Our Love Story
15 When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well.
16 Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father's flock.
17 Some shepherds came along and drove them away, but Moses got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock.
18 When the girls returned to Reuel their father, he asked them, "Why have you returned so early today?"
19 They answered, "An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock."
20 "And where is he?" he asked his daughters. "Why did you leave him? Invite him to have something to eat."
21 Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage. The Holy Bible: N I V, electronic ed., Ex 2:15-21 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996, c1984).
So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him and commanded him: "Do not marry a Canaanite woman.
2 Go at once to Paddan Aram,to the house of your mother's father Bethuel. Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban,
your mother's brother." The Holy Bible: N I V, electronic ed., Gen 28:1-2 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996, c1984).
So, you ask why begin your love story with two rather obscure passages from the Holy Bible.
These two stories show the lengths that men have gone to in searching for wives. Of course in the case of Moses,
he was not looking for wife and neither was I.
In September of 2001 my wife of ten years informed me that she needed some space and she was going to change her name.
She said that she really regretted taking my name when we married. This was a second marriage for both of us and she had retaken
her maiden name after divorcing her first husband. I suggested that we try to work things out to save our marriage and she was not
interested. She said "I don't love you." We were divorced in May of 2002. To say that I was devastated would be an understatement.
I spent the next two months in counseling, studying the Holy Bible, praying, and crying. My walk with the Lord began in my youth and
had been an on again off again sort of thing. Most recently I had been a "nominal" Christian, certainly not the spiritual head of house.
When I opened my heart to God it became clear to me that He was enough. Through Jesus Christ, God supplied all my needs.
I was ok with living the rest my life for God in a single state.
My journey that summer took me to Colorado CFO, California Silver Sierra CFO, Colorado Wilderness CFO, and
California Central Pines CFO. I was taught, prayed for, loved on by the body of believers and in general healed of a great hurt.
I went from depressed, suicidal, and convinced that God wanted me to live the rest of life alone to healed, blessed,
and confident in God's infinite love.
Camp Farthest Out (CFO) is an interdenominational Christian fellowship founded in 1930 by Dr. Glenn Clark. His vision for
people to go farther out in their walk with Jesus is being fulfilled with hundreds of CFO events around the world today.
CFO retreats are held in comfortable accommodations; yet, the elements of the CFO Day remain the same - proven tools for
experiencing God in a meaningful way. The idea is to step away from the everyday hustle and bustle of life in the world
and go much deeper with God. No television, cell phones, email, or newspapers for a week of decompression and fellowship.
I met Alice at California Silver Sierra CFO. It was not love at first sight though we were mutually interested. Alice didn't
see much chance for long term relationship because I was from Colorado and my family was there. She certainly was not interested in
leaving California and her family. She was the council ring Chairperson; we ate several meals together, took an afternoon trip to town
and generally got to know each other. She was a widow of several years and was in camp with her three grand children who I did
love right away. Alice wasn't looking for a husband and I was sure that I didn't need a wife. Camp ended with us sharing email
addresses and invitation to visit her if I ever came back to California. I did come back to California that summer for another CFO.
At the end of the Central Pines CFO I called Alice and asked if her invitation was still standing. I went to Alice’s home in Clovis
for dinner on Friday and never left.
During our conversation at dinner I told Alice that I wanted to visit Yosemite National Park while I was in the area and
she agreed to take me there the next day. It couldn't have been a more perfect day. The skies were clear, the air was warm and by
the time we got home that evening we were talking marriage. I was totally in love with Alice. We had both poured out our stories
complete with all the ugly wounds and scars. There was absolute transparency. I told her about my years of sexual addiction, the
infidelity that ended my first marriage, and everything else there was to tell.
Alice told me everything about her rebellious adolescence, her abusive first marriage, and her pain of losing her second
husband after long battle with illness.
I had a photography assignment at Lake Tahoe on Sunday and Alice went along. We had more time to share and learn about
each other and it was decided that I would stay in California for awhile longer to see what developed. I met with Jill, her daughter
and passed inspection. The next weekend we traveled to Duarte, CA to meet her son Jim. On the trip down I officially asked Alice to
marry me just as soon as I could find a job. She said yes.
While we were at Jim's I checked my email and there was a message from Bonnie (my first wife and mother of our children)
asking me to give Alice a hug. Bonnie and Alice had met two years previously at Colorado Autumn CFO and become friends. Bonnie had
remarried so the names were different giving Alice no clue about any possible connection. We had talked about Alice being in Colorado
but not about anyone she met. It's a small world.
The next weekend (Labor Day) we traveled with Jill and her family to South Lake Tahoe for our wedding. So that is how a Colorado
mountain boy came to be living in the central valley of California. We are writing new sentences in our story together with
Jesus Christ as God blesses our days.
Dude,
This is a really cool blog. I love your honesty and transparency. I learned some good things about you today.
Your bro in Christ,
Kirk
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