Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and prayed, “Who am I, O Lord, and what is my family, that You have brought me this far?”
I Chronicles 17:16 (NLT)
This is the story of how a dreamy small town farm girl from New Hampton, Iowa, named Holly, and a sun-kissed energetic son of a butcher from North Hollywood, California, named Darryl, met in the Fall of 1967.
After graduating from high school, a girlfriend invited me to live with her in an apartment in Van Nuys, California. Almost immediately after I arrived, she took me to an event at Grace Community Church in Panorama City. I quickly made new friends in the college/career group and started attending regularly.
One Sunday morning I noticed a beautiful metallic maroon convertible hard-top 1962 Corvette in the parking lot. The car belonged to a young man named Darryl who had recently moved up from the high school department. I boldly introduced myself and asked for a ride in his great-looking car—to which he just as boldly replied, “No!”
Flash ahead a year and Darryl and I were thrown together into the leadership of the college/career group. As we got to know each other better, I began watching him more carefully because of a unique subtext to our story. One night a group of us had stopped by McDonald’s where Darryl was working as a swing manager.
As he stood there talking to us, it was as though I was suddenly transported into the future and emotionally dipped into a time when we would be unmistakably bonded to one another. Velvety warm—deep—committed feelings of love washed over me for Darryl. And then—just like that—the effect was gone, and I was back in the present—dazed and amazed!
I am convinced this was the work of the Holy Spirit. I needed prompting to notice Darryl—to single him out from the other men in my life. Since becoming a minister’s wife was not in my plans, it would have been easy to overlook him. If God had not intervened, I believe I would have missed the opportunity of a lifetime—the presence of a uniquely gifted person in my life who is undeniably guided by God and blessed by Him.