We Had No Idea

In the summer of 1972, I had just graduated from seminary. Lynn had just finished her second year as a high school English teacher. To get away for a few days, we decided to travel up the coast of Maine to visit Acadia National Park.

We took along our bulky, heavy, canvas cottage tent we had bought used from a family during the first summer we were married. We found a campground on Somes Sound on Mt. Desert Island and pitched our tent on a platform overlooking the sound.

By day we toured Acadia National Park. In the mornings we watched the lobster boats, and I fished for mackerel. At night we tried to play gin rummy with what we found out later was a pinochle deck.

And, we dreamed and talked about the future--about children, about ministry, about faith, about each other.

This week, 42 years later, we returned to the same campground. We rented a site on the water, just down from where we stayed the last time we were here.

We pulled our chairs out of our van and went out on the dock.  The water was as smooth as glass. A seal swam nearby, occasionally dipping its head in the water in search of food. It was dusk. A bright, almost-full moon rose over the water. It was strikingly quiet.

As we sat on the dock together, we reflected and talked about the past--about children, about ministry, about faith, about each other.

We looked at each other and just shook our heads. Words failed to describe our gratitude and amazement for what God has done in our lives. "We had no idea," we said to each other.

No idea that God would give us two wonderful children who would marry such amazing spouses.

No idea that we would travel the world showing the love of Christ to people affected by disaster, conflict, and poverty.

No idea that Lynn would become an editor and work on hundreds of Christian books that would be read by millions of people.

No idea that we'd live in Wheaton and then in the Pacific Northwest.

No idea that God would be so generous to two people who had almost nothing.

No idea that, with God's grace and blessing, we would love each other more now than we did 42 years ago.

No idea that God would bring into our lives such wonderful friends.

Our lives have not been without challenge, frustration, or struggle.

And, some day soon we will turn our eyes again to the future.

But, on this quiet night on the shore of a beautiful island in Maine, when we think about God's grace during the past 42 years, all we can do is shake our heads and look at each other through eyes filled with tears and say:

"We had no idea."