Friday, February 12, 2010

Valentine's Day "Story Time"...


Photos above are of Bill and I in a younger day. 
 
Well, Dear Ones, Valentine's Day is fast approaching and every year I look back 22 years ago at that moment when the Lord moved in my life to lead me to Bill.

I wanted to share our first meeting and would LOVE to hear about YOURS!!! Perhaps the first, "Love At First Site" meeting you had, or the "First Kiss"...whatever comes to mind that brings that passionate flutter to your chest and makes you say, "I'd marry him all over again!"

My story begins in August of 1986.
I was 19 and Bill was 26...yes, yes, he robbed the cradle, I KNOW!
It was Steppin' Out weekend in Blacksburg, VA and I was backed up to the brick wall outside
of Gillie's Restraunt on College Ave. The streets were filled with all walks of life and "THE BAND" was playing on the middle stage ahead of me.

My senior year student Government teacher, Steve Helm, had asked me at the close of the school year to come see his band play at Steppin' Out in August.

As I listened to the alternative rock band playing instrumental I didn't recognize anyone on stage, but my friend, Steve. Then...out of the crowd, this long blonde haired man, in ripped jeans and cut off t-shirt jumps up on stage, grabs the microphone and starts YELLING!!!

They were playing, "A Sort of Homecoming" by U2 and OH MY GOODNESS...did this guy have a VOICE!!! I just stood paralyzed as I hung on every lilting note that came out of his mouth!

The next year, in March, I came home from college. I saw posters around town of "The Bruise" opening with Bill McCarthy!

My best friend and I went to see him at The Cellar in Blacksburg and that night, that was the night Jesus used this man...my future husband, to bring me to His throne again!

After he sang, he shared a prose, as he sat in his romantic way upon the stool,
guitar at his side...he opened with the words.. "Every day I come to the edge of My mountain, to the point of nearly falling off, and I call to you..."

He went on to share a story of our Hound of Heaven...Jesus...who does not give up on us and pursues us...always.

I could not stop crying! I went out into the night and as I looked up at the moon that night I shared with my God, " I miss you."

After that Bill heard that I was touched by his opening at The Cellar and he looked at me the next day, over the ice cream case at Gillies' where he worked, and said, " So, I hear you want to talk to me." = )

We ended up having lunch on the grass hill across from Gillie's and he shared with me that Jesus was a person, and that I could have a personal relationship with Him.

We ended up becoming the very best of friends, he moved to Nashville to get into the music business, I followed him there, and then he popped the question.

We've been married since October 8, 1988
and his voice still turns me to butter. = )

Now..get those memories pumped and send on your stories...share your own stories on your blog WITH PHOTOS and let's fully engage in this LOVE Holiday!

7 comments:

Prudence said...

My hubby and I met, when I was working at a gas station, he would come in to buy a diet pepsi and big red gum. long story short, we were dating for about 2 weeks and he invited me on a business trip to vegas with him. I said oh I can't travel with you, were not married! So he said well lets get married then! Two weeks later we did. and then went on that business/honeymoon trip to vegas. and here we are 17 years and 5 kids later :)

Unknown said...

Cool story! My husband and I have been together for 22 years as well - married 21 years last December. My husband is a musician too. My husband is 5 years older than me - not quite 7 but hey, close. :)

So the long haired blonde that hopped up on stage was Bill - your hubby? I didn't quite understand that part. (My hubby had long hair and was a lead guitar player in a band when I met him).

How neat that your sweetie led you to the Lord. Yes, very cool story. Thanks for sharing!
Lynnette

Cheryl said...

HOW FUN! I love your stories, ladies! Sorry about the confusion there...YES, Mr. Blonde Haired man was Bill...blonde with a good scruff goin' on his cheeks. = )

Lynette, amazing similarities...don't you just love the warmth and coziness of having known your husband for 21 years? Just that deep settled love.

Thanks for sharing, ladies!

Anonymous said...

Cheryl
I was actually going to post a little about Brian tomorrow, not really our LOVE story...but maybe now I will.
I could never pin down the moment I met him though...we were toddlers.We went to grade school, jr high and senior high school together.
He went away to OSU, I had a baby.He dropped out of college, moved home, we dated for 4 weeks, go engaged, he went away for Basic Training, we got married.The end.Or rather...the beginning.That was almost 12 years ago.
Your story is so cute and romantic!

Cheryl said...

Kathi, how fun! = ) I would love to know what it would be like to have "grown up" with Bill. You have such a sweet family!

Thank you so much for sharing!

Looking forward to new posts from all you gals!

momstheword said...

What a sweet story and how wonderful to have had your future husband share his faith like that and introduce you to the Lord!

My husband's walk with the Lord is part of what drew me to him.

Thank you for joining last week's meme and it's up again today. Unfortunately, I could not find the post that you linked to last week.

There is a link to the instructions on the meme itself, but basically you will want to link to your post page, not your main blog. That way people can find it, no matter what day they view it.

Also, you will want to include the words "Making Your Home Sing Monday" in your post, and put a courtesy link back to my blog.

I hope you'll join us again!

~ Nan

Ginger said...

It's amazing to see the different ways God brings us around to the person we marry....totally in line with our character AND His....really neat.

Chris and I met during Seminary at a really big local bookstore in Lexington, KY that had live music on the weekends. We were both on dates with other people. My date introduced us and we made small talk for about 5 minutes. All that night, I kept catching him looking my way...probably because I was looking HIS way! I bumped into him a few times after that on campus and eventually found a note under the wiper blade of my car. A couple of weeks later, he called and invited me to a school holiday event. The rest is history!

Funny aside.....about 2 months prior, my roomate and I were flipping through the new campus pictoral directory and I told her, based on looks alone, that if I could date anyone on campus, I'd want to date that C. Dempsey guy.