At 25, I wrote a list of 60 qualities that I wanted in a husband, including his height, school and favourite pastime. I submitted the list to God and asked Him to bring me the right person at the proper time.
Two years later, I attended a church-sponsored retreat at an island resort. Keen on making the right priorities, I told God that I want to be shielded from all distractions in the meantime. I'd just finished praying when this handsome fellow caught my eye during the sport fest. (So much for my desire not to be distracted!) I didn't believe in love at first sight until that time. It was his gentleness that caught my eye. I was hoping for common friends to introduce us but nobody did.
The last day of the retreat, my roommate and I came in late for the last session. We decided to sit at the back, when the speaker asked us to move in front. As we were walking to the front, someone else was walking alongside us. It was the same guy! We landed at the same time on the same table. It turned out that my roommate knew him from college so she introduced us. I learned that his name was Michael. That was the last time I saw him because he was based in another province.
Six months later, I saw Michael again in church. He had moved to the city. However, I learned that the reason he moved was because he was about to be engaged. Still smarting from that revelation, I came upon a passage in the book of Esther while reading the Bible on the morning of December 13. It basically said that the 13th day of the 12th month – the day of mourning – will become a day of celebration. I didn't know what it meant exactly, except that it was a message from God to me. I cheered myself up and went bowling.
I had all but forgotten this when two years later, on December 12, I was invited by friends to dinner. Michael was there and we were reintroduced. Dinner extended until the wee hours of December 13. We hit it off as friends. As our friendship grew, it felt weird to discover that he had all the qualities in my list! I also learned that he and his fiancée broke up when she went abroad the year before. I was startled when he casually mentioned that the girl flew on December 13 of that year.
After three years of solid friendship, Michael took me to his hometown and asked me to swim with him at sunset. While we were wading in the water, he laid down his intention to court me. A couple of months later, he took me to the island resort where we met. And there, at the session hall where we first sat together, he asked me to be his wife. We've been happily married for three years and now have a baby daughter.
Jennifer Y. Caspe-Cocuaco
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