Romance: God's Way
Aug 02 '00
Romance: God’s Way
Special Acts of Divine Intervention
December 2, 1998: The night they met (some enchanted evening).
Allen went to get Miriam across a crowded room to bring her to her friend and surrogate grandpa, Ralph, who was waiting for her on the other side of the room (First Baptist Church sanctuary during the Christmas Pageant).
Shortly thereafter, Miriam found out that Allen’s last name is Moss (hers was Mas), and within a few minutes she said, “I’m thinking maybe we should get married so I don’t have to change my name, just the spelling.” Allen immediately agreed and started mentioning monogram towels and hyphenating their last names (Mas-Moss).
During intermission, Miriam introduced Allen to her friends as her future husband, indicating that the reason for marriage was the fact that she wouldn’t have to change her name just the spelling.
They soon thereafter became very interested in each other, especially after they realized that the Lord had orchestrated that meeting on December 2.
December 20, 1998: The Singles Christmas Party.
After running into each other several times at church after their first meeting, they happily spent a lot of time together at the party with their chaperone, Lisa (Miriam’s roommate at the time).
During dinner they discussed a book called “Choosing God’s Best” that recommends old-fashioned courtship instead of dating. Miriam was in the process of reading it, and Allen immediately decided he would read it too.
The Lord sure does work in wonderful ways; the book ended up being one of the gift exchange items that night, and Allen was able to take it home and start reading it right away.
Allen spent the whole night catering to Miriam’s every whim as if he were her adoring fiancé. They kept the “getting married” joke going the entire time.
December 24, 1998: Christmas Eve church service.
Miriam was hoping to find Allen so he could sit with her and her friends. Sure enough, he was sitting all by himself holding a gift for Miriam. It was just like the beautiful crystal Christmas ornament he had brought to the gift exchange party that Miriam had been so crazy about but didn’t get. Needless to say, they did sit together throughout the service.
January 21, 1999: Their first outing.
After saying hello a few times at church and a couple of phone calls, Allen asked Miriam to lunch after church service, and since Ralph was her guest that morning, they all went together.
February 3, 1999: Moscow mission trip orientation meeting.
Upon realizing that she didn’t know what room the orientation meeting was taking place in, Miriam decided to go home after the Wednesday night church service. However, on her way out she bumped into Allen, who was also headed toward the meeting and knew what room it was in.
That night they both decided that they definitely wanted to go on the mission trip. As it turns out, they had both been desiring to go, not only to Moscow but also to Nicaragua, since the prior year, before they even met.
Miriam had even prayed for a husband that would want to go on mission trips with her. It started looking like this might be him.
February 14, 1999: First time together at Bible study class.
As Allen and Miriam walked into the church after Bible study, Doug Cole went up to both of them and gave them flyers for his upcoming Marriage Class on Sunday nights. As it turns out, it was the same class that Doug had spoken to Miriam about before she met Allen and that Allen had already decided to take.
A few minutes later, Allen asked Miriam if she would be his partner for Ballroom dance classes that were starting the following month. Miriam couldn’t believe his invitation because the day before when she watched Rob and Mary ballroom dancing at their wedding, she thought to herself that she should sign up for the upcoming classes so she would be ready for her own wedding. She knew that she would be getting married before the end of the year, and even told her roommate that it would happen. Miriam just didn’t know who the groom was yet (maybe Allen).
February 21, 1999: First night of Marriage Class.
After class Miriam and Allen went into the sanctuary and prayed together. It was so special.
March 4, 1999: First time together at weekly Singles night at church.
After the activities were over they went into the sanctuary to have their first serious chat about their pasts. They realized just how similar their pasts were. They both attended Baptist churches when they were kids but went their own ways for 14 years. When they decided to return to the church they both chose First Baptist Church, Ft. Lauderdale (Allen 5 years ago and Miriam 2 years ago).
March 6, 1999: Dinner and movie.
They finally started holding hands after discussing the strong potential for marriage.
March 14, 1999: Certainty about future together.
Allen and Miriam went to the alter to pray that morning at the end of church service. Miriam had an overwhelming feeling come over her that this was really “it.”
She went home that afternoon and told Lisa how she felt, that Allen was the one and that this was the day she knew they were really in love. Little did Miriam know that Allen felt the exact same way that day. They just didn’t realize it until someone asked them a few weeks later when they knew they were getting married.
March 21, 1999: Allen’s daughter, Ciara, visits from Minnesota.
Miriam was so nervous about meeting Ciara, but God was so good. They bonded immediately upon meeting and have been buddies ever since.
After Marriage Class that night, Allen and Miriam discussed their desire to get married. They decided it was okay at that point to start kissing cautiously.
March 22, 1999: Making it official.
After dinner at Fridays, Ciara fell asleep in the back seat of the car while Allen and Miriam talked. He turned to Miriam and asked, “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” After a moment of silence he said, “United Negro College Fund.” As Miriam looked at Allen with a puzzled expression, he said, “You know. A year (mind) is a terrible thing to waste.” At that point she knew exactly what he meant. They then started making plans for a December 1999 wedding.
Lisa couldn’t believe it when Miriam told her the news. Miriam had been telling her since earlier that year that she would be getting married before the year was over, and Lisa thought she was nuts. Lisa thought it was all so fast, but said, “Oh well, it’s not like your getting married in July.” As Miriam nodded and smiled she thought to herself, “Hey, you never know. Allen probably won’t wait until December.”
March 29, 1999: Take-off for Moscow mission trip.
Two days into the trip, Allen received some wise Godly counsel and suggested to Miriam that they move up the wedding date to July. Miriam accepted, and they quickly started making wedding plans.
This is how it all started. Throughout this whole process, Miriam and Allen discovered just how many other times they were at the same place at the same time over the past eight years. These included:
A couple of dinners at Burt and Jacks where Allen worked as Maitre d’ for many years.
A charity ball that Allen co-chaired a few years ago.
The 1997 Singles Christmas Party where Allen registered the guests.
Several church singles functions.
The many years during which he dated the daughter of Miriam’s next door neighbors and parked in front of her house several times.
Allen and Miriam are everything that they had each prayed for in a future spouse. Although they had many opportunities to marry other people, they refused to settle for what was good and instead waited on God for what was best. It was obvious to them that God was working very actively in their lives together, but it wasn’t until their relationship with Jesus was in proper order that He allowed them to meet. Any time other than December 2, 1998 would have been the wrong time. We serve an awesome God!
Always remember that dreams do come true and sometimes fairy tales do too.
“The Lord is faithful to all His promises and loving toward all He has made.” (Psalm 145:13)
“Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4)
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