Then Came the E-mail

Kristin told me yesterday's post was a cliff-hanger. I told her my life has become akin to a television drama, and each day is a season finale.

Before I launch into the next part of the desert story, I'd like to pause and wish myself a happy 1100th post. I know. It only seems like two billion. Thanks for hanging in there with me.

I debated about sharing this part of the story at all. I thought about eliminating it and simply focusing on the lessons I learned in the desert and how I came to hear the voice of God the way I do...but I have elected to share snippets of this part with you for two reasons. First - I just love it. Secondly - you can't fully understand the desert without understanding the road that led me to it. And so...

...after I prayed for faith (which I've now determined is just like praying for patience), I snuggled down deep into the bed and fell asleep.

I awakened on Valentine's Day to find an email from a friend of mine...and the presence of the email was not as unusual as the content. In it, he asked if I would be willing to be set up.

People.

I've been set up several times before, and I can think of one word that typically encompasses such an adventure: disaster. Certainly not all of them have been horrible. But some...well...that's a whole separate post of giggles and eye-rolls.

This is why I was so surprised that my immediate thought upon reading his email was not a screeching NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

He and I have been friends for quite a while and I like to think he knows me pretty well. I figured if he had someone in mind, Mr. Mysterious couldn't be so bad. Besides. He'd never tried to set me up before.

Rather than saying yes or no right away...I did a rather unbekahlike thing and constructed a list of questions:


1. Is he 90? Or any age qualifying for AARP?
2. If not, is he out of high school?
3. Does he own teeth - his own or any purchased plan?
4. Is he married?
5. Does he know about/love Jesus? (Which I realize should be on the list above things such as age and teeth possession). It's early. Cut me some slack.
6. Does he live in Antarctica?

There you have it. Bekah's six dimensions of compatibility.

You might laugh at some of those, but believe me - they're all on there with good reason.

I sent my email and launched into the busy day...finishing the lunch preparations, going to church, entertaining my guests through most of the afternoon, and as soon as the dishwasher was loaded with round one of the lunch dishes, I scurried to the computer to see if I had any answers to my questions. He had indeed replied and all answers were acceptable.

I'll admit...I wondered what God was up to. I'd loathed Valentine's Day for 30 years. It would be just like God to redeem that particular day by instituting real-life love on the day of love. Yes. That would be something He would do.

My heart felt an urge to try this. You must understand how out of character this is for me. I just don't do set-ups. I certainly am not a risk-taker as a general rule. But I couldn't ignore the push to try. So I sent an email offering my willingness to be set up if Mr. Mysterious would take the initiative. That was a rather recent desire I'd expressed to the Lord concerning relationships. I wanted to be pursued. So if He had someone for me...He was going to have to send him to me.

And that night, I wrote in my prayer journal, "Please don't let me enter something I shouldn't or run from something good." I had nothing to lose. If it didn't work, I'd be no worse off than I was right at that moment. And if it did work, I'd be glad I tried. So I went to sleep, comfortably leaving the outcome of the setup to God's orchestration.