How the Coach Won My Heart - Part Four

So began, for me, a balance of asking, waiting. Wondering, trusting.

I suggested to Daddy that we invite the Coach over and he surprised me right back by telling me he was planning on inviting him to lunch after church. I struggled a bit with that - we would have other people with us - but Daddy assured me that that was part of his plan.

Turns out (I learned later) that the Coach was at the lake with his family for the weekend. This was before the days when we all had cell phones, but he planned to be back for church (even though his family was staying longer) just encase an invitation came!

I spent the entire weekend worrying about what to wear, doing my nails, primping for the occasion. After all, the "meetings" had been going on for 7 months at this time. I definitely had butterflies!

The lunch was perfectly wonderful. He made the effort to sit by me, even though other people were there. We visited comfortably. I remember distinctly that when we walked outside to leave I felt, for the first time, that I didn't want him to go. There was so much more to learn about each other.

Shortly after that, the Coach called my dad. Daddy and I laughed about it when he told me. Apparently he wanted my dad to know that he was still interested in getting to know me. Even after he had had lunch with us! He told the Coach that the next step was spending time with us, and he would start inviting him.

We discussed opportunities to have him over. A few sentences later my mother mentioned she needed to go trim the grass at my grandmother's grave. I piped up, "See. There's the perfect opportunity."

My parents and I talked and laughed about it all. Their support, their hesitant encouragement. I asked my father what he thought about the Coach. He said no one had woken him up in the middle of the night and said, "He is THE ONE." I told him I was usually asleep in the middle of the night. Then he told me that the Coach was a Godly man and really had a heart for the Lord. He said he didn't want things to move too quickly (as if all of us weren't aware of that!).

I was so blessed to have precious friends who encouraged me to seek the Lord for His will. And to enjoy every moment and not lose the joy wondering what would happen next.

One night I heard my dad making plans to meet the Coach for breakfast. When he came to say goodnight I said, "Can I go?" He looked at me and said, "What?" I repeated the question and as he walked out of the room he said something about how he didn't think so.

Right after the Coach's birthday in July my dad invited him to Sunday lunch, again. This time it was just the four of us. It was an amazing feeling to not be the "odd" one. I was used to that with two married brothers and my parents. But it was wonderful to look across the table at him.

Soon after that my parents gave me the assignment of writing down the things that I wanted in a husband. Unfortunately I seem to have lost that list. But I wrote in my journal that even what little I knew about the Coach, I knew he fit the list. He had the character, the relationship with the Lord, the family. The things that mattered. And determination. Definitely.

But I also realized that in spite of my father's blessing (should it come in time) and the Coach's persistence, I would need to know myself if this was the Lord's will. I needed to hear from the Lord about it. Everyone around us seemed so sure. I felt the tug on my heart. The Lord was in this. But I didn't, yet, have the certainty that this was it.

It wouldn't take long.