"No place like heaven" Digital Art ©2009-2011 ~riamali
It didn’t take long for the Most High King to recognize that one of his adopted sons, a prince whom he spent a lot of time with and knew very well, was a perfect match for his adopted daughter, the quiet princess. The Most High King was filled with excitement at the prospect of these two beloved children coming together and he began to set into motion a plan to unite them…
Photo of me taken around the time we met.
It was late in the autumn of 1997 when I first met Nathan. I happened to sit in on a small group lesson he was teaching at the college age ministry I was visiting. He was incredibly good looking and charming; unquestionably every bit the handsome prince. I was inspired by what he was teaching, a lesson on prayer. He taught with excitement and humble authority which made him fun to listen to. The class ended and we both went on our ways.
Several weeks later my step-dad was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. I was certain that God was planning to work a miracle, so I started asking everyone to pray. In January I was given permission to speak for a few minutes at the college age meeting and share what was happening in my family. I took the opportunity to ask for prayer in specific areas as God had directed me. Somehow in speaking to the group in this way I had unwittingly captured Nathan’s attention.
Nathan spent the next several weeks undoing my favorable first impression of him, he became less charming to me with each moment we spent together.
He started by inserting himself into every conversation I was having by talking directly to the person I was trying to talk to whilst completely ignoring me. (When we reminisce he insists that he was trying to be non-confrontational by speaking to the person I was speaking to instead of to me directly and that he thought I would continue in the conversation. He didn’t realize that I was shy and that I would clam up instead, something that only proved to intrigue him more.)
When that didn’t have the desired effect he started talking to me directly, but mostly to chastise me for being in a dating relationship with someone who was not a Christian. True, he did get me talking, but the conversations were less than pleasant.
Nate is the one on the far left.
Next he started asking me out for just a little get together with him and 3 or 4 of his other friends, all of whom were other girls. I imagined that he was hoping I was going to become part of his harem, he was quite popular with the girls in the college ministry, several of them always vying for his attention. I was not interested in becoming one of them and the word no had never come so easily from my lips. (His explanation is that he was trying to help me make friends. He thought that if he asked me out in a group setting I wouldn’t view it as a date and could then say “Yes” even though I had a boyfriend, which would give him the opportunity to get to know me better with no strings).
By this point Nathan had made himself a major irritation. I actually remember sitting in my car in the parking lot before the service would start pleading with God to help me avoid speaking or even seeing Nathan.
And so the Most High King did intervene on behalf of the quiet princess, though not the way she had requested…
Part 3 of the Story: {taking chances}
Return to: {the fairy tale beginning}
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