“Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God.” ~ 1 Corinthians 2:12
Preview of "An Almighty God"
Aha! There you are. Did you come by to preview An Almighty God? Get Serious! If you've already looked inside the eBook online, you were able to see all the book's front matter (copyright page, endorsements, dedication, acknowledgments, table of contents, and the like) plus, I think, the first four chapters.
Hopefully, your interest is piqued a bit, and you can enjoy going deeper in, for another sneak peek.... Chapter 21 isn't available to see in advance of the book's release on Amazon or Barnes and Noble online, but it is here!
Lori and her out of the ordinary husband, HerbChapter 21...What If Your Husband Is Far from Normal? [Adoring and Daring]
If you spend any time with Lori, it won’t be long before you’ll hear something about Herb’s wonderfulness.
Usually, it’s in the context of something he did recently to help her. Lori spends much of her time these days in her powerchair, overcoming ever-present challenges for her physical limitations.
Who of us (here on earth) knew, 29 years ago, when Herb said, “I promise to protect,” that the “probable MS” diagnosis Lori received in her twenties would become “exacerbating-remitting multiple sclerosis” in her thirties, and then, within another ten years, would develop into “secondary progressive multiple sclerosis” (SPMS)? Herb certainly didn’t know.
Yet, he exemplifies the husband who loves his wife “just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.”249 Anything Lori needs (and just about everything she just wants, too), Herb will do, give, or get for her. He serves as Lori’s hands and feet, providing care and support for her at every level. He loves God first, and God enables him to love Lori like he should.
He’s one of God’s visual aids to this world. His example shows us what the New Testament marriage lesson looks like in action. Isn’t his heart beautiful? Some cultures would “admire” his feet, for all the work they do to present that liberating message. To quote God’s Word: How beautiful are th e feet of messengers who bring good news!250 Lori just thinks he’s beautiful, period.
“He’s so cute! I can’t help it, he’s just sooooo cute.” (These words still roll off her tongue as easily and frequently today as they did 29 years ago. And what’s more, she still means them.) Lori would think Herb hung the moon if she didn’t already know that the feat had been The Almighty’s doing. She’s well-acquainted with The Almighty’s accomplishments, though. Of course she is. Look at what He’s brought her through already.
The LORD is her first love, as well, and He’s why she can accept her diagnosis and her need for Herb’s assistance. She sometimes says, “God is so good. He knew 29 years ago where we’d be, and He has provided us with everything we need.”
Another thought she frequently expresses is, “I’ve been so blessed. I wish other people could feel the joy I feel. I always ask God to turn my mess into a message.”
I know enough regarding her story to fill another book, but a brief overview might be best for now! Lori has a tender heart. Like with all of us, her heart can be other things, too. Stubborn. Fearful. Selfish. Fickle. (Stay with me, LOL! If you’ll remember, I grouped us all together in this.) So, she’s not perfect. Not yet. But, through faith, she’s moving in that direction. The one thing her heart is, ALWAYS? Thankful.
Anyway, as a social worker, she worked closely alongside other professionals in several multi-bed nursing homes, where just about every one of her colleagues found her other-worldly sense of decorum to be amusing. She didn’t swear or use foul language, and…was she really waiting until she was married!? This was great joke material!
As a matter of fact, these were terrific talking points during the variable lulls throughout the day. It wasn’t especially fun to listen to the curious questions and sometimes less-than-modest comments. The latter were intended, of course, simply to get a reaction from their wellliked coworker.
Everyone knew this open-book colleague would not respond moodily to their mischief, but that rather, they could anticipate that delightful look of total disbelief on her face. And that was just too good to pass up – which ensured that gently delivered “teasing” happened regularly. She was good-natured, and these were her friends, so on it went.
From time to time, someone in the facility would know of someone who would be a great match for Lori, and she would be encouraged to give a blind date the old college try. Until one day, Lori fell in love.
When I say “one day” she fell in love, I mean, in reality, several days. Okay, there were several weeks there, while she and Herb went through the focused, relationship-building process of getting to know each other, but it’s quite possibly the case, that the actual falling in love happened – for each of them – within a week or two.
How do I know? I was there (so to speak), from The Introduction on day one, to The Marriage Proposal on day 77. As a matter of fact, it was I who concluded from Herb’s dependable correspondence, filled with regular references to personal minutiae (like his son’s tarantula, Spidey), that these steady communications were, undeniably, love letters. Before she was convinced of that, my modest, single friend had merely been thrilled that he took the time to write her!
Lori returned his letters, and inevitably, it turned into a regular correspondence through which they opened up their lives to each other, without the faltering speech and awkward body language that can so easily get in the way of people’s impressions of each other. In time, though, I stopped being invited to read the letters!
Darlene and Lori leaf peepin" in admiration of New England and its Fall (5+ years "before Herb"It was September 2nd that they met, still in the beginning stages of the Fall season. Besides the crisp air and brilliant New England foliage, I don’t know which has contributed more to her fondness of the season… the local fairs, the farmers markets, the luring charm of bright pumpkins, the dried corn stalks, the colorful mums in neighborhood-yards, …or just what, but I do know that Fall has been Lori’s favorite time of the year ever since before I met her.
Even before the hugely celebrated Pumpkin Spice Latte appeared on the scene, it was Lori’s practice to bundle up in a cable knit turtleneck, grab a cup of coffee, and take a drive with her closest friends, through the northwest hills of New England – to scope out the changing leaves on Route 63, or 7, or another rural road. Lori’s leaf-peeping tours usually combined driving along scenic foliage routes with trips to Mystic Seaport… Gillette Castle… Boston’s famed Freedom Trail… the Essex Steam Train… Plimoth Plantation….
In fact, my own “nutmeggarhood” very likely found its naissance in some of those day trips. I have Lori to thank; she never neglected to admire the glory of New England and its Fall.
So when you learn of her providential, Fall-time romance, you’ll understand how it was an absolute blessing in so many ways....