Opening the Door…

In the spring of 1982, I was attending a potluck for single folks interested in the outdoors, when there was a knock at the front door. Since no one else was close by, I opened the door and greeted the person who was standing there.

He and I had been introduced briefly at a prior dinner hosted by the same group. I remembered that he had a bandaged finger, jammed when playing volleyball. That had also happened to me several times in past volleyball games and I could relate to the pain he must have felt.

 “Now, who are you?” he asked. We reintroduced ourselves and he held up a list of the members of the single’s group. “Oh, I have your name circled on the list! See?” He held it up, and sure enough my name was circled on his list!

It seemed that he had been making the hour-long trip from his hometown to attend those dinners, and in a relatively short time had developed strong friendships with people who shared a common love of the outdoors. One of those friends was Leslie Moe, a colleague of mine at a Christian school in Bakersfield, California.

Leslie was the key motivator in getting me to go to the potluck dinners, which seemed totally out of my comfort zone.  When I finally succumbed to her pressure, I discovered that she was right—it really was a nice group of people, mostly in their 20’s to 40’s. And the man who happened to knock at the door? That person turned out to become my husband, Al!

I look back on our meeting with amazement, especially at the way God orchestrated it. A simple greeting at the door resulted in a new friendship and life for the two of us…together. Our meeting was similar to the story of Ruth in the Old Testament, one that resonates with me.   

Ruth, a young widow, had accompanied her mother-in-law on a long trip from Ruth’s home in Moab to Bethlehem. Because the two women arrived in Bethlehem at the time of the harvest, Ruth wanted to go to the fields and follow the harvesters, gleaning whatever grain was left behind.

After asking permission from the foreman at one field, she began picking up the leftovers, a hot, backbreaking job. As it turned out, the field belonged to Boaz, a relative of Naomi’s former husband. God was bringing about another meeting!

 Imagine Ruth’s thoughts when Boaz arrived, and after inquiring about her, came over to talk!  Would he let her stay or make her return to Naomi empty-handed? She was hardly presentable, tired and dirty and a foreigner. Ruth probably felt like hiding somewhere. However, Boaz treated her kindly and even shared some food with her when it was time to eat.

That too marked the beginning of a new relationship, and a marriage between Ruth and Boaz. Ruth had a child named Obed whose descendant would become a great king of Israel—David.  Ruth’s love for Naomi, love that prompted her to leave Moab, go to a foreign country and humble herself by gleaning in the field, opened the door for God to work not only in her life, but in the lives of many others for generations to come.

It's amazing how one small decision or act can bring about a ripple effect of life-changing transformations. An evening meeting held close to my college campus was another good example of that. I attended it at the invitation of a friend and enjoyed the enthusiastic singing, the meaningful Christian message, and conversations with peers afterwards.

 For the first time in my 19 years of life, I heard about having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I pondered it for the next week or so, wondering if this was possible. Finally, I realized that although I knew about Him, I had never asked Jesus to take control of my life and become my Lord and Savior. Making that decision set me on a different path, one of joy and fulfillment, of hope and commitment, of service and giving.   

It is possible to know Jesus personally; and it is life-changing. He is knocking at the door of our hearts. May we greet Him with a warm welcome!

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” Revelation 3:20 NIV