A Dozen Years (Part 1/2)

Psalms 34:3 "O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together."

     A dozen years ago on February 28, 2003, I married Jason Mann. I haven't told many people the full story of our meeting and marriage when asked and have simply given just the main points briefly, but thought I'd share now for those who wish to hear. 

     I moved to Lee, MA with my grandparents when I was 19. My parents and I had moved to South Carolina and after a month of searching for affordable health insurance that would cover my diabetes with no results, I went back north to the state I had grown up in where I knew I would be able to be insured. My grandparents were faithful members of the Episcopalian church in town, so I set out to find my own church. I had been to church off and on all throughout my teenage years, but for some reason, finding my own church was important to me even though my previous attendance had been so sporadic. My family had often passed a Baptist church in Lee on our way to visit my grandparents, so the first Sunday of August after I moved in town, I went to Berkshire Hills Baptist Church. I was greeted cordially by the pastor and members and resolved to go back the following Sunday. That was August 11, 2002. The pastor's wife sat in front of me and I was in the back row. When service concluded, she turned to me and said, "I wasn't sure if you'd come back to church since there isn't any one your age here." I hadn't really thought of it. I only knew my first impression of the church was a good one, so I replied almost absently, "Oh really? There's no one?" 

     "Well," she replied, "there is my son. He's 22." At that moment, a red haired young man sat down next to me and introduced himself as Jason, the pastor's son. I hadn't recalled seeing him my first Sunday and found out later he had not been present then. Outside the church, we talked by my car for a while before parting ways.  I didn't give him my number, but he called me the next day. I had almost forgotten I had filled out a visitor card my first day at church.

     I was working the checkout lane at the local grocery store, and Jason came to my lane that week to purchase a single peach. Two weeks after we met, we went on our first date to Friendly's and bowling. Another time when I was at work, he came to my line and handed me a small tissue wrapped package. I started to unwrap it, and unwrap it some more, and then some more, finding nothing in its folds. I concluded he was playing a trick on me and gave it a quick fling to prove it was empty. At that moment, something hit the grocery packing table. I picked up the three pieces of a now broken glass rose! Oh, it was pretty, even in it's broken state. I kept the pieces of course, and nonetheless, Jason still asked me out on other dates. 

     My grandmother wanted me to go the the community college, so I enrolled in the nursing degree. I started school on a Tuesday and quit Thursday, knowing it was not what I wanted to do with my life. There was nothing in me that wanted to pursue that direction. I got a job as a teachers aide at a school for disabled children instead. Jason started working construction, helping build homes.

     Living in the Berkshires, we were surrounded by woods and hiking trails. On one of our dates, Jason and I took such a trail and nearly got lost in the woods. We were out of bottled water and Jason was getting very dehydrated and weary. It was during this moment, he told me his burden to serve God in any capacity He would have him serve and he wanted me to serve by his side. I hadn't been in church as long as he and really didn't have a clue what he was talking about, but I happily agreed and put all my effort in getting him out of the woods and back to strength as I was afraid he would pass out at any moment. Needless to say, we both lived to tell.    

     We were engaged by December. I had just climbed into bed one snowy night and heard a bang on my second-floor window. I peered out to see Jason standing down below in my grandparents driveway, forming a second snowball to throw to get my attention. When he saw me at the window, he beckoned me to come outside. I protested at first as I was in my pajamas, but at last I went downstairs and met him outside. We got into my car out of the cold, and there he produced a ring and asked if I would marry him. I didn't need to think about it for a moment!

     Jason's dad wanted us to go through premarital counseling with him and we met in his office. He asked us both questions, I think mainly to know where I was coming from as he already knew where his son was coming from. He asked if either of us had been engaged before. Jason said no, but I had to tell about my high school sweetheart. My junior and senior year of high school, I went to a Christian boarding school in New Hampshire. I didn't board as I lived close enough to commute. We had met my second year there. He was my age, but was a grade younger as health in his early years kept him from going into school when he ought to have. He lived in Chicago but boarded at the school. My parents absolutely loved him and even let me spend time with him on summer break at his parents house. He was the only boy they had ever approved of for me. Pressure kept me with him and engaged to him, but in my heart I knew he wasn't for me. I hadn't ever even officially broken it off with him at this time. 

     Another question Jason's dad asked was if I had ever been baptized. I had gone through the ritual of getting "baptized" as a baby, but knew that wasn't what he meant. I had been saved when a teenager, but not baptized. No one had explained that it followed salvation, so my future father-in-law baptized me the next Sunday. 

(To be continued...)