to bed. He hoped all went well for my surgery the next day, good night!

On Friday morning, I got a text from him sending a blessing for my day, followed shortly after by a phone call. The conversation went something like this:

Mike: Hi, I just called to tell you that I am glad I went to bed early last night because it allowed me time to spend in my Bible this morning. I wanted you to know I prayed for your surgery to go well. 

Me: Thank you. 

Mike: Are you nervous?

Me: No, it's just an arthroscopy, no big deal...you mean about the surgery?

Mike: (Laughing) Well, yes, I know the other. 

Me: I am terrified!

Off I went to surgery. I know this may sound pretty hokey and weird, but sorry it is me. I recall the moment I came to after the anesthesia and the first thought in my mind was "Michael". It kind of took me by surprise, but it was really true. I got out of the hospital and my friend who had planned to care for  me that night took me to her house and got me settled in. I sent a text and told Michael I was out and settling in. I was heading to bed after taking a pain pill, recommended that he not text or call at that time. 

The next morning at 9:47 he sent a text asking if I were awake. I replied, "Yes. Waiting for you to call! Oops, did I text that out loud?"

I think the next 2 hours were spent on the phone with him getting to know him. He talked about things of the Bible and I knew by the end of that conversation that he was not a casual Bible reader. He told me about the part of scripture in 1 Samuel where the people were demanding a king and how God explained to Samuel that the rejection was against God not Samuel. I WAS HOOKED. I jokingly now tell Michael, "You had me at Samuel". 

Once we ended our call, my investigative spirit kicked in and I called my friend Marilyn, Todd's mother -in-law. I quickly gave her the rundown on Michael and she being the caring friend that she is assured me that she would ask her daughter about this man. Shortly thereafter I got a text from Marilyn telling me that I should "go for it!" He had checked out. 

So, I must have talked to him again because I asked him when we could meet. He said whenever I wanted. I said, "Tomorrow?" He agreed. He came and took me out for lunch. We then went over to Rebecca's (my friend who I knew would be a good judge of character) and he met her. The next day I spoke with her and she said she really had nothing negative she could say about him. 

We continued to talk, he came for dinner on Monday. We spoke every day, several times a day, and by Saturday when he came to see me, we knew that there was really no reason to wait around for the obvious. So, Saturday we were looking at my basement and all the junk. He scoped out where some of his belongings could go and I said, "Well, before you move your stuff in here, you need to ask me something." At that moment he proposed. Surprisingly, I said, "YES!"

So, April 10 is our projected wedding date. Michael is a Network Engineer (geek) and is close to retirement. We have some other details to work out for the long term, but plan on being together and very excited about what path God has chosen for us to follow. We both prayed for a partner who loved Jesus more than anything, and we are both feeling God has answered that prayer beyond belief.