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An Unlikely Photo
A double-sided picture frame on my bookshelf reminded me to pray. Mary's picture was on one side, but the slot on the other side remained empty. Throughout my daughter's life, I asked God to give her a loving and faithful husband. Someday I hoped to insert her future husband's picture next to hers.
Before Mary's birth, I met Priscilla, her husband, and baby Mason at the base chapel. Priscilla and I became fast friends. She coached me through my pregnancy and gave helpful tips on being a first-time mom.
I cuddled Mason, who became my practice baby. I learned to change his diaper, give him a bath, and clean his ears. His clear blue eyes like the Caribbean Sea captivated me.
Coming home with our own newborn, as Mary's brand new parents, we had no idea what lay ahead of us. Peering into her baby Moses basket, I thanked God for the miracle of life that lay asleep before me—so beautiful.
The years quickly passed. Somehow we survived the first pimple, shaving legs, ear piercing, braces, driver's training, and prom night. Though raising Mary was like raising a fire cracker, she filled my heart with joy and delight.
When Mary turned sixteen following several cross country moves, we revisited her birthplace and stayed with my dear friend Priscilla. I teased her “baby Mason,” now tall and handsome, about learning to change his diapers. We enjoyed a great visit getting reacquainted.
Then overnight during her college years, our daughter's attitude changed. She rebelled. She simply announced, “I'm an adult,” and began refusing our advice. She had been caught in the deceptive cross-current of a deadly rip tide that threatened to drag her farther and farther out to sea.
Feeling helpless, I asked God to recapture her heart. While I agonized over her choices, my husband, Leon, reminded me, “Faith that isn't tested isn't faith.” Only prayer carried me through the turbulence.
A couple of years later on my birthday a month before Mary turned 21, she came home crying. She asked for our forgiveness. Fed up with her choices, she half-jokingly asked her dad to arrange a marriage for her. In that strategic moment, she surrendered.
Leon, Mary, and I prayed. We thanked God for answering prayer, softening our daughter's heart, and renewing her commitment to Jesus. We also asked Him for guidance. And Leon, at Mary's request, decided to write an old friend and see if he had any interest in connecting their son with our daughter.
Meanwhile, our friend's son, completely unaware of Leon's letter in the mail, started emailing Mary. The letter from her father and the email crossed paths. The emails continued for two months until the young man spontaneously bought an airline ticket to come and see her. Excitement filled our home.
The successful visit kicked off a series of monthly visits back and forth. Finally, the young man asked Mary's father for permission to marry her. Leon came home from work early to tell me the news. The whole family cheered and danced.
On their next visit, the young man picked Mary up from the airport and took her to a romantic Italian restaurant in the historic area of Alexandria, Virginia. As they walked to the restaurant in the pouring rain, he suddenly knelt down on one knee. “Mary, will you marry me?”
“Yes!”
He picked her up, umbrella and all, and twirled her around, like a scene in an old movie.
In the double-sided frame, I added the photo of Mary's new husband and presented it to him as a wedding gift. He was none other than...the now grown-up Mason.
“Ask of me....”Psalm 2:8 (NIV)
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society.
Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.
