Marcus and Lauren Redding

There was her text message on his cell phone: 1 John 3:19-20. How many times his wife had reminded him about those two verses, “By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.” Marcus took a deep breath, looked down at Bruce’s grave, took another deep breath, then turned and walked back to his car.

As he walked back to his car he sent his wife a text message: Proverbs 31:10-11. It was kind of a game for them. Not a fun or funny game, just something they did, sending each other text messages with scriptures for whatever they were doing at the time. How many times he had thought of those verses when he thought about Lauren.

It was about a fifteen minute drive from the cemetery back to their apartment and he didn’t feel like listening to the radio. So he just blasted the air conditioning (it had been 100 degrees during the day for the last 3 weeks!) and thought about Lauren as he drove home. He remembered the first time he saw her. Or at least the first time he saw the top of her head. Behind a computer. In the computer lab at TJC.

He had come in to check his email and sat down toward the back. He heard two girls talking at the front. One girl was talking to Lauren, the teacher assistant in charge of the lab. The girl was a student, complaining that her computer wasn’t working and she desperately needed to turn in a project before 11:00. The poor gal was almost in tears, going on and on about how she’d fail the class if she didn’t turn this in on time. Lauren told the girl to calm down and she would help her. Lauren pulled an empty chair up next to her computer, patted the seat, and said, “Come on, I’ll help you.” For the next 30 minutes she helped the girl finish her project. Marcus never saw Lauren’s face, just heard her kind voice and could barely see the top of her head, long blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail. She had his attention.

Though some might have considered it a form of stalking, Marcus noticed when Lauren left the computer lab and he nonchalantly followed her from a distance. After weaving through campus, trying not to actually look like a stalker, he noticed Lauren stop and talk to a group of 5 or 6 girls in front of the gym. He sat down on a bench and watched her, and them. One girl had a Bible and read it for a bit. Then all the girls bowed their heads. It looked like they were praying. Then they hugged each other and said goodbye. She walked into the gym. Marcus resolved to “check his email” the next morning at 10:30 in the computer lab.

By now he was back home. He parked the car and walked up the steps to their apartment. He opened the door. There she was at the kitchen table, long blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail, typing on the computer, open Bible lying on the table. He didn’t say anything. Just went over and gave her a hug. “Did you get my text?” She said yes. By now he had tears in his eyes. Not weeping or crying. Just tears in his eyes. He told Lauren, “If it wasn’t for you, I would be lost...in more ways than one.”

More about Marcus Redding’s journey of faith next week...