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How Our Lady of the Rosary Helped Me Meet My Husband
Have you ever NOT noticed a rainbow until someone else pointed it out to you?
Have you ever had to pull a child away from danger –
maybe a car driving quickly in a parking lot, for example?
This is how I imagine one way Our Blessed Mother works in our lives. Our Heavenly Mother often has to point out what is already there – either a gift from God or danger that would lead us away from her Son.
Our Blessed Mother helps us see what God has ready for us
The way my husband Matt and I went on our first date is a much more specific example of how I believe Our Lady of the Rosary helps us.
In a way, he was the rainbow in the sky I needed pointed out to me.
Our Mama Mary, when we faithfully pray the Rosary and grant her a little trust (or a lot of it) points out to us the beauty that God has put in our lives. She also points out the danger that exists and is near us – especially those that would endanger our soul.
God heard my prayer for a husband long before I started praying the Rosary on a regular basis
Matt and I went on our first date in 2004.
However, the suggestion that I meet Matt came about two years before that.
Let me explain.
Around the year 2002, I bumped into an old high school friend. As we caught up, she expressed her opinion that I should “meet Matt”. Matt was her friend Maria’s brother. The only thing I gleaned that I had in common with this guy was that we were both single.
Based on that information, I made no effort to explore this idea and showed no interest in this idea.
Months later, I saw Karen again. This time Karen knew we were going to be together, so she brought a picture of Matt to show me.
Again, I expressed no interest really. I did not hear anything about this guy that made me think, “oh yes, we have lots in common, we should totally meet”.
Again, I did something like smiled, nodded and went along my way.
Something changed when I started praying the Rosary
In 2003, I started praying the Rosary with at least 3 friends once a week.
We would gather at my apartment on Thursday evenings. We often invited others to join us, and there were weeks where 5 to seven of us sat around a living room sharing intentions and praying the Rosary together.
Loneliness, Despair and Infertility inspired a Rosary group
There were 4 women that were there praying the Rosary consistently: Nancy, Siobhan, Kelly and myself.
When we began, Nancy and I were lonely and broken-hearted.
Siobhan was pregnant, but the father of the baby and her were on, to say the least, on a very rocky road.
Kelly was experiencing infertility.
These women became my closest friends. We did other things together besides meet up for Rosary once a week.
Nancy, Siobhan and Kelly were fans of a show called “Sex in the City”. I never watched it prior to meeting them and honestly, felt no desire to watch it. The title of the show didn’t exactly sit well with me.
HOWEVER, sometime in the beginning of 2004, Kelly decided she was going to have a “Sex in the City party”. My guess is the show was in it’s last season, so she wanted to gather friends to watch the last episode.
I agreed to go to this party because, well, I had no other plans and my friends were going to be there.
It was at this party that I met Maria.
Maria, Karen’s friend – who was also friends with Nancy and Kelly.
I quickly realized this was the Maria I had heard about many times and had yet to meet.
And this was the Maria who happened to have a single brother named Matt – who Karen had mentioned to me more than once.
I quickly realized why my mutual friends often spoke so highly of Maria. I immediately liked her and wanted to be her friend.
After we had talked a while, I said to Maria . . . “tell me about your brother our mutual friend Karen has told me about” . . .
Maria’s response:
“Oh I was hoping you’d ask!”
Maria left that party with a picture of me and my phone number. I figured, if his sister was that nice, he was probably a guy I’d like to meet.
I left the party not minding if this Matt eventually called me . . . but also with no high hopes or eager expectations.
Pictured above: Maria (Matt’s sister) is in the red shirt. Siobhan is next to her and Nancy is wearing the striped white and gray shirt.
At the end of May, Siobhan gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.
In early June, when Siobhan brought her daughter home to her new apartment, Nancy and I went to visit Mama and baby.
While we were visiting, my cell phone rang. I looked at the number calling and said something like,
“I don’t recognize that number. That might be Maria’s brother Matt. I’ll just let it ring and call him back . . “
I think I was going to say later but before I was done speaking, Nancy and Siobhan shouted in unison:
ANSWER IT!!!!!!!!!!!
As a reaction, I answered it.
Sure enough, it was Matt.
We talked a little and decided that we would go out together on the evening of June 17th. That was the last day of school so I thought it would be a good night to go out – I wouldn’t have to worry about grading or lesson planning at that point.
At a much later date, Matt shared with me how that day he called me, he had held his phone and my number in his hand for what felt like hours. It may have actually been hours.
Matt doesn’t like calling people. He even isn’t to fond of calling to order a pizza.
This phone call was a big deal for him to make.
I only recently shared with him what had happened on my end. I figured if I didn’t answer, he would leave a message and I would just call him back. In my mind – no big deal.
When I shared this story with him, Matt said that he really isn’t sure he would have left a message. In fact, he probably would not have left a message.
Matt once again reminded me how
he held his phone and my number and stared at it for a very, very long time.
I was reminded of how big a deal making this phone call was to him.
Then it dawned on me.
The two women who shouted ANSWER IT, were my prayer partners for the past 9 months.
It was those two who were listening to my intention week after week – please Lord let me meet a man I can fall in love with and marry.
It was with those two women who prayed the Rosary with me every week.
Not only was I walking with Our Lady, they also had been walking with her.
I feel like the three of them teamed up in that moment.
ANSWER IT was a direct message from God. That message was shared in stereo.
God had Matt chosen for me, but boy, did I need a whole lot of help to see that answered prayer and gift from above.
Our Blessed Mother Helped Me Open My Heart More to God’s Love
When my friend Karen suggested that I should meet Matt, I totally disregarded the suggestion.
Then, I started praying the Rosary with a group of friends.
That Rosary group led me to meet MARIA (ironic) and I let down my guard. I passed along my phone number.
But the help I needed didn’t end there. When Matt called me, I was not going to answer the phone.
I only answered it because two women, who had prayed the Rosary with me for months, were prompted to shout at the same time, “ANSWER IT”.
It’s actually that memory that made me stop and think about how every time I prayed the Rosary with these girls that year, my number one intention was all about my lonely, sad heart that longed for the vocation of marriage.
Maybe some of us need more help to see God’s gifts right in front of us. The fact that I might be one of those people does not surprise me at all.
I mean, it took me like 20 years to put all the pieces of this story together. Yeah, I might need Our Blessed Mother’s help . . . as well as some faithful friends.
And here we are, twenty years later.
Our first date was on June 17th 2004.
Our first child was born on June 17th years later.
God had it planned, I’m certainly grateful Our Heavenly Mother helped me see it.
Want to see some of my favorite Rosaries so you can start praying more? My new favorite Rosary is from Abundantly Yours! Also, check out Not Your Grandma’s Rosaries!
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