A story that could have only been orchestrated by God! Happy Anniversary, Amy Moore

Tomorrow my wife, Amy, and I are celebrating twenty years of marriage.  Yay, God! We’re going to celebrate by walking around Silver Lake in Rochester with our daughter, Hannah. I can’t wait to enjoy this day with the two people who mean the most to me.

This is a magical week for Amy & me. I met Amy for the first time in-person on the Monday after Father’s Day in 1998 by walking around Silver Lake in Rochester; I proposed to her at Silver Lake the Monday after Father’s Day in 1999; the two of us were married at First Presbyterian Church in Rochester on June 16, the Friday before Father’s Day in 2000.

I am blessed to be married to Amy.  Part of my blessing is I believe God wanted the two of us to be married.  Let me share the following story to share why I believe this.

In the spring of 1998 I was on a dry streak in terms of dating. I was working many hours at a job I loved as the pastor of Community Presbyterian Church in Plainview. I was living in a small town of about 3,000.  I didn’t have many friends to set me up with people, and I had no interest in going to bars. And I wasn’t smart enough to put myself “out there” in clubs or organizations in Rochester.  And I didn’t know much about the personals.

So I had no dates.  For a long time.  I wasn’t happy about this, but I really didn’t know what to do about it.  I had convinced myself that I could be very happy as a single person.  I prayed that I would meet someone, but at that time it had been so long since I had a date that I had given up.

In the spring of 1998 I participated one day a week in Clinical Pastoral Education (C.P.E) in Rochester. As with most CPE experiences I got to know other people in my group very well.  One person with whom I developed a friendship was Jan Heckroth. She was married, but was happy to talk to me about my lack of dates.  One day during a “conversation” she blurted out, “Paul why don’t you pray about having a date.”

I felt like I had been insulted.

“Pray about it,” I said, “sometimes I feel like this is all I pray about.”  I then went on a fairly long stemwinder of an explanation that I had done everything I could to get on a date, and it seemed to me God just didn’t want me to go on a date. 

At the end of my stemwinder I told Jan an edited version of the following, “Just to prove to you that I pray about it and that God doesn’t want me to go on a date, I’m going to pray in a different way.  I’m going to pray, ‘God if it is your will I’d like to meet someone and develop a relationship that will last.’”

The logic of my prayer was poor.  I was going to prove that something couldn’t happen by praying for that something to happen. 

Logic has never been the strongest currency of prayer.

So I prayed that prayer every day for a week or so.  One weekday night in June my plans were changed by the weather.  I decided to read the personals in the Rochester Post Bulletin.  This was when personals were in the newspaper.  And immediately I found an ad that got my attention.  It was the pick of the week.  The ad started out, “All Bach or all rock make for a dull soul, looking for that person …”

I thought that this was a creative ad, so I thought why not call it.  I did.  That is when my life changed.  At that time a person would leave a message for the caller to hear.  When I heard that message, I knew that this was the person for me.  People have shared the thought, “love at first sight.”  My experience was “love at first voice.”

Even though I “knew” this person was for me, I had a small problem.  She had no idea who I was.  I needed to leave a compelling message, so she would call me back.  I wrote out almost word-for-word what my message would be.  I called the number, shared the message, and hung up.  I had to wait.

A few nights later I came home after some late church meetings and saw the message light blinking on my answering machine.  Sure enough—she had called.  On the message Amy asked if we could have a phone conversation on Father’s Day evening.  We had that phone conversation and decided to walk around Silver Lake in Rochester the next night. 

I was giddy.  I was vain enough to worry about what would I do if I didn’t find her attractive.  But things were going so well. …

On that Monday night I arrived at Silver Lake a few minutes early and sat on a picnic table.  As I sat there a woman got out of the car and started walking towards me.  I’m almost embarrassed to say that when I saw her I was hoping that this person wasn’t Amy.  This person walked towards me, and towards me—and then walked right on by.  Yay, God!

A few minutes later Amy showed up.  I could see right away that she was attractive.  I had fallen for her when I heard the message on her personal ad and knew she was the “right one” a few minutes into our walk.

A bit premature—of course; foolish—no doubt; extraordinary—for sure.  It was a calling.  A calling by God?  I can’t prove it, but I would bet my life on it.

It took Amy a bit longer to catch up to me regarding an interest in our relationship—but to tell the truth it didn’t take that much longer. 

This story is a defining story in my life. I believe our story was initiated by prayer and is so improbable that it had to be led by God.  And tomorrow we’re celebrating 20 years of marriage. 

And Amy has her story of what led her to write that personal.

Through the inevitable ups and downs of marriage I’ve been sustained by this story.  And knowing at a deep level that God wants Amy & I to be married.

I am very blessed.

Here’s to many more years, darling of a beautiful marriage!

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