I was teaching at a Christian school in Indonesia and she came to work as a teacher's aid. But she didn't return after a day or two because it did not fit into her Bible college schedule in town. So I only saw her one day. At first, I was in a crowded class room of four-year-olds and she sat in the back, so I was too busy to notice her much. Then I forgot something in the room and had to go back and get it to use in the next class. The teacher introduced me to her when I came into the room.
Later, I was in the office working on my lessons. There were a lot of tables set up end to end from nearly one end of the room to another and I looked over and saw her at the far end. I thought, "I wonder if the Lord will give me such a beautiful woman to be my wife." I remember she had a sticker from her church on her briefcase.
When she met me, she thought I wasn't all that good-looking for a white man. She told me she told herself that because she was seeing someone. Okay, whatever...
A year or a year and a half later, I was living in the city working elsewhere. A missionary lived on her Bible college campus and had invited me to dinner. He said when winter break was over, I ought to come over and have a look at all the Christian English books in the library.
I saw my wife come in with her friend. She was really good-looking. She said, "Hello sir." She told me later she wasn't trying to flirt. She was just in a good mood. Her friend told her I was cute. She looked over at me. I was looking back at her as she went up the stairs to the library.
I'd gotten to know Philemon a bit there. He was a student, playing the guitar. A little while later, the woman who would be my wife came down the stairs. She believed the Lord wanted her to talk to me, but she told the Lord she was a shy Asian girl. She was uncomfortable introducing herself to a man. So she sat down beside her classmate and asked if he knew how to play a certain song. I struck up a conversation with her. She had a word of knowledge for me that confirmed some things I knew about myself. We talked about her cell group and various other things. I gave her my number and forgot to ask hers.
