Our Love Story from Living In The Realm of the Miraculous

 

 

Kathleen’s story:

 

When I met Michael (Mike), it was a God-arranged appointment, because I wasn’t supposed to be there—I was supposed to be in college!

 

We met while I was attending my second semester at a college in Valley Forge. It was the end of March 1978, the week classes were suppose to start after Spring break. I may have never met him, had not the Lord arranged for me to be home during that cherished week of destiny. I was only nineteen years old at the time.

During Spring or Easter break, I was on tour with the school’s choir. Our schedule had been quite grueling, and who ever set up the itinerary made it so we would have to travel during the night to make it to many of our next destinations.

Because of the excessive traveling, we did not sleep very well. Many of the choir members lost their voices, and I was one of them! However, when it would come to the time of my solos, the anointing of God would take over and I would miraculously be able to sing.

 

At the end of the tour, I was both exhausted and totally without a voice. School classes were scheduled to begin the following Tuesday, but I really wanted to go home and rest.

 

Seeking the dean of women’s permission to go home and miss four days of classes was not going to be an easy task. Nonetheless, I was willing to try. When I entered the dean’s office, I could tell that she had already had a bad day. She could tell that I had very little voice left, as I tried to squeak a whisper of my request to skip a few days of classes and go home to rest.

Perhaps, my squeaking only irritated her frayed nerves, but she let me have it! In her tirade, she told me in no certain terms that all we students were alike, and I could not go home!

 

Instead of getting angry, I felt compassion for her, and gave her a big hug. I told her that it was alright. I told her that I knew she was having a bad day, and prayed that the rest of her day would go better. I thanked her for her time, and let myself out of the room.

 

Not much later, my den mother came to me and asked what I had done to the dean of women! My den mother said that she had gone to see the dean of women shortly after I left, found the dean of women sitting in her chair, with her mouth open, and tears running down her face.

 

My den mother told me that all she could get out of the dean was, “I just chewed that girl up one side and down the other, and she came over, gave me a hug, thanked me, and wished me a good day!”

 

My act of kindness did not go unrewarded, because, apparently after the dean regained her composure, she determined to find me and talk to me privately. When I saw the dean coming, she called out to me. I wasn’t sure what to expect when she grabbed my arm and drew me close to her. She whispered in my ear, “I am not even sure that I am allowed to do this, and I might get in trouble, so tell no one. You may go home for a few days.” I gave her another big hug and thanked her. I was going home!

 

When I arrived home, little did I know that God was at work to bring Mike, my future husband, and I together.

 

The first day home I slept all day, but the next day my mother and I ended up in Mount Union to go shopping. Before we left the house, I decided that I didn’t want to be bothered. I put my hair down around my face, put my glasses on, and dressed in a knit polyester pant suit. I certainly was not dressed to attract any male attention!

 

As God would have it, before we went grocery shopping, we passed by an old theatre called the Mount Union Christian Center. There was a young man on a ladder, putting “Jesus the Ultimate Trip” on the marquis. My voice had miraculously recovered, and I said, “Praise the Lord, Brother!” and he responded “Praise the Lord, Sister!”

 

This afro-haired young man, was cute and on fire for God! We spoke together for a little while about the goodness of God and of how the Lord had saved and touched lives during my choir tour. Michael spoke of God’s goodness and wonders, too.

 

I liked Mike from the start, and was hoping to meet again before I returned to school. Little did I know that I would see him again that night and have lunch with him the next day.

 

I have to add here: After meeting Mike at the theater/Christian center, a young girl came running into the grocery store to find me. She was insistent on telling me that Mike really, really, liked me and asked if I liked him. She must have seen Mike walking the back of the theater chairs shouting, “She’s the one! She’s the one!” I told her that I barely knew him, how could I tell if I liked him? Sure, he was nice, but I had not fallen for him—not yet!

 

However, she did spark a little more interest in me. So, that night, my mother, sister, and I came back to the center. Only this time I was dressed, perfumed, and ready for a little male attention— well one male’s attention.

 

My mom was dating a man from the center, so I asked him to ask Mike if he’d like to go out with us, meaning my mom, my future stepfather, and me. I was delighted when he accepted. This young man was beginning to win my heart.

 

Before I went back to college, Mike handed me a Laurel blossom; which I kept for years pressed within my college year book. The flower reminded me of the blossom of love that was beginning to bloom in my heart for this man of God.

 

Michael won my heart because he loved God. Our conversations were always centered on Jesus and God’s Word. Had Michael been a forward person, I would have dropped interest in him immediately. I loved the Lord and only desired to serve Him. A man with any other desire would have turned me off instantly.