By February of 1990, I had been a Christian for 3 ½ years. Becoming the woman God intended me to be was a great struggle. Abandoning the common at that point in my life was accomplished incrementally. I had stopped “going out” all together and was spending more time at home. Unfortunately, the boys were of an age that they were spending more and more time out with their friends.

That winter evening I sat alone and unsure of what to do next. I wasn’t going back to my old life but I didn’t know what my new life was supposed to look like. It wasn’t that the temptations were great, it was that I had no vision or hope for the future.  

So I prayed. “God, if I am supposed to be single, you are going to have to teach me how to do that in a way that honors you. If I am to be married, you are going to have to let me know who he is beyond a shadow of a doubt, because I’m not looking any more.”  

People have since told me how brave that prayer was, accepting singleness if that’s the way it was supposed to be. Bravery had nothing to do with it. I was lost and alone. Trusting in people had been a mistake. I simply had no where else to turn. So I turned to God. 

Over the next several months, I got a little more involved with my church, attending meetings and a couple outings. A couple of very nice guys had shown an interest in me, but I wasn’t interested in starting anything with anyone just then. Besides, God hadn’t clearly indicated that one of these guys was my guy. 

Work had taken a slightly different turn from the usual. Being in the Human Resources training department I had at least a limited familiarity of the employees. I had done their New Employee orientation, forklift, respirator, or safety training. The department head decided we needed a Newsletter, and that I would be the editor. As such, I was to choose an employee from each major area of the office and plant areas to contribute to the newsletter. I also needed someone from the Art Department to work with me on this project. Ron, the department manager suggested a guy named Ed. We met a couple of times in Ed’s office to discuss how we would proceed.  

We really knew nothing about each other. I had seen his picture in the local newspaper touting the praises of the fitness club, and God, who helped him in his successful efforts to become healthier. That’s nice, I thought. He seems like a nice guy. 

One day while I was working at my desk, I suddenly found myself looking out the window toward the employee parking lot. I saw Ed walking toward the entry door at the end of our department hallway. He really looked bad—his hair was messed up, his necktie was crooked. This just wasn’t his style. The next thing I knew I was standing in the hallway looking toward him.  

Every fiber of my being shuttered and I almost lost my footing. At that instant I heard the words thundering through my shaking body – This is him.  

Somehow I managed to make it two offices down the hall where he was talking to my co-worker, Beverly. I must have had a dumbfounded look on my face. I said, “Hi,” and walked away.

At that moment I knew what God had planned for me, and it was difficult backing down enough to allow God to have His way in Ed’s life.  

So, how does May enter into this story? Well, Ed and I had our first date on the first Friday in December, we were engaged on January 10, 1991, and were married (wait for it)… 

May 25, 1991…

The events that occurred between the day God revealed this plan to me and the first few months of this marriage is another story for another time.

Incidentally, May 25, 1991 was also the day the Pittsburgh Penguins won their first Stanley Cup, which made our day extra special. We missed all that celebration, but had one of our own in Virginia Beach. 

Now here we are, 25 years later, planning our Silver Wedding Anniversary, watching with baited breath the fight for another Penguins Stanley Cup.  

May. What a wonderful month it is in my memory!