God Will Make a Way....

The next couple weeks following this impasse were difficult emotionally for me.  I would give the situation over to the Lord, then take it back.  I felt like I was on an emotional roller coaster -- one moment resting in the Lord and trusting His provision, the next trying to figure how we could get married or what to do if Conroy didn't want to give up his 10-year plan.  Thankfully, God was merciful to me and didn't allow me to stay in turmoil for long!

One morning early in November, Conroy burst into the office where I worked as the college admissions administrative assistant. Excitedly, he pulled me into the back room where he could tell me his news in private.  The school had offered him a full-time job as recruiter for the admissions office.  He would get to travel, speaking in churches and high school chapels while representing the school.  The job lined up well with Conroy's strengths, and he could start in two weeks!  What a quick and exact answer to our prayers!  I wanted to say, "Now we can get married!" But Conroy hadn't said that, so I didn't want to jump ahead if he hadn't come to that same conclusion himself.

Though still a bit worried that Conroy hadn't/ wouldn't come around to wanting to get married in the near future, my heart was encouraged by this evidence of God's provision.  Deep in my bones, I felt certain that we could not, would not wait long to get married.  I tried to guess in my head -- this summer?  the following summer?  Surely not much longer than that, Lord!

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Sometime before this, we had volunteered to drive down to NYC to pick up a friend from the airport and drive her back to Binghamton.  The three-hour trip was a welcome time together.  Most of our days were filled with our full-time jobs, full-time grad school, and full-time RD responsibilities, making time alone together something that often got relegated to late-night runs at the only track in town with lighting.  Dating while working together in front of a campus full of students had its drawbacks, to be sure.  Despite those drawbacks, I'm grateful for the real world issues we had to learn to deal with even while dating.  We had no illusions that life would be too different in any future ministry scenario.

As we approached the George Washington bridge arching over the black waters of the Hudson, the lights of the city twinkled in the distance matching the overhead stars in the velvety dark sky.  Interrupting the momentary pause in conversation, Conroy dramatically announced, "I have a question to ask you."  My heart stuck in my throat --- how I hoped it was THE question!  "What do you think about us getting married this summer?"  he asked in an almost casual tone.  My mind exploded with a million thoughts -- how and when had he changed his mind?  And without any hint or warning to me! Of course, I wholeheartedly agreed once I found my voice.  At some point, I did ask Conroy what made him change his mind from his 10-year plan to 7 months from then. He replied simply, "I just thought how nice it would be for us to always be together instead having to go our separate ways at the end of the day."