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Jason, known to the young people
as Rev. JJ was a fine young preacher, but he lacked experience, so Pastor
Jackson decided to have him take over the Sunday morning service every
third Sunday. That, plus the work he did with the youth of the
church kept him quite busy, but never too busy to take Mary Ann out to
dinner once a week.
It was on one of those times while they were
having their weekly time together that JJ's cell phone rang. It
was his mother, back home in WV calling to tell him that his dad was in
the hospital and he should come home as soon as possible. He'd had
a stroke and wasn't expected to make it. Mary Ann knew from the look
on his face that something was terribly wrong. She got up from where
she was seated across from him and sat down in the chair next to him, put
her hand over his and said, "JJ what can I do to help? Tell
me what's wrong so we can make the situation better." Through
moist, sad eyes he looked at her and said, "My dad is very sick and
may not live more than a few days, Oh, Mary Ann, my dad and I have always
been so close, I don't know what I'll do if he dies." She just
held his hand and let him talk for a while then she started praying. Softly she spoke to her Lord. "Father God, in Jesus name I come
to you on behalf of Mr. Jamison, you know his need, and right now I ask
you to be so near to him, give him comfort and ease from pain, and I ask
you Lord to please heal him and restore his health. Father please
give my JJ peace of mind as we drive to WV to be by his dad's side, help
him to put his trust in you and just know that you are working everything
out according to your will. Now Lord, go with us and keep us safe as
we travel, and help us to be a blessing to Mrs. Jamison and others that
will be there when we arrive. Thank you Father for all that you do
for us. We love you and praise you and ask you to use us now in this
situation in a way that will bring glory to your name. In Jesus name
we pray, Amen.
Those tears in Jason's eyes were now rolling
down his face. Mary Ann was a tower of strength to him when he
needed her the most. Together they got up and left the restaurant
and drove to the church. Jason asked her to play "He Touched
Me" and just like the day they met, he started singing. Just
like before, when she got to Something happened... he touched
her shoulder and she turned to face him, that's when she saw the little
box in his hand. As he knelt on one knee and opened the box, she saw
the beautiful diamond ring, now her tears started. He told her that
he had planned to ask her to marry him at the restaurant , but since he
didn't get a chance he wanted to ask her now, and then he spoke some words
that would linger forever in her memory. He said, "You will
never be first in my life, God is now, and will always be the most
important person in my life, but if you can live with that and accept me
on those terms, I would love to spend the rest of my life loving you and
trying to make you the happiest woman in the world. Will you marry
me?" Her answer was, "Of course I will, we love and serve
the same God and He will always be first in my life too. Now there's
one thing I'll ask of you. Please, don't ever let the romance die. A
wise person once told me that the secret to a good marriage is to keep God
first and never let the romance die, because when romance dies, the
marriage begins to die. They promised each other then and there to
always keep God first and to make sure the romance would always be there.
Jason and Mary Ann quickly got ready for that
long drive across VA to Southern WV where the Jamison's lived. Jason
was so glad to be taking Mary Ann to meet his folks as his fiancé, and he
especially wanted his dad to meet her so that if he should die, he would
die knowing that his son had been blessed with a wonderful woman that would
love him and stand by him no matter what. Somehow he just knew that
if his dad could meet Mary Ann it would give him peace of mind.
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