When Love Finds You

The Kindle book, My 70s Love Story, reveals how my husband and I met in 10th grade En

glish. It tells the way in which our meeting occurred after my Bible teacher inspired me to create a husband-to-be prayer list. I did not connect these two events until much later. In reading our story, you’ll discover the phrase when love finds you throughout because God created the connection. We find its truth in the scripture “… when a man to finds a wife…” (Proverbs 18:22a TPT).

In high school, I saw my husband around campus but did not notice until my classmate mentioned him, because she was attractive to him. However, she later said he expressed an interest in me. He did not show this until one day during P.E. class; I spotted him sitting nearby on a bench, looking at our volleyball game. He used a hand gesture to ask me over. It was the first time we spoke face to face. After chatting for ten minutes, he ended the talk, adding he hoped to see me around campus. As I turned to walk back to the volleyball game, I wondered if he looked at me walking back. It reminded me of the movie Waiting to Exhale when Loretta Devine’s character flirted with her neighbor, played by Gregory Hines. In one scene, she headed back across the street to her house after they talked. She asked herself if he was watching and turned back to check. He was looking, and she giggled as she walked home. As I returned to the game, I felt like the actress in that scene but did not look back.

As time passed, he asked for my phone number, and I dodged sharing it because in the 70s we had one telephone per house. Having a short telephone cord meant the phone would not reach your room for privacy and everyone can hear your conversation. My hallelujah moment happened the day he called, and I discovered that the phone cord reached my room.

We were finally dating. I loved the 1964 Thunderbird he drove on our dates and how he acted like a perfect gentleman. My rating for 70s dating is PG compared to today—we focused on fun and being social. We dated for a brief time before my husband ended it after learning of his parents’ plan to move him back to Los Angeles. It left me heartbroken. Although his parents’ plans changed, he returned to the campus for 11th grade but said nothing.

Fast forward to the last day of school in 12th grade, he asked me to sign my yearbook. After he signed it, he returned it and walked off without a word. I opened the yearbook to read a poem he’d written and the words, “To the woman who will be my wife one day.” I reacted and said to myself, “Dude! What are you talking about? We aren’t dating!”

After graduation, I moved on with my focus on college and my career. A year later, I received a call from him. In shock that he still had my phone number, we talked as if we hadn’t stopped talking. Suddenly, I realized God healed my broken heart because He was up to something.

My husband kept his yearbook promise and asked me to marry him later that year. I said yes and learned he met with my Mother before asking me—it blessed me to know he did this. We were married the following year, on February 16, 1974, just before our 20th birthday. We are thankful God has given us 48 blessed years together.

Discover more by reading our story.

· When love finds you, practice patience. There will be hiccups along the way—it’s part of your test.

· When love finds you, it’s your love that will help you rise above the challenges and weather the storms that will come against it.

· When love finds you, learn to cultivate and nourish your love.

· When God’s Love finds you, find safety in God’s arms and trust His plan. “He has made everything beautiful in its time.” Ecclesiastes 3:11a (ESV)