I was always very careful when it came to dating. Every date represented a potential marriage partner. After I came to Christ in 1970, I decided what kind of girl I wanted to marry. While praying one day, I gave the Lord four prerequisites regarding my future wife. You may laugh, but God knew I was serious.
First and foremost, she had to love the Lord with all her heart. Then I requested a blonde, blue-eyed girl, who played the piano. After all, if I was going to be a pastor, I needed a piano player!
I met Lori Owens in January, 1976, when we both served on the Evangel University newspaper and yearbook staffs, respectively. Lori was a quiet, yet fun-loving girl, who did not catch my eye at first. She told her roommate that I was too stuffy.
I was a sophomore; she was a freshman. During that semester, we worked together on the newspaper and yearbook staffs. In fact, I was her “boss.” As time passed, we developed a close friendship. I found her to be a lot of fun and deeply spiritual. She saw me as focused and serious-minded. Toward the end of that semester, I decided it was time for a “real” date. Lori’s story is that she painted my office in exchange for an evening together. What she didn’t know was that I was afraid of her declining my invitation, so I used the “bartering method” to avoid rejection!
Because I was short on cash, I took her to a free movie at the college. We watched Gone with the Wind, while sitting on straight-back chairs in the school’s musty old fine arts auditorium. Afterwards, we went to dinner at one of Springfield’s (MO) finer restaurants. We both ordered spaghetti and meatballs. I was nervous; she was clumsy! A meatball fell off her fork, rolled across the table and landed in my lap. And of course, I was wearing white pants! Lori loves telling the part when I dropped her off at the dorm and ended the evening in prayer. “He didn’t even kiss me,” she says.
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