Hook, Line and Sinker

Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But God does not take away life; instead, he devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from him.

2 Samuel 14:14 (NIV)

    This is one of my very favorite passages of Scripture, sort of like the gospel in one sentence! Without a doubt, God is the ultimate Devisor of ways to reconcile His lost children to Himself. He's also the original Romantic! In His infinite wisdom, God used a young lady to finally get my full attention, and at just the right place and time. This is how it came to pass:

    I'd developed a routine of going to Greenwich Village each week to share my songs with other aspiring writers at an open mic at the now defunct Gerdes Folk City. One night a male/female acoustic duo came in; I'll call them Steph and Terry. They were clearly not cut out of the "folk fabric" - how should I put it? - they had a fresh, confident presence, their songs were positive and their performance was excellent.

    I was very attracted to them from a musical standpoint, but that wasn't all. I was also quite interested in getting to know them better, and she was the primary reason! I watched them closely; they seemed to relate to one another more as siblings than as partners. We struck up a conversation, and before the club closed Steph and I had set up a dinner date.

    One date turned into several, and before long we were both wondering if we were headed somewhere significant. Steph informed me early on that she was in town on family business and would be returning to her home Boston in a matter of weeks. She and Terry were professional musicians who played all over New England, and they had decided to check out New York's music scene during her stay.

    They had at one time been seriously involved, but ultimately had faced a difficult choice - music or romance - and the music won out. Lucky for me, I thought! I was already falling headlong, so the knowledge that the field was open, but that my window of opportunity would close soon, caused me to "turn on the jets" in my wooing.