Special Feature
As Hannah tells it, she saw me standing across the athletic field at the University of Montevallo and declared to her friends, “I am going to take that boy home to my Momma.” And she did. She laughs now, though, knowing that her tongue-in-cheek intentions all those years ago were fiery. My long hair, tie-dyed shirts, cut-off khaki shorts, and “Jesus sandals” would worry her Momma and annoy her Daddy. And they did, too.
I knew all too well that Hannah’s southern drawl and country ways would win over everyone in my family. My oldest brother, passing through Montevallo on business, met Hannah and fell in love with her southern charm… and promptly told my mother that Hannah had pink hair, dressed in all black, wore three nose rings, and was a stripper in a Goth club. I had no idea. He fed that tall tale to my mother for months in anticipation of Hannah’s first visit. Ever gracious, my mother sighed, “Oh, thank goodness,” when Hannah emerged from the passenger seat of my truck that first time home. We all laughed heartily at my brother’s prank.
Conversely, I suspect George and Brenda sighed, “Oh, goodness,” when I emerged from the passenger seat of Hannah’s Pontiac Sunbird on that first trip to meet her parents. Hannah, a prankster in her own right, decided to have a little fun at my expense. “You do know all the pieces of a place setting, don’t you?” I asked sheepishly, “You mean, like which fork to use for the salad?” She nodded in affirmation, and panic shivered down my spine. I wasn’t sure I had ever seen formal place settings anywhere but on television and she was insistent that I not embarrass her by using the wrong fork for the main course. “My mother will not approve at all if you get this wrong,” she chided.
She never let me off the hook until nightfall and much to my glee, we sat down at a small table just off Brenda’s kitchen. There was only one plate, a fork, and a napkin for each of us plus a meal fit for a king. Just as I reached for my fork, Hannah grabbed my left hand. At nearly the same time, Brenda grabbed my right hand, and George began to pray. It was the first time in my life I had ever held hands to pray except one midnight Christmas Eve Mass in Magnolia Springs, Ala. when we held hands to say the Lord’s Prayer. Holding Brenda’s hand was a little uncomfortable. Praying over a meal was a little more uncomfortable. We only did that on special occasions growing up like Thanksgiving and Easter lunch. This was new to me. I had only seen things like holding hands at the blessing and eating at a table as a family on episodes of “Little House on the Prairie.” No doubt, Hannah experienced many firsts in her courtship with my family as well. I am sure my brother’s antics were new to Hannah as well as kneeling to pray in church and the sunset on Mobile Bay.
To say we came from two entirely different families would be an understatement. But we were certainly not the first ‘odd couple.’ Hosea, the minor prophet, married Gomer, a harlot. Nabal and Abigail were also entirely different in both background and personality. And yet God seems to find a way to melt the wax. Matthew 19:4-6 says, “Therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. So, they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder.” Melting a white candle and a red candle together will blend the waxes such that they look more like one another than they once did. Over the years, Hannah and I both have melted into each other. We still do every day because once two waxes blend, there is little left that resembles the old. Blend your waxes, friends. That is how God intended. No matter how diverse you once were- celebrate your oneness.
-Walt Merrell
A Christian Outdoorsman who writes of his adventures with his family, with the hope that others might be inspired and encouraged to embrace God’s tapestry, otherwise known as the great outdoors, as a means of finding Common Ground. You can follow him at Shepherding Outdoors on FB, YT and IG and at shepherdingoutdoors.com. His most recent book is available at shepherdingbook.com. Read his faith story at www.BirminghamChristian.com.
