September 9, 1966, I remember this date well. I was living in California working for the State of California Nursing Board. It was a holiday for us – California Admission Day, the celebration of the date California was admitted to the Union. It ended up being more than that.
I had met a young man, a former Marine, handsome, funny (he was 26, I was 19). We had our first date on August 11. On September 9 we went out to dinner and then up to Folsom Dam overlook to watch the sunset. As the night fell, we decided to get married. It wasn’t a formal proposal, no ring yet. In fact, Bob claims I asked him. I thought he asked me. After a few years of marriage, we figured out no one had really asked anyone, it was all a misunderstanding.
(I did ask him to marry me 25 years later when we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary – so I guess after 52 ½ (now 54 ½) years we can no longer claim it was a misunderstanding!)
In Christianity, there are different views about how we become part of the family of God. The two main views (and there are dozens of sub-views) are Calvinism and Arminianism. Simply (very simply) defined, God chooses completely whom He wants—man has no part in it (Calvinism); or God invites “whosoever will” – and man makes a choice (Arminianism). I have had people come unglued if I mention something that they do not consider part of their viewpoint. One man became so angry he threw his Bible on the floor and stomped out of a Bible Study.
So, if you meet me on the street one day and ask me what view I hold, I’m going to tell you that I don’t know, and honestly, I don’t care who started it, I am just so thankful someone did! God may have asked me, or I may have “found God” and asked Him. Maybe it all happened at once. But, it’s a bit like my “engagement,” it doesn’t really matter after all this time; I am just so thankful that I am a child of God.
1 John 3:1: “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”
