Friday, January 10, 2014

When God Spoke ... and I Misunderstood

Twenty years ago today, I was a 20-year-old co-ed at Auburn University.  I had a small group of close friends including the two pictured with me below, was active in my church, and was just generally progressing through my courses.  The guy I thought was going to follow me to Auburn didn't.  A couple of crushes from my freshman year had come to nothing.  And while the Summer after my freshman year turned out to be the unexpected Summer of Two Boyfriends, neither one had proven to be long-term.


This was during the time when Evangelism Explosion was all the rage in Baptist churches, and Lakeview Baptist in Auburn was no different.  I had attended the orientation meeting for EE a few months prior but felt that the Lord was not leading me in that direction (which was pretty surprising at the time).  However, in January the classes started up again and, with a lot less on my plate for that term, I sensed the All Clear to go ahead with the training.

I showed up to the meeting all alone.  While there, I learned that everyone would be assigned to a team of three people.  My name was called out by the leader.  "Laura, you'll be with Russ and David."  I had no idea who he was talking about, so I went around the room asking, "Are you Russ?  Are you David?"  Eventually, I found them.  (David is on the left, Russ is on the right.)

After some brief introductions, the three of us headed out to Russ's car.  He had already been trained as a leader in EE, so David and I were about to get some on-the-job training in visiting some students who had recently attended a service at Lakeview.  Before heading out, Russ prayed.

Now, I have to tell you that I am not one of those people who go around saying "God told me this" or "God told me that."  Gentle Spirit nudges, yes.  But an actual voice, no.  This was different.  While Russ was praying, I heard - as clear as a bell - "Laura, I'd like you to meet your One" (because, like all good church girls, I was looking for The One, and God, being omniscient, knew the terminology that I used).  I actually opened my eyes to see if anyone else had heard what I heard.  Nope, just me.

Now, there were two guys in the car with me, but it didn't occur to me to ask God which One He was talking about.  I naturally assumed that He must mean the one praying.  (To date, Russ is the most awesome pray-er I know.)  So when I got back to my dorm room, I told my roommate, the girls pictured above, and my mother (on the phone), that I had met my One.  "What's his name?" they asked.  "Russ Lynch!" I answered.

Note: my married name is Laura Baggett, not Laura Lynch. (I've always thought the double L thing would be fun.  Also, I once had a crush on someone almost exclusively because of his last name.  Seriously, don't you love the sound of Laura Heatherly??  But I digress....)

I've written more about The Rest of the Story here and here, if you're interested.  Also, I never did complete that story, but I'll do that if anyone seems to care.  It's really a pretty unique love story involving tragedy, triumph, and a little black dress. 

So, as my 7-year-old son put it last night, today is the 20th Anniversary of us Being Met.  I've been reminded by my husband on several occasions that I said, more than once, "Please don't let me marry that boring David Baggett!"  But these past 20 years - including 15 years of marriage - have been anything but boring.  I love you, David, and I'm so grateful that God assigned me to your team, both then and now.


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