Day 3 – Three Quotes in Three Days – Challenge

So third day of this quote challenge… man… glad it is over.   Is it strange that I have struggled with this so much?…   This will be my most personal quote and the one that I have been the most hesitant to share…

Before I do I want to thank again (for the last time) the person that nominated me.   I admire the way this person lifts up others with her words and I recommend anyone reading this to please go visit her blog… (for proof… just read her wonderful comments on quote 1 or quote 2)

Trulyunplugged

One of human-kind’s biggest fans.

One more thing before I begin… I will be offering a quote that belongs to my faith.  I do this with hesitance… I want to share this in a way that does not offend.   My beliefs are very personal and I only apply those beliefs to myself. I  want to be very careful and respectful of others and their spirituality, beliefs (or non belief), and religions…

About 17 years ago, I was a single father with a wonderful 8 year old daughter (Hanna).  Single is not a great word for my situation since I found it impossible to be both a good father and  date… go out… you know single guy things.   I earnestly wanted to be married… and I just couldn’t meet that special person (often my friends said… meet someone foolish enough to marry me.).   I would pray every night to meet someone and Hanna included me in her prayers… (she also said she would marry me when she got “older” if I couldn’t find anyone).  Don’t get me wrong I was “trying” to date… and actually interesting in a flight attendant.

I work as a software engineer and at that time I was working for a consulting company.  My company sent me to work at my church’s administration headquarters (don’t worry I am getting to the quote)…   I worked on the 20th floor and I saw the quote posted in the elevator.

Here it is:

Quote Three

There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—

And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.

This is another phrase that I could not get out of my mind.  I want to try to explain how I read this and what it meant to me.   I was praying to meet someone and have a “temple marriage”.  This is very important in my faith… and well at the time I wasn’t “worthy” to visit the temple.   I had it in my mind that when I met the “right” person I would straighten up and get my recommendation for the temple… (members that want to visit the temple must have a recommendation from their bishop)

I realized that I was praying for something that I was not ready or worthy to have.  I decided at that moment that I would prepare myself for that wonderful person and be “worthy” of her.   I finally got the “temple recommend”.   Interesting enough I visited the temple with the flight attendant who was very happy for me… and who soon afterwards pushed me aside…

So… while being newly dumped and kind of discouraged… I received a call from friends that knew of a “French” girl who was visiting a local University.  They wanted to set me up… I didn’t have much hope but I thought I could at least brush up on my french. This “French” girl was Isabelle (my wife)… and we went out 16 years ago in October (not this day but… around this day… don’t tell Isabelle I can’t remember the day we met)

I found out that besides that fact that I speak french she only agreed to go out with me because I had a “temple recommend”… (she had some bad experiences on some previous “blind dates” with Americans…).  How wonderfully fortunate that I read that sign and acted…

I was also fortunate in that she was “foreign” and didn’t recognize my odd personality… I often excused my weird behavior by saying…”all American guys are like this…”.  To make this long post shorter… I will cut to the point… We got married about 6 months later… as you can see in the pictures I have posted.

Isabelle….  She is my wonderful blessing… She is the answer to all of my prayers…  and now my prayers have changed to thanksgiving for her.

I hope this was not to personal…