Category Archives: Prayer

Young Love (#31)

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Although Nate and I were both set on marrying in January of 1970 rather than waiting till the summer, our 4 parents knew nothing of our plans. They hadn’t even met each other. We knew they’d object to our timing, so putting off the conversation was the path of least resistance, and we went with that.

mary-bervinMary and Bervin had dated for two years, both local to Chicago, and our parents knew Bervin well by the time he gave Mary a ring. Their engagement lasted a full year, and with that timing they had set a family precedent we weren’t planning to follow.

But first-off was to introduce Nate to my friends at a church-sponsored gathering, coupled with additional time spent with my folks. It was important that everybody get to know him better.

May 13, 1969 – Dearest Meg. I love you and am praying for the answer to the “when” of our marriage. I see many advantages of a January wedding, though it means a short wedding trip. I think of you so often it’s as though we were living together every minute. You are the perfect wife for me. I will make many sacrifices for you and will work very hard. I love you and want to please you.

May 14, 1969 – Dearest Meg. Thank you so very much for the fabulous phone call this afternoon. I love to talk with you and can’t wait till Saturday. I’ll study harder all week knowing it’s coming. I love the idea of you, the picnic, meeting Pastor Sweeting, and private prayer time with you. I pray every night for us, for our decisions and our relationship, asking each time that we follow His plan for us and surrender our lives to His will. I’m thinking of how beautiful you were the last time you came to Champaign, sitting in the sun as it came through the opaque windows. That suntanned face. Our walk down the path to the car. The ride to town, and church the next morning. Ah, I want a lifetime and an eternity of that!

May 14, 1969 – Dear Nate. I’m very excited about you coming on Saturday! Please ask permission to be released from overnight dorm duty to stay with my folks one night, ok? I would love that more than anything. We could get so much more out of your visit if you didn’t have to leave on the 9 PM train. I promise to let you study some.

teaberryMay 14, 1969 – Dearest Meg. Your calls are great. Hearing your voice is fabulous. We just must get married in January, engaged in July, and choose your ring in June! We’ll never be apart again! Thanks for the Teaberry gum, but I would rather smell Teaberry on your breath in a kiss.

May 14, 1969 – Today my team teacher was in a very low mood, and usually if we talk things over, she feels much better. But she didn’t feel like sharing with me this time. Both of us had a miserable day because of it, and I still feel bad about not being able to help her. We usually have so much fun together. Coming home tonight to 2 wonderful letters from fabulous Nate was a beautiful top-off to a difficult day. Thank you! I love you.

July 15, 1969 – Dearest Meg. I’m glad you like my letters. They are manifestations of my love for you. The greatest thing about me is loving you. I will always love you and be faithful to you. I have waited a long time and would never do anything to spoil it. I’m looking forward to the weekend but won’t be able to stay overnight. This pre-finals study time is precious, and Saturday is all I can spare. If the Chicago teachers do strike next week, please come down here to be with me in my time of trial (finals!).

July 15, 1969 – Dear Future Husband. Saturday morning’s train can’t come soon enough for me! When my day involves you, it is complete. When I’m not near you, I’m frustrated.

“Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4)

Young Love (#30)

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Nate’s and my letters picked up in number, coming and going 2-3 a day. It seemed that each time we had an idea to share, we wrote it down and mailed it out. Our correspondence was full of excitement about our future together, especially the tantalizing prospect of living near each other, at long last.

more-goodbyesWhenever possible, we traveled across the 156 miles between us for face-time the old fashioned way, sometimes driving, sometimes riding the train. In one letter Nate detailed a variety of activities we might participate in as newlyweds, his way of suggesting a secular/religious balance.

May 11, 1969 – Dearest Meg. We can attend the secular social events of the Junior Bar Association, Phi Delta Phi (my law fraternity), and church and Sunday school for the necessary religious involvement. We can teach Sunday school to share in Christ’s work on earth. We can make new friends together, friends who never knew us as single people.

May 11, 1969 – Dear Nate. I can’t write a long letter right now. I’ve yet to have my devotions and prayer time, and it’s nearly 1:00 AM. A big thunderstorm has suddenly hit, and I wish you were here so we could snuggle together with our eyes closed, listening to the storm. Some day…

sun-sch-classMay 12, 1969 – Dear Nate. The Sunday school superintendent where I’ve been teaching 10-year-old girls for 2 years [left] is pressuring me about my inconsistent attendance, even though I provide a qualified sub when I’m gone (visiting you). I’ve started asking around for someone who’s willing to take over my class permanently. With our rapidly changing future, I want to be severed from my Chicago responsibilities when events start popping!

May 12, 1969 – Dearest Meg. If we marry in January, we wouldn’t be in financial hardship, but it wouldn’t be plush. But this financial closeness would give us tremendous unity of spirit. Monetary austerity forces people to stop thinking about the non-essentials (cars, clothes, etc.) to concentrate on more important commitments.

May 12, 1969 – Dear Nate. Thank you for a wonderful phone conversation this afternoon. I could talk to you forever, if only it weren’t so expensive. We are made for each other. I’m just thrilled that you’re coming to Chicago this weekend! I’ve already told lots of people at the church College and Career Class about “my guy” coming to the picnic, so don’t be surprised when they stare at you, ooogle-eyed over handsome you, as they get to know how wonderful you are! I want all my friends to grow to love you… and my family, too.

p-sMay 12, 1969 – Dearest Meg. This summer, after Army camp (6 weeks), I want to line up a part-time job for the coming year. I’ll look into claims adjusting for an auto insurance company or bill collecting for a bank. You get the idea. After that, we’d have one semester and the bar exam to go, then the Army, 2-4 years depending on the type of commission I get. Also I can start looking into apartment rents. And most importantly I can be with Meg in the hot sun of the tennis courts and at the municipal pool in Urbana. I love you very, very much.

May 13, 1969 – Dear Nate. One day next week I’m having my folks to the apartment for dinner, and I plan to present an organized outline of the things you and I have decided. They tell me they are anxious to know. Thank you for being the great consistent person you are and will always be. Good night…. Love, Meg

“Let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him.” (1 Corinthians 7:17)

Young Love (#28)

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Letters continued to fly back and forth between Champaign and Chicago, and the joy of making together-plans dominated our written conversations and my journal entries.

From the journal:

I have gained all kinds of new respect for Nate and want to be with him more and more. I’m sure of my love for him and secure in his love for me. He is the finest boy I’ve ever dated. He’s a leader, is organized, is a go-getter, a Christian, an intellectual, a good communicator, and he touches tenderly. He thrives under pressure and is completely responsible. I love all of it!

We’ve begun talking in specifics about rings, dates, jobs, where to live. Boy, is it fun! We’re praying about everything. We know that if we ever forget the Lord, we’ll mess the whole thing up.

May 7, 1969 – Dearest Meg. I received your wonderful letter of Sunday. Good girl to write, but not in church. [My last letter had been written in church.] Thank you very much! You want to be my wife, and that’s exactly who I want to fill the position. I love you very much; writing is a poor surrogate for seeing, but writing you daily gives me some release of the tension of not being with you. This week I’m thinking back to last week, remembering what we were doing at the same time, and almost get sick that you’re not with me. I could hug and squeeze you!

position-filledMay 7, 1969 – Dear Nate. One of my roommates told me that while I was gone last week someone tried to break into our apartment via that rear door in our bedroom. It sounded like they had a key. And it happened twice! We’re trying to think up some logical, harmless explanation.

May 9, 1969 – Dearest Meg. What about that break-in? Watch out if it really was an attempted break-in. Most burglars are drug addicts (80%). Look for pry marks near the lock. Tell your landlord. Tell the police. Get a chain and bolt for the door. As for me, I’ll finish that nasty old Corporations paper by Friday night and then it’ll be the final drive for finals study. I love you very much and would love if we were formally engaged at Christmas and married by next August. We should look into you teaching here after we’re married… and where to take the honeymoon!

May 9, 1969 – Dear Nate. I love you so very much, and today especially have been thinking constantly about being married to you, being your wife, and how I want to wait on you, and to begin finding out all the depths and heights of you, my husband. I’m so lucky!

May 9, 1969 – Dearest Meg. I hope to finish writing my paper today and then check it over tomorrow. I’m not such a hot “would-be lawyer” (i.e. law student) but I have faith the Lord will get me through school and the bar exam. Actually I don’t mind law school or law exams, but I really dislike papers. Anyhow, this one will soon be done.

sooo-muchMay 9, 1969 – Dear Nate. My heart is beating fast, and my stomach has butterflies. The idea of marriage to you is hitting home, and it’s the most pleasant of thoughts! I’m going to love and love and love you, day after day after day. I love Nate. Oh to be with you now. Soooo much to talk of!        Love, love, Meg

May 10, 1969 – Dearest Meg. I love you so much and want to be with you and marry you. You are my beautiful one, the only woman in my life. I will work hard to take good care of you. I love you completely and hope that faith in Christ will help me keep all the vows of marriage and keep us in unity with Jesus.

“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” (Proverbs 3:5)