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Saturday, June 02, 2012

An Anniversary Story and the Sovereignty of God

In March of 1981, I was a new employee of the Dallas Times Herald newspaper. I sold advertising in the Classified Advertising Department.

As part of my training, they "tapped" the phones of experienced Classified Ad agents, so that I could listen in and hear the technique.

The first one I got to listen to had a voice that I fell in love with -- "love at first hear". Didn't know who it was, except they said her name was Michele.

A day or two later, on a break in the lunch room, I stood in line at the vending machine for a snack. In front of me was a beautiful girl with long black curled hair. After she got her snack out of the machine, she turned and smiled at me, and said, "Hi".

It was she. The voice.

That smile knocked me back with a rush of wind that blew me through the double doors and out into the street and up past the sky, surrounded by the stars in outer space, my head spinning, wondering where in the Galaxy I was.

Not really.

But something like that.

You'll have to believe me that I was not normally subject to such emotional mental breaks. I was a quite rational person, and had not been quick to make decisions regarding what the world calls love-life. I was, in fact, not looking for a wife, and who knows, might even have been content to remain a bachelor forever.

And that's why I am convinced that in the sovereignty of God, He moved me from Michigan...

...and moved Michele from Long Island, New York...

...to meet at a vending machine in a newspaper lunch room in Dallas, Texas.

The Lord put a love in my heart for Michele that I can only call "at first sight". But "at first sight" or not, I have since come to know her better and better, and that love has grown, as I've come to see more and more what an incredible person she is.

Smart, intuitive, caring, sensitive, soft, tough as nails, weak, powerful, and "completing" me in more ways than I can count.

We didn't stay in Dallas. Nice place, but it was just a rendevous point in Divine Destiny.

In 1984 we were married.

Twenty-eight years later, it's funny (and mysterious) how Michele to me is still that beautiful bride I watched come up the aisle.

And when she smiles, I'm back somewhere in the Milky Way, spinning around in the stars.

Some people think 28 years is a long time. Not me. It's a blink of an eye. I'm just grateful to God that I could spend this blink of an eye with Michele.

Happy Anniversary, Sweetheart.

8 comments:

Bino M. said...

Happy Anniversary, Terry & Michele!

Terry Rayburn said...

Thank you, Bino!

Terry Rayburn said...

Thanks, Phil!

Anonymous said...

I love coming to this blog. I learn so much from both you and Michele! That was a super sweet post Terry! Happy Anniversary!

P.S This is Wendell Mitchell's daughter Lisa. He told me about this blog and I'm so glad he did!

Terry Rayburn said...

Hi Lisa,

Really appreciate your comments. Say hi to your dad if you talk to him before I do :)

Erik Wells said...

Hey, congratulations to you. I love these inspiring stories, truly.

Terry Rayburn said...

Thanks much, Erik!

Michele Rayburn said...

Thanks sweetie. 28 years with you is like only 3 or 4. God has blessed me with the very best.

Your recounting of how we met choked me up all the way through. I was only a Christian for about a year, and all alone in Texas, so I prayed for someone just like you to come along...and it wasn't long before you did. And the rest is history...or as we often say, knowing the sovereignty of God in all things..the rest is His Story.

Because of you and the gift that God has given you to teach the Scriptures, I have come to know the Lord in a much deeper way than I would have ever imagined. And because of that, God has blessed me more than I would have ever hoped for, or thought possible.

It's been a blessed journey with you, and I pray that there are many more years ahead for us to enjoy this journey together.

All my love,
Michele