Every time I fly, I low-key pray I might meet my future husband.
Last July, when flying home from my best friend’s wedding, I did.
He had been in Colorado for a friend’s wedding too.
He sat in the aisle seat opposite of me one row back. Thin build, with light brown hair, glasses, and an unapologetic hipster vibe, it wasn’t love at first sight.
Is love at first eavesdrop a thing though? Because once he started talking about his “theological frustrations” with the stranger sitting next to him, I was smitten.
He was tired with the church culture today putting too much emphasis on feelings instead of truth. Throwing words like “sanctification” around like he used it in everyday conversation.
THIS is just the kind of Hallmark movie love story I wanted! It’s happening. #praise
Over the past year he’s realized the importance of finding authentic community.
Umm, hello, God—that’s what you’ve been trying to teach my stubborn heart for a couple of years now. We could learn together!
He’s studying to BE A DOCTOR.
You know how accident prone I am, God!
He talked to our flight attendant about her Bible 101 class that she was taking.
Ok, I’m gonna need her to back off. Clearly I need to start playing offense. I could casually join their conversation. No, why be so forward when I’ve got a carry-on full of subtle?
I pulled out my book, Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus, and was reading it with the cover obnoxiously displayed in the aisle, but nothing. His face was focused on his text book by this point because he had some major test coming up. So studious.
My Jesus laden cover hanging out in the aisle approach wasn’t aggressive enough, and we only had like 2 hours left of the flight.
No more messing around.
At the end of the chapter in my book, there are review questions with scripture reading.
SO I BROKE OUT MY BIG KJV-TRANSLATION-OF-DONKEY, ONE-INCH-MARGIN-FOR-NOTES, STUDY BIBLE and plopped it down on the tray table in front of me. Flight attendant brought me a Coke Zero, but apparently didn’t want my opinion about her Bible study class.
I make it through 2 chapters of my book and finally give up because I’m tired—and by I’m tired, I mean my arm was tired from awkwardly holding my book in the aisle to try to get him to see the cover while also making sure my Bible was still visible.
Still nothing.
Listening to a John Piper book on my phone seemed pointless because the book cover wouldn’t remain displayed, so I fell asleep.
After my brief nap, I talked with the nice German family sitting next to me and gave the mom my gum when she asked because her son needed it for his ears. I generously and loudly offered gum to everyone else around me. The lady next to me took a piece.
We’re in our final approach to Orlando now, so my future husband is talking to the guy next to him again instead of studying. The guy asks what kind of girl he’d be interested in, and I wish they would have talked louder so I could have eavesdropped better.
If anything, what I did overhear confirmed that this Jesus loving, future doctor was in fact single, and I could definitely be described as “even tempered and easy going” which are the only vague descriptions I could make out from the short lived conversation.
My heart jumped when he moved on to mention C.S. Lewis as one of his favorite authors.
This is it! My patience has finally paid off.
I literally have C.S. Lewis’ words TATTOOED on body and God—the greatest storyteller of all time—sovereignly had me sit with my left side closest to the aisle.
I take off my sweater, and awkwardly dangle my left arm in the aisle in hopes that this will spark the first conversation that our grandkids will ask us to tell them about years from now.
Glancing back to see if he’s noticing, I catch a glimpse of my tattoo, “Courage, dear heart.”
Be brave, Sarah. Say something.
Nothing.
I mean I’m sure it’d be more fun to meet my future husband on a plane and actually have talked to him, but I did everything I could without putting myself out there for outright rejection that would have elevated the stakes and made for a better story.
God and I got a good laugh though–He set me up to deliver some Lucille Ball level comedy gold on that flight, and for the most part, I did not disappoint.
I told God I wouldn’t mind if he’d set me up like that again, but if he really wants a good laugh he should wait until he’s knows I’m brave enough to abandon all subtlety and risk being awkward out loud.