My Childhood Dream

I want to share my childhood dream with you, so you'll know how important Fatherhood was to me, and how much it meant to me to be a Father. But this story will also lead into my marriage, as my childhood dream became a reality in marriage.

I'll also be sharing things about the precious mother of my children, because it will lead to more answered prayers, but first I'll tell you a little more about my family life as a child, so you'll understand my childhood dream. I came from a very dysfunctional family, and my father was very emotionally abusive! (Not Physically!)

He liked to yell a lot, and sometimes it seemed like he yelled for no reason at all! (Please don't judge him!) His childhood was worse than mine! Never-the-less! I feared him, and tried to avoid him as much as possible.

I had five sisters growing up, but I have another sister from my step-father now! (Six total!) My father's temper was devastating to all of us, so we hid from him most of the time, because of his temper.

Now I want to tell you what my favorite TV show was when I was a child, because it would play an important role pertaining to my dream, and also an important role in my marriage as an adult.

My favorite TV show was "Leave It to Beaver". Because I would see how the Cleaver family life style was like on the Leave It To Beaver Show, and I knew it was different than my family life. Ward Cleaver was different than my father.

I suppose Ward Cleaver was a Role model to me in a way! I remember thinking, that I wish my father was like him. Remember! I was also close to Beaver's age, so I was watching the show through a child's eyes.

I also remember times I would stare out the window, and seeing the man next door stumbling out of a cab, because every night he'd drink until he was too drunk to walk, while his daughter needed shoes.

It was things like this that sparked my childhood dream. Some boys wanted to grow up and be cowboys, policemen, and things like that, but I wanted to grow up, and be the best father I could be to my children.

You See! I wanted to be like Ward Cleaver on the Leave It To Beaver Show! So I dreamed about being just like him as I was growing up. So my appreciation for a loving family circle stemmed from my childhood dream.

I carried my childhood dream into my marriage, after I grew up, and I was also a Christian by then, so it seemed like my childhood dream was becoming a reality. I finally could have the family I dreamed about!

But I'd like to share some things about my wife, and how we met. I had known the Lord for about a couple years before I met my wife. (Who was actually my first wife. I’m married to another precious woman named Carol now. ). I read that 500 page Bible Story Book in August of 1969. I met my first wife in a Christian coffee house in December 1971.

The first thing I ever heard her say was Jesus! I remember how she would light up the room as she walked in. She had a very beautiful smile, and she would speak the name of Jesus, like someone she loved.

You can see a picture from a local newspaper article about that christian coffee house on the front page of my website, just look for "Jeff 72", because it was in 1972, and my picture was also in that newspaper article, it shows me holding up a Bible, as if I'm in deep thought.

But the coffee house was going to close up in March 1972, about 3 months after I first seen my wife. We were just friends & acquaintances at that time. Our relationship was no different than it was with anyone else there.

But I knew the man, who ran the coffee house well, and he let me stay in it over night the last week it was open. I wanted a place to praise & seek the Lord alone, so he let me use the coffee house after hours.

I remember praising the Lord for hours through the night. I also poured out my heart to him, and made my request until him. I remembered my childhood dream, and how much I wanted children.

So I asked the Lord to send me a wife, because I didn't trust my judgment at the time. The coffee house was filled with many young girls, and I could have chosen several of them. (But which one?)

So I ask the Lord to send a woman I couldn't shake! No matter how much I tried! Then I would know she was from him. I said that prayer about 2 days before the coffee house closed to the public.

Little did I know, that the Lord would answer it in a miraculous way! My wife's name was Marilyn, and it was the last day of the coffee house, and both Marilyn & I were there, but we all would be leaving as they closed the doors.

The thing is: Marilyn & I would never have seen each other again after that, except something happen as she started to walk out the door. The Spirit grabbed a hold of me, and set me on my feet.

Then these words came out of my mouth! (To my surprise!) I said "Marilyn, we're not at peace! Are we?" But I didn't understand why I said that. But I was even more surprised, when she stopped in her tracks, then she turned around and said "No we aren't"

She then walked out the door, and I thought I'd never see her again, and I was confused why I said that, and why she said what she did. But it was the Lord, because of what happened next.

I was still there about an hour later, when the phone rang, and I was told the call was for me. That surprised me too, because nobody ever called me there! But it was Marilyn on the phone, and here's what she said:

She said: "Jeff, Two days ago, you were the last man I would have picked at the coffee house! But the Lord came to me in a vision the other day, and told me I'd be the mother of your children, and I can't get you out of my mind since!"

Yes! She had that vision the same day I prayed that prayer! I couldn't believe what I was hearing on the phone that day, so I told her to come to the Coffee House the next day! It would be closed, but I knew the owner.

So we talked down the basement of the coffee house the next day. The same basement I praised the Lord in all week before then. The Lord was answering my prayer, but I was fighting it.

Why? Marilyn & I were from different side of the tracks. She came from a family, who lived in a nice house. She drove a brand new car! Her family was much like the Leave It To Beaver family. Her father was much like Ward Clever!

But I came from a dysfunctional family! I never drove a car in my life before then! I was the one, who use to sleep under bridges all over the country. I suppose I didn't think I had a chance with Marilyn.

So I felt nervous in that basement, and I lacked confidence I could make her happy! So I told her I was leaving, and was hitch hiking to New Orleans, and I tried hard to discourage her, and then I started up the stairs.

But then I felt her pulling on my pants legs. I couldn't shake her, and she pulled me right down those stairs, so there I sat remembering my prayer! Lord, send me a woman I can't shake, and I was sitting in the same place I said that prayer at the bottom of the stairs.

So Marilyn & I walked out together that day, and we were married Dec. 2, 1972. I also prayed for a few other things that day. I prayed for a job. I prayed to learn to drive, so I could get a car.

It was Marilyn who taught me to drive in that brand new car of hers! I received my driver license in July that year. I also had a job, and purchased my first car in August 1972. About 4 months before we were married!

Marilyn would have been my first pick at the coffee house! Because we did visit Nursing homes together, and ministered to the old people long before that prayer. I liked her friendly smile so much!

But I never considered her, because I just didn't think I had a chance with her, and she confirmed that by saying I was the last man there she would have picked. So I was walking on clouds when we walked out of the coffee house together, after the prayer!

It makes me think of Psalm 37:4 that says: "Delight thyself in the Lord, and he shall give you the desires of your heart" I loved praising him, and the Lord meant everything to me. (I was so sincere about him!)

So we were married, and even though I was intimidated by my in-laws, because I was from the wrong side of the tracks, yet I grew to love them, because they really were the Leave It To Beaver type family!