I took this man to be my lawfully wedded husband nearly two years ago.

This man, who recently spent three days helping at a Christian Writers Conference I’d agreed to lead just three weeks before we met. God went before me, knowing I would need Nick’s business sense and cooking skills just as much as I needed the support of a faith-filled partner.

The moment we make the decision to follow Jesus, we become new creations and God can do his restorative work in us. He had a lot of work to do in me in the ten years before I met Nick. Widowed in 2012, I began an odyssey of faith that would lead me to a personal relationship with God. I grew stronger in faith, reading the Bible and devotionals, doing bible studies, and spending contemplative time praying and journaling.

Jeremiah 29:13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

I did, indeed, find Him. By 2018, I’d learned to listen to the Holy Spirit, trusting God to guide me in every aspect of my life, including the decision to sell half my possessions to move an hour away from my adult children, grandchildren and a Bible study group that had become like family to me. I left my comfort zone and biggest support system for a job at a spirituality center. Loneliness exacerbated by the move, I turned to God all the more, which was why I knew to listen when He asked me to pray for my “future husband.” Not pray FOR a future husband, mind you, but for a specific man God had already chosen.

The woman I’d become knew to obey the command to pray for a man I did not yet know (and didn’t quite dare trust existed) who evidently was going through something that prompted an urgent request from above.

Three years later, in July 2021, I met Nick at a time in his life he was seeking his own personal relationship with God. By the beginning of our second date, I already had strong feelings for him. We’d spent the better part of two hours getting to know each other with complete ease, sharing thoughts we’d never shared with anyone else. That his wife had died shortly before my 2018 prayer did not escape me. The first time we held hands was in the prayer time we shared at the beginning of our second meeting. By the end of that nine-hour date, I was certain Nick was the man God had asked me to pray for. For the first time in three years, I uncovered the prayer in my journal and read it to Nick.

“Do you think that man was me?” he asked, in awe of the idea of a God that cared so much about him he would ask a stranger to pray for him.

Knowing God had brought us together and was in our relationship from the beginning made it easy to say “yes” to each other just six weeks later.

I’d always wondered what Nick was feeling or experiencing when the urgent request “Pray for him,” came to me. He wondered too. There was no way to know. He didn’t keep a journal like I did and had no memory of anything unusual going on in late July 2018, outside of the usual grieving one does in the months following a spouse’s death.

That we become a new person when we begin following Jesus Christ has been radically demonstrated in my life. The pre-Jesus Mary wouldn’t have known how to listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit any more than she would have trusted God’s promise of love.

Shortly before coordinating the writer’s conference, Nick and I were scheduled to speak at church on what it means to have a praying partnership. Pre-Jesus Nick might not have imagined participating in either of these events but seemed confident God would equip him for the call of speaking publicly on faith. At least, until the day before the scheduled talk, when he admitted to some doubt.

“Lord,” I prayed the next morning before Nick woke up. “I know Nick can do this. I know you have prepared him for this, that you want us to share our story. Allow me to help strengthen his faith. Show me how to help him.” Knowing exactly what would increase Nick’s comfort level, I dared to add “And please, Lord, let Nick have a chance to demonstrate his sense of humor.“

Look in his VA records. I wasn’t sure I understood the directive. I had access to his doctor’s records through the VA, but I’d never thought to dig through what amounted to thousands of pages of medical data.

Look in his VA records for the date when I asked you to pray for him.

It took a while to find records from late July 2018, but there it was, doctor’s notes from a visit to the emergency room. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I realized that the very day God had asked me to pray for my future husband, Nick had ended up in the ER in excruciating pain, having tripped and fallen. Experiencing physical pain on top of emotional pain, I knew Nick must have been in a very dark place when I was prompted to pray for him. When I told Nick what I’d discovered, all his doubts disappeared.

Our presentation was flawless, our natural rapport evident to the group of couples present. I was slightly disappointed that the serious topic of prayer didn’t really allow for Nick’s natural humor to shine as I’d prayed for. Then someone asked a question.

I picked up the microphone again, not realizing Nick had already turned it off. I began talking before the realization hit me.

“You turned me off,” I said.

“If only it were that easy,” he quipped. The room erupted in laughter.

Thank you, God, for the gift of Nick and a marriage centered on You. Thank you for answering prayers in your unique and wondrous ways.