A Calling?

Proverbs 3:5  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight.”

People always ask me the same question, “Did you know Randy was going to be a minister when you married him?”  The answer is “yes” and “no”. I knew he was enrolling in seminary, but I didn’t think he’d stay long.

In 1968, Randy was a political science major with a minor in history at the University of Georgia.  I was there to get a degree in education.  Randy’s dream was to go to law school, and my dream was to teach children.  God had other plans for him.

We met on Lumpkin Street in Athens while I was walking (I had no car), and he was driving by in his mother’s Cutlass convertible.  Yes, I let him give me a ride.  No, I was not waving a twenty dollar bill!!  We didn’t date until four years later..God knew we weren’t ready for that!

If you know Randy longer than two minutes, you will correctly surmise that he is Type A, goal oriented, confident, ADD, a leader, direct, fair, quick tempered, and doesn’t read between the lines.  He has no idea where the lines are!  He’s an extrovert, was an all conference linebacker and center in football, highly involved and voted “most popular” in high school.  He still uses the most popular thing as a weapon every time I point out a flaw in his character!

Even though we weren’t ready early in our relationship to date and certainly not marry, God continued to place us in each other’s lives.  I dated out of Randy’s fraternity and was elected chapter sweetheart.  It was from this honorable position that I could watch with some amazement at the “loves and legends of Randy”.

Randy was the Sergeant at Arms of the fraternity which fit right in with his personality of never backing down from a fight. He was the life of every party, and he also had the reputation of handing out lavalieres to a different girl monthly.

I watched many girls Randy dated come and go through the years.  I was friends with each one, and I always hated to see them go. I double dated with lots of them!  I actually began to feel sorry for the one whom he would marry.  Who knew?

Randy and I did a lot of talking at different functions, and it was at this time that we began to develop a friendship.  Who would have guessed that Randy was dealing with God’s call into the ministry at this time?  No one, especially not me.  I don’t think either of us could have ever guessed that God was preparing us for a different calling – one we could never have imagined!  Everyone is “called” for something – we just need to figure out what that calling is for us!