Miracle Monday – the perfect man

In high school, I wasn’t exactly the most popular girl at school. I was different than most girls. I had no interest in parties and drinking. I went to church every Sunday. I had kissed a couple of boys, but never had a boyfriend. There was this one guy who I had gotten to know a bit, and over time I developed this huge crush on him. He was so sweet. He was funny and smart. He had a gorgeous smile and the most beautiful dark green eyes. I had never seen eyes that color before. He was incredibly fit and took good care of himself. I never heard of him showing up at drinking parties, or getting high: bonus! Too many kids at my school spend their time drinking and smoking. It was sad and I didn’t want to be involved with those kids. To me, this was my perfect man. I wanted to get to know him better and I dreamed of someday being his girlfriend.

I grew up catholic. Every Sunday my family and I would go to church. The first thing we did when we entered our pew, was kneel and pray. I would usually say an Our Father and a Hail Mary. But then just before sitting down, I’d add one more small prayer. It would go something like “Dear God, I pray that you would give me a boyfriend. I’d like for him to have dark brown hair, dark green eyes. He needs to be smart and funny. Amen.” I never used his name. I only knew one guy with dark green eyes, so it was obvious who I was talking about.

Week after week, I would pray the same thing. I wanted God to help me figure out a way to connect with this guy. I REALLY wanted to be his girlfriend.

I prayed this prayer for a few months. Every single Sunday. We had more conversations in the locker room during recess, but never anything that gave me the impression he was interested in me as more than a friend. So I kept praying. I was too scared to ask him out for fear of rejection. So I kept praying. I needed God’s help with this.

Then something tragic happened. He quit school and was never seen again. What? That can’t be! To this day, I’ve never heard anything about him again since that last day I saw him at school. No idea why he left, where he went and what happened to him. I was devastated. I stopped praying that week.

God hadn’t heard my prayers. Or had he?

Two years later, while away at University, I started dating this guy named Steve. He was wonderful. We always laughed when we were together. We had so much fun. He was the smartest guy I had ever met. Like, outrageously smart! He had the cutest dimples. He made my heart melt. But for some reason it took me a few weeks before I finally noticed the color of his eyes. They were dark green. The same shade as my high school crush. The same shade I had never seen anywhere else. That’s when I started noticing all the little things about him that I had prayed God for. The dark brown hair, the dark green eyes, funny, smart. He cared for me, I cared for him. I started to question whether or not this was the guy God had intended for me. As weeks turned into months and months turned into years, this guy was definitely for me. We got engaged and married a few years later.

Steve and I have been married for almost 14 years now. I love him more now than I ever have. I believe God has chosen this man to enter my life so I would recognize him as a gift from my heavenly father. He heard my prayers. My simple and rather silly teenage girl prayers. The guy I was praying for at the time was never meant for me. He had other plans for my future. I recognized this man as my future husband once I noticed his eyes.

I try not to take my husband for granted. I fail sometimes, of course, as we all do at times. When I fail, I think about my prayers from twenty years ago. That little girl kneeling at church. I remember how God gave me the most amazing earthly gift: that of my husband. He came through for me in the most incredible way. I should never take for granted the gift that came directly from my Heavenly Father. I will cherish him for the rest of my years.

Thank you God for hearing silly girls’ prayers!