Part One — The Proposal
One of my most cherished memories happened on the evening of January 20, 1979. Horace Avila had been courting me and had asked me out to a “special dinner.” Suspecting that a proposal might be coming, I was terrified and did what any mature eighteen-year-old would do… I invited my sister to tag along! Ha ha!
He took us to a very nice Chinese restaurant, and because of my nerves, I barely touched my food. After dinner, we dropped my sister off and drove around for a while. Then he drove me back to the trailer where I was living with a friend, to drop me off.
Before I could jump out of the car and run into the trailer, he asked me to marry him.
“Yes!” I responded, without even giving it another thought. I loved him, and I knew he was the one that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. In spite of the silly anxiety I felt, this was exactly what I had been hoping for.
We got out of the car and walked around, arm in arm, for about an hour in the drizzling, winter rain. I didn’t know it at the time, but my husband really hates getting wet, so that little detail always brings a smile to my face when I remember it.
But several months before my husband’s proposal, I experienced a very different kind of proposal.
A dear friend from high school, whom I hadn’t seen in a while, had become a believer. When she told me, I knew I had to learn more. She had experienced a very traumatic childhood filled with emotional and physical abuse, yet when we got together, I was amazed by the new hope, joy, and love that she now expressed, as opposed to the deeply depressed teenager I had known.
My own teenage years had also been difficult. I struggled with depression, feelings of being unwanted, extreme social anxiety, and hopelessness. Over the next few weeks, my friend shared with me what it meant to have a relationship with Jesus.
One evening, desperate to know Him, I asked her, “How do I become His?”
She led me in a prayer of salvation, and my life was instantly, and forever, changed.
Looking back, I now realize that night was a perfectly orchestrated proposal. The King of Kings had come to ask for my hand in marriage. Me… A nobody who believed she was nothing more than a mistake… an unwanted burden.
He found me. And HE CHOSE ME!
It was October 18, 1978, around 2:00 a.m., a beautiful, crisp fall night, in the middle of the street in a quiet neighborhood. HE stood powerfully and majestically before me, extending His hand and inviting me to come to Him and become His bride.
My blind eyes were opened, and without further thought, I accepted His proposal.
Instantly, the deep depression, guilt, and shame began to melt away. I couldn’t contain what had just happened inside of me. Instead, I remember running up and down the street, shouting “Yaaaaaay!” at the top of my lungs. Christianese words like “Praise God!” or “Hallelujah!” were not yet in my vocabulary. All I could do was scream, laugh, and cry with uncontainable joy as I celebrated my new betrothal.
It’s a wonder no one called the police!
Though I had feared my earthly proposal, an infinitely greater proposal had already been set in motion:
Horace had asked me to marry him. I would be clothed in white, walked down the aisle by my father, and become his bride for the rest of my earthly life.
Jesus had asked me to become His betrothed. I would be clothed in white as His pure and spotless bride! I would walk with Him on this earth, escorted by His Holy Spirit, until the day I breathed my first breath in Heaven to meet Him face to face… until the day He returned for His bride, the Church!
As part of the collective Bride of Christ, we each have our own salvation proposal story.
Do you remember the moment when Jesus reached out His hand and invited you into relationship with Him?
I would love for you to share your story with me sometime!
Hosea 2:19–20
“I will betroth you to me forever;
I will betroth you in righteousness and justice,
in love and compassion.
I will betroth you in faithfulness,
and you will acknowledge the Lord.”