Category: Advent 2022 – Love Story

Thank you for sacrificing a small portion of your days during Advent to join me here to learn more of “God’s Love Story.”

Thus far, the road for my father and mother had unfolded smoothly. But love also demands sacrifice as you will see in this next letter that Dad wrote to his parents. My mother came to the conclusion that she should give up her graduate studies in Cambridge where she was doing research to determine which component of human blood mosquitoes needed in order to reproduce. My father and his parents tried to encourage her to continue her doctoral program in biology, but to no avail.

March 12, 1941…continued: “As for Joan’s plans for next year – she seems to want to not go on with her studying…she says she doesn’t want to feed mosquitoes all her life and she would rather darn my socks!”

Engagement was a major change for both of them, but for my mother it also involved a sacrifice of her educational goals and plans. Getting to know God may involve sacrificing our intentions, only to discover huge joy in submitting to His greater plan. Before I married, I worked with Wycliffe Bible Translators in Mexico. I could not imagine giving up that work to marry. However, God convinced me that He had different ideas for my future. There was a cost – letting go of my plan – but what I received in return was so much more than anything I could have imagined.

Romans 12:1 tells us, “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies [and plans!] to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.”

Never be afraid to let go of your plans if God is pointing you in a new direction.

“God’s Love Story” has never ended, so read on for the next installment in our Advent series!

At the time when my parents were engaged, it was traditional to have formal embossed engagement announcements printed up, followed later by a second set of formal wedding invitations. And just as engraved wedding invitations can be costly, these initial engagement announcements were not inexpensive. My mother placed an order…and then canceled it. She explained that the custom was an unnecessary expense during a time of war when so many people, including her own parents in Ireland, struggled simply to put food on the table. Refugees flooded out of Germany with no clothes except what was on their back. Sending engagement announcements seemed like an unnecessary expense.

March 12, 1941…in one of his letters home, my dad quoted my mother. She said, “Your father, in his book, puts it so well when he says about money, ‘It belongs to God, who expects us to use it in accordance with his will and purpose, and not to be wasted.’”

My father fell in love with a beautiful woman, but he also was discovering through her actions that she was practical and careful with money. She was also revealing her heart for pleasing God. As Dad spent more and more time with his fiancée, he was learning to appreciate new aspects of his future wife.

Just as my father got to know my mother by writing letters back and forth throughout their engagement, the Lord also has written a set of love letters so that we can know Him in deeper ways. I was initially attracted to Christ by His love but later, as I studied His Word, He taught me more and more about His grace and forgiveness and patience. Jeremiah 33:3 tells us, “Call to me and I will answer you and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” As we seek Him, the Lord will reveal more and more of Himself to us.

Reread Psalm 23 today and focus on what God’s actions in those verses reveal of His character.

We are already halfway through Advent! My father’s excitement about his engagement continues to rise!

March 12, 1941… “Does Uncle Jim say that I touch ground every fourth step? Well, that is about the way I feel at the thought of seeing Joan tomorrow evening, and the hours can’t go by fast enough… We want to go to Tiffany’s about the ring, but aside from that we haven’t any plans, and as Mary [Dad’s sister] says, we just want to be quiet and alone if that is possible anywhere in New York – perhaps Uncle Jim and Aunt Vera will let us use their library.”

For my father and mother, the hours couldn’t go fast enough until they could spend more time together. It didn’t matter where they were as long as they could be in the same room. They looked forward to talking to each other, listening to the other person’s voice, simply getting to know each other more and more each day.

Is that the way you feel about spending time with the Lord? You and I don’t have to wait until a train arrives at Grand Central Station as my father did. We don’t have to worry if a plane’s arrival is delayed until the middle of the night or canceled until the next day. We can reach out anywhere, at any hour of any day, and sit in the presence of the One who loves us more than anyone else.

Psalm 139:1-6 tells us, “O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!”

The Lord already knows everything about us. But do you know everything about Him? Why not find a quiet place and listen to His voice as He whispers in your ear?

Sometimes I wish I could watch your faces as you read these brief words each day during Advent, but you readers are all spread out across the country and even around the world. Let’s reveal the next episode in “God’s Love Story.”

You may remember that my mother was from Ireland. She came over to the United States on a speaking tour but when the tour was done, she found it difficult to return to her family in Dublin due to the dangers of U-boats in the north Atlantic. The Irish embassy encouraged her to find a job – any job – in this country until the stress of the war calmed down. She met my father that year.

March 3, 1941…continued: My father wrote, “[Joan] would like to go back to Ireland to be with her family awhile and get things ready [for the wedding], but she’s afraid if she goes back, there is danger that she may not be able to get away again, not to mention the danger of bombers and submarines…As you can imagine, this has been most disrupting to my work…”

My parents didn’t want to risk being apart. They wanted no European war to prevent them from being with the person they loved, nothing to separate them like the Atlantic ocean. Even the possibility that they would be apart made it hard for Dad to focus on his studies.

Remember St. Paul’s words in Rom. 8:38-39. Paul assured the believers in Rome that “neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, no height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, nothing shall ever be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” No wars, no U-boats, no bombs…nothing can separate us from God’s love.

What problems lie ahead of you today? No difficulty you face will ever be able to come between you and the God who loves you!

Have you made travel plans for the holidays? Thanks to the Internet, you can still keep up with our Advent celebration of “God’s Love Story.”

Remember that my father and mother became engaged after only two dates and less than three weeks from the time they met. I think almost any of us might have had second thoughts, right?

March 3, 1941… “I’m so happy that you [Father and Mother] love Joan so much, and your letters to her were such a comfort. I called her up last evening and she spoke [of the letters] immediately. I felt the emotional and nervous strain immediately [of the engagement] after it all happened and that’s why I came back here so exhausted, but apparently Joan didn’t feel it until several days later – not any change of heart, but just frightened at the whole idea, so your welcoming letters gave her a new lease on life.”

In essence, Joan was wondering, What have I done, turning my life upside down? Yet she was not changing her mind. And Dad was still convinced that Joan was the girl for him. His parents played an important role in supporting the young couple.

Peter & Andrew, James & John walked away from their fishing boats to follow Christ. What do you think Peter’s mother-in-law thought about that sudden turn of events? Who would support her daughter? And how did Zebedee, the father of James and John, react when his sons packed up and left home? Who would do the fishing and mend the nets? But despite the sudden turn of events, none of the twelve apostles seemed to have had second thoughts.

Have you ever had second thoughts about following Jesus? What events prompted those thoughts and who has encouraged you to continue walking forward in faith?

You are back! Love stories appeal to everyone. And more than any other, “God’s Love Story” holds a special grip on our attention.

March 2, 1941…[to his brother David, continued] My father wrote, “Of course we can’t get married until after I graduate in a year from this June, but we aren’t in any terrific rush because we have a whole life ahead of us. I think Mother and Father…must have just collapsed when I wrote to them, but they seem very happy about it because she really is a marvelous girl – tall (about 5’10”), dark, brown eyes, and a lovely complexion – and plenty of brains and heaps of fun.”

My father is already thinking of a whole life together, but he’s not so spiritual that he doesn’t also notice this woman’s physical beauty, like the bride in Song of Solomon!

Have you noticed that we have very few portraits in scripture? We know Saul was head and shoulders above other men, David was handsome and had a ruddy complexion, Elisha was bald, and that St. Paul was near-sighted. But we have no such portrait of Jesus, the most important character of all! The closest we come is in Is. 53:2-3 where it says, “He had no beauty, nothing in his appearance to attract us to him. He was despised and rejected…We turned our backs on him and looked the other way when he went by. He was despised and we did not care.”

My father was enchanted by my mother’s beauty, but Jesus had nothing in his appearance to attract us. Or perhaps, to say it another way, nothing in his appearance to distract us! We have no idea whether Jesus’ eyes were blue, his hair brown, his nose noble. Was he handsome? Those human descriptions were of little consequence. His true beauty lay in the unchanging qualities of his mercy and love.

As you go about this day, take a moment to look at others who cross your path. Don’t look on them as humans do but see them through God’s eyes and seek out their inner unchanging beauty.

Welcome back to the eighth thought in our Advent series on “God’s Love Story.” Are you wondering what happened when my father went to Cambridge to see the girl he hoped might become his future wife?

Remember that my father’s first mention of meeting my mother was in a letter he sent to his parents on February 2, 1941. Then a few weeks later, he traveled north from New York to Massachusetts to meet her for the second time.

March 2, 1941…[to his brother David, one month after meeting Joan] “Guess what I’ve gone and done – I’m engaged to the most lovely girl in the world – at least I think so and I hope you love her as much as I do…It’s the strangest thing I ever did in my life – because I’ve only seen the girl about 25 hours altogether, but it was long enough for me to know that she was the one I wanted to marry – and we’re just as happy as can be.”

Actually, the couple had already discussed marriage over a week earlier during Dad’s visit north. In less than three weeks, they had met, fallen in love and become engaged! Excitement had turned to love and love turned to commitment.

In Mark 1:16-20, Peter and Andrew, James and John all decided quickly to follow Jesus. So did a tax collector named Matthew. They each made a commitment. They didn’t have a full understanding of where that decision might take them. The newbie disciples had no idea that for most of them their decision might lead to their own deaths as martyrs. When I first came to know Christ, I too was excited about being loved and forgiven, but it took years to understand how I was to love Him and to fully commit every area of my life to Him.

That first step of commitment is important, but it is only a beginning. Why not pray today about what new steps of faith Jesus invites you to take in the year ahead?

Are you ready for the next installment about this Advent account of my father falling in love? What new aspect might it reveal of “God’s Love Story”?

My father was unable to think of anything else as he planned a trip to Massachusetts to see the woman he hoped would become his wife. They had only met once before, but Dad was anxious to get to know her better.

February 18, 1941… “It all seems so far away and remote from the Seminary that I can hardly believe that I’ll be up there so soon – but the sooner the better because I’ve got to get this out of my system so that I can settle down and get some real studying done – and I do hope I find that Joan is as nice this time as I think she is.”

The word about my father’s love-interest spread quickly within his family. His aunt Helen sent $10 for him to have a nice time in Cambridge. According to Google, $10 in 1941 is the equivalent in purchasing power to about $200 today! And Dad’s brother-in-law loaned him his car to use for the trip to see Joan…no small gift with gas rationing beginning during World War II.

When we are excited, that emotion spills over to others around us. When Peter visited Cornelius in Acts 10:24, Cornelius was so excited that he had gathered all his family and friends at his home to listen to what Peter would say. Naturally, our faith should cause others to be excited about the Lord too.

With whom could you share your joy about the arrival of our Savior this season?

Christmas is coming, and it is hard not to feel excitement building around us. Thanks for taking a few moments here to pause and reflect on “God’s Love Story.”

My father was a thoughtful and quiet man. He did not get wildly excited except when his college team was playing on the ball field. So the following excerpt from one of his letters home is more than a bit out of character.

February 11, 1941…continued. “Anyway, here’s the stupid thing I’m going to do. I don’t have any classes on Friday the 21st, and we have a holiday on Washington’s birthday, so I’m planning to whip up there to Cambridge for that weekend…I can go up on a boat Thursday night…that will give me almost three days to see [Joan], and after that I can tell a little more whether this has all been castles in the air or the real thing…Heaven only knows what we’ll do those three days – but I don’t care much – I mostly want to talk….I’m sort of nonplussed at conservative John dashing off on this somewhat wild venture. Dick [Dad’s seminary roommate] just laughs and laughs and makes stupid faces at me.”

That excerpt reminds me of a brief parable Jesus shared with His disciples. Jesus said the Kingdom of God was like a man who found a treasure in a field. In his excitement, the man did something likely out of character, something crazy. He went home, sold everything he had, and bought the field so that the treasure would be his.

I have always placed myself in the role of the man finding the treasure and selling all he had: Would I ever be so completely sold out to the Lord? But God is not asking us to do anything more than what He Himself has already done. The Father gave up all that He had, even His only Son. In Romans 8:32, Paul writes, “Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?” The Lord gave up everything He had – including His own Son – to purchase us, His treasure.

Is the Lord asking you to do something wild and extravagant to demonstrate your love for Him this season?

Welcome back to the fifth of these Advent thoughts about “God’s Love Story”! Have you wondered how my father overcame the obstacle of distance in his love story?

In that same February 2, 1941 letter, my father wrote, “She’s a perfectly lovely looking girl with that beautiful English coloring and complexion and she has the sweetest personality. She’s the kind of girl that I would never have any doubts about and I know that you would love her.” His interest in her only intensified over the next week.

February 11, 1941… “I’ve never had anything so strange happen to me as this thing about nice Joan Lee-Cole, whom I was telling you about last week. I haven’t seen her of course since that one evening a week ago Friday, and I don’t even remember exactly what she looks like – except that she’s sweet and a little taller than my sister Priscilla. But the ridiculous thing is that I still wake up every morning about 5:00 or 5:30 thinking about her, and it’s terrible, because with this loss of sleep I feel like a wreck during the morning. Of course this has been partially stimulated by two awfully nice letters I received [from her] this week in reply to mine, and I almost think that perhaps she has a bliss feeling too! Isn’t it amazing?”

There is a thrill about meeting someone special and falling in love, but imagine discovering the other person finds the same delight in you! In Luke 15, Jesus tells us how the Prodigal Son returned home and was overwhelmed by his father’s welcome. If that father rejoiced when his son came back, we can be confident the Lord too has a broad grin on His face when we turn to Him!

Think back on your own life. Were you excited to first know Christ? Believe me, the feeling was mutual. He was just as excited to welcome you into His family.