A Gust of Grace blew into my life in November of 2009.  On that Sunday I visited my old home church and saw someone I had known over 20 years ago.   Seven months later we were married.

At the time I had tried a number of Christian on-line dating services, seeking to fill the void after my wife of seventeen years died suddenly from a burst brain aneurysm.  I felt sure I would find someone, but all I found through online dating was disappointment.  The ones I liked through emails I didn’t care for in person.  In each case, we each found we had nothing in common and nothing to talk about.  Computers can’t really measure all the ingredients for a successful relationship.

Cindy, on the other hand, was someone I had known and respected many years ago, a woman of strong character and transparent faith.  Her father was someone I had always looked up to, a man who studied and lived his faith.  She had suffered a traumatic loss like I had.   One of the first topics we had in common was our grief.  That topic, however, soon gave way to laughter and adventure as we tried and then became comfortable in a relationship.  One of her jokes early on was making the sound of a crash as she said “that’s the sound of me falling off the pedestal you just put me on.”  I had just paid her a compliment she felt was out of proportion to what she had done.   We quickly admitted our imperfections and became willing to pray regularly for God’s help in our relationship.

This pleasant development showed me once again the value of relying on a power greater than myself for the things I need.  As hard as I tried to manipulate my way into a happy relationship, it wasn’t until I gave up and turned back to the familiar that I found my heart’s desire.