Meant To Be

Several nights ago, I wrote about the wedding of Emily, one of my basketball players. The following is about the fascinating beginning for another couple. It is from June 6. 2010.

I remember years ago reading an article by famed sportswriter, Frank DeFord, ruing the coming of music videos. DeFord surmised everyone would tend to have the same memories of certain songs, based on what they saw on the screen. I think he was right even though I've never spent much time watching MTV or its derivatives. I liked it more when each was more likely to have interpretations of songs based on our own memories and associations. I admit I'm prejudiced towards music from a generation that wasn't called X. Most of us have favorite lines from songs, lines that make us wish we had penned those words. I am no fan of country music but I think there was one song out of Nashville with the best line ever. It was from Broken Lady by The Gatlin Brothers and this was the opening lyric:
''Her love was like a fortress around the man she would have died for...''
Those fourteen words just grab me and pull me into the song which, ironically, is about a failed marriage. To me, that line simply was the perfect beginning.

I read a story last week about another perfect beginning. A young couple from Pennsylvania will get married this coming Saturday, June 12. What is amazing is that they were born in the same hospital (St. Luke's in Fountain Hill) on the same day (April 17, 1986) AND their mothers were maternity ward roommates. The couple, Amy Singley and Steve Smith, were born with only five minutes separating their arrivals. They knew each other as children through church and had their first date at sixteen, a movie to which their folks acted as chauffeurs. Amy says people tell her they were destined to be together and she knew Steve was the one after only two dates. Steve took the poetic route; one year to the day after their first date, the soon-to-be-groom penned his future bride a sonnet which fittingly was entitled Destiny. It sure seems that way!

What a neat tale with a story line that goes back to birth. Amy and Steve sure seem to have their priorities straight and I wish them the best. We do know, however, that not all great beginnings have fairy tale endings. Love is a choice and a commitment. We have to realize, though, that sometimes the one we love does not reciprocate. In the Gatlin Brothers' song, the wife would have died for the man she loved but that alone did not keep them together. Most of us have someone we would die for; a child, spouse, maybe even a close friend. I liken the first line of Broken Lady to the love Jesus has for us. He was willing to die for us and His love is like a fortress around his brothers and sisters. But to have the perfect ending, we have to love Him back. Not everyone does and that love returns to the Savior like an unopened Christmas present. It wasn't enough just for Amy and Steve to be born on the same day in the same place. They had to love each other....and they do. Amy said yes to Steve and we must say yes to Jesus. We all need that personal fortress.

To watch and listen to The Gatlin Brothers sing Broken Lady, click or copy/paste the link below!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBlRD_FrqK4

To read a newspaper account of Amy and Steve's courtship, click here: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/easton/index.ssf/2010/05/star_struck_lovers_born_on_the.html 

Applicable quote of the day:
“Marriage is the alliance of two people, one of whom never remembers birthdays and the other never forgets them.”
Ogden Nash

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com