The other half of my forever.
It has come quickly and fiercely, yet looking back, I see God’s gentle prodding and preparing of my heart for this timing.
Five months ago I sat across from a widower in a local restaurant on our first face-to-face meeting. We instantly connected on several levels. When he spoke of his late wife, his eyes and voice changed ever so slightly. Maybe it wouldn’t have been noticeable to many; but to someone who also had a beautiful marriage...it was obvious...this was a man who loved well and was loved well.
What a gift!
If I could visit the afterlife and have a few minutes with his late wife, I would hug her tightly and say...
Thank you, Julie.
Thank you for loving him well. Thank you for raising such sweet and respectful children with him. Thank you for the beautiful relationship you had with both extended families.
Words actually fail me when I try to describe the gift he is to me, and I fully acknowledge that YOU were instrumental in molding him into the man who stands before me. I appreciate your love affair and your forever place in his heart. I am humbled to be stepping into the lives of your children and family. You will always be honored by me. Your family will always be respected by me.
Mark and I never could have imagined that you and my late husband would only be half of our forever's; but here we are.
We know we are fortunate to have found each other; to be experiencing two "love of our life's" in a single lifetime. I am head over heels in love with him.
I promise to love him completely. I vow to love and treat your children as though they are my own.
I prayed, oh friends how I prayed!
I was content to remain single. We were a happy family of three. I had no desire to ever date again.
I prayed daily for an entire year that if God had someone special for me in my future, he would change the desire of my heart.
He did.
It scared me.
So I prayed.
I prayed daily for an entire year for God to prepare me for my future mate and to prepare him for me.
It was another year and a half before I met him.
A man who was loved well and loves me well. A man who knows the plight of solo parenting through grief and has excelled at it. A man who is respected in his profession and adored by his family and friends.
I admire him. I cherish him. I enjoy being his. He is the answer to three and a half years of constant prayer.
So now, I pray.
I pray God blesses and protects our relationship.
I pray God continues to mold me into the woman this man needs as his encourager and partner.
I pray I can be a safe haven for him and his children in the years to come and that he can be a positive, loving mentor in the lives of my children.
This life is full of twists and turns; crushing turmoil and unexpected blessings. We cannot escape pain and loss; but we can embrace love. God is so faithful to expand our hearts to include new love without it standing in competition or comparison with the past. I marvel at how the great loves of my life can so peacefully co-exist independently within me.
Beauty from ashes...God is good.
