You’re Going to Marry Laura Tuohy

When I got back to the ship, Laura seemed a little frantic when she saw me. I had had no particular reason to tell her I was going on the trip so she didn’t know where I had been. She had been asking everyone where I was and when nobody knew she got worried. That made me feel kinda good. It seemed like she missed me or something. I said, 

        “You know who I was thinking about the whole trip?” 

There was a pause, 

        “Who?”

        “You.”

Her face broke into a huge smile. As we were going on the beach trip the next day I said, 

        “I think we need to talk at the beach tomorrow”. Still beaming, she replied, 

        “Okay”. 

All of a sudden my relationship theology resolve began to weaken. I started to wonder if maybe there was a place for boyfriends and girlfriends.

The beach was called Frenchman’s Cove. It is a beautiful little inlet with brilliant white sand and crystal clear water. We swam and hung out with the group for most of the time. Later in the afternoon, we went off behind some rocks to talk. We discussed liking each other but we weren’t sure how it would work. Once I was done with King’s Kids I was going back to London. We decided to just see how it played out.

That night I couldn’t sleep. And as clear as I’ve ever heard God tell me anything, He said, 

        “You’re going to marry Laura Tuohy.”

I could not believe it. For all these years, my theology on guy/girl relationships had been to just enjoy them without getting exclusive or physical and when God brought along the one I was to marry, He would let me know. And here it was. But even though I really liked Laura, my plan was to wait until I was about 26 to get married. 

Even though I had no prospects at the moment, I still wanted to somehow get through film school and get some success in filmmaking before I got hitched. All night I tried to push it out of my mind and think of my future without Laura, at least for another 5 years when I would be 26. It didn’t work.

Interestingly enough, Laura had told me that she had not slept well the night before. I wondered if maybe God had said something to her too. The next morning I went to her cabin. When she opened the door I asked,

        “Did God tell you anything the other night when you couldn’t sleep?”

        “Why?’

        “I wasn’t able to sleep last night because God told me something.”

        “What was it?”

        “Well I don’t want to tell you yet because I don’t want to bias what you hear from God.” 

Pause.

        “Well I haven’t heard anything new but there is a chapter in the Bible that God had been really                 impressing upon me recently.”

        “What is it?”

        “Isaiah 62.” 

I went away and read the chapter. Verses 4-5 reads:

               "No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called                     Hephzibah (meaning my delight is in her), and your land Beulah (married), for the Lord will                  take delight in you, and your land will be married. As a young man marries a maiden, so will                  your sons marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over                     you.” (NIV) 

That seemed pretty clear to me. I went back to find her. By this time she was in her preschool room on the top deck. She was up there in her exercise clothes doing a work out. We both sat on the floor as I proclaimed, 

        “God told me I was going to marry you.”

She went wide-eyed, broke into a big smile and fell on her back…and I left. It wasn’t the last time I would leave her during a momentous occasion.



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