Like Those Who Dream: Chapter 13, Wedding Plans
-Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow
Clouds are firm enough
To hold the falling rain;
Mountains are great enough
To reach out to the plain;
Trees are tall enough
To shade the summer sun;
The wind is cool enough
To freshen everyone.
Rivers are strong enough
To make it to the sea;
Flowers are sweet enough
To satisfy the bee;
Lakes are clear enough
To reflect the morning sky;
The eagle is wise enough
To make his nest on high.
But there isn’t anything
That I could ever do,
To make my heart big enough
To hold my love for you.
(A poem from Roy to Char)
...
It was the
end of another night of studies as I cleared the top of my desk, reached into
my desk drawer and pulled out a pen and a sheet of my personally designed
stationery. It had a seal at the top in the shape of a crown and included the
Scripture from Revelation 2:10 …“Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” I had the writing paper and matching
envelopes designed and printed by one of my friends in the print shop. Letter
writing had become a normal part of my daily routine during my senior year.
After
our engagement, Char moved back to her home in the farming community of Rollag,
Minnesota and got a job cleaning houses in Fargo/Moorhead for $10 a day. Rollag
was about 200 miles northwest of Minneapolis and since I didn’t have a car, the
only way to get there was to hitchhike or take a bus. I didn’t have many days
off to travel up to her farm, and I didn’t have the money to make a lot of
phone calls, so letter writing became our main form of communication (stamps
were only 5 cents for a first class letter.)
With
Char no longer living on campus, I put myself into my studies and finished the
year with my highest marks. As the school year moved toward the spring and
graduation, I started to think more seriously about the things I needed to do
in preparation for our soon approaching wedding. My brother, Don, was also
making wedding plans at this time. While visiting me during my junior year, Don
had pursued Beverly Hill, a student in Char’s class and the one Don had first
noticed on his visit to Bethany the summer before. Their relationship blossomed
quickly. When Bev graduated from Bethany she attended Spanish language school
in McAllen, Texas. Don attended there at the same time. They both had a call on
their lives to serve the Lord in Mexico. While they were in language school
they became engaged and planned to marry on May 28th, 1964, the day
after graduation. Char and I had set our wedding date for June 2nd,
1964, two days after my graduation from Bethany. The difference of five days
was just enough for Don and Bev to attend our wedding.
About
six weeks before our wedding, Char made a trip to Minneapolis to talk to me
about some of the wedding plans she and her mother were making…
I
knew nothing about planning a wedding and assumed that the groom just showed up
on the day of the wedding and got married. It was quite a revelation when I
found out that I should be responsible for the flowers.
“My
parents understand that as a student you have no money, and they are perfectly
willing to cover the expenses for the flowers,” Char told me during our
discussion.
“How
much are we talking about?” I asked.
“Counting
my bouquet of roses and corsages for the mother’s, it would be $25.”
“I’m
thankful your parents are willing to pay for the flowers, but I don’t feel they
should. Since it is my responsibility, I want to pay for them. When would you
need the money?”
“We
would like to pay the florist by the 15th of May.”
“I
will ask the Lord to provide the money for the flowers by that time.”
From
that point on, whenever I received any amount of money I put it aside for the
flowers. With one week left to make my deadline, I had $15. As I stretched out
on my bed one evening to give more thought to my financial situation, a
classmate stuck his head in the door and asked, “I’m on my way to Minneapolis
and I’m in need of five dollars. Could you help me out?”
I
knew he wouldn’t have asked if he didn’t need it.
“Here’s
$5, I hope it will help.”
He
smiled, took the money, thanked me and walked away.
The
more I thought about having the $25 by May 15th the more worried I
became. Once again my heart reached out to the Lord, “Father, you know that my
desire is to have this money on time as a testimony of your faithfulness, and I
trust you to provide all that is needed.”
Over
the next few days a few dollars came in from some unexpected sources. With one
day to go I had $15 in my wallet. The next morning I put on my grubby jeans and
my gray, cutoff-sleeved sweatshirt, went to the dining room and ate a quick
breakfast, and then headed off to work in the trailer shop spray booth. I was
helping another student paint some sheet metal parts.
It
was mid-day when a young salesman entered the building. I had seen him on a
couple of other occasions and had visited with him briefly. As he passed by the
spray booth on his way to the shop office, he stopped for a moment and greeted
me. I returned the greeting and kept on working. When I looked up a few moments
later, I noticed he was still there.
“Can
you come here for a moment,” he called out.
“Sure,”
I answered, “I’ll be right there.”
I
put down the spray gun and walked over.
“This
may sound strange,” he said, “but last night I clearly heard the Lord speak to
me. He told me that when I came to visit Bethany today I was to give you this…”
At
that moment he extended his hand and placed a ten dollar bill in my palm.
“Please
receive this from the Lord,” he added.
I
thanked him and told him how much it meant for me to receive the money on this
particular day. It was a testimony to both of us!
That
day was just the beginning of the Lord’s provisions for our wedding. After
sending off the $25 to Char, I still had no wedding suit to wear, no dress
shoes, no money for a honeymoon, and no car to go on a honeymoon…
About
two weeks before the wedding I was in my room relaxing when I heard a knock on
the door. I opened it and was surprised to see a group of guys from the dorm
standing in the hallway. I invited them in, wondering what was up.
“We
took a collection from all the guys in the dorm,” one of them said, “We had
enough money to buy you this…”
He
handed me a hanger that held a black suit. It was a perfect fit!
“After
we bought your suit,” he added, “we had enough money left over to buy you this
wristwatch.”
A
few days later, a friend approached me in the dorm and said, “The Lord told me
to buy you a new pair of shoes. I’d like to take you to the mall in downtown
Minneapolis this afternoon. There’s a great men’s shoe store there that sells
quality dress shoes. You can pick out any pair you like.”
With
the wedding just days away, a student, who owned a 1959 customized Chevy Impala
told me, “I’d like you to take my car on your honeymoon,” and handed me the
keys. It was a dream car and so much fun to drive!
The
final need was met when we received enough cash in wedding gifts to go on our honeymoon.
The trip included cruising through the Black Hills on our way to the West
Coast. (With the exception of my mother, who was able to attend the wedding,
our trip would provide Char with her first opportunity to meet my family).
Here are a few of Char’s thoughts during that time…
Roy graduated on Sunday, came up to Rollag for rehearsal Monday
and we were married Tuesday evening. I did not want to be nervous during the
wedding. I had decided to enjoy each moment of the wedding and thank the Lord,
I did! Each moment I peacefully drank
in, trying to hold it in my memory from walking down the aisle with my dad to
greeting the guests and eating cake. A very special feature of our wedding was
that my dad sang two songs “The Lord’s Prayer” and “Savior, Like A Shepherd
Lead Us.”
This was my first time to meet Roy’s mother! She was very easy to
get to know and we hit it off right from the start. She was strikingly
attractive and a very likeable person. We had a great love relationship as
Daughter-in-law and mother-in-law in the many years to come. I would be in her
home in Los Angeles within a few days for a two week honeymoon when Roy showed
me all of Southern California.
I was a bit fearful to meet Roy’s dad. In those days cassette
tapes were the best way to communicate for them as telephone was a luxury for
long distance and used for only special occasions. A few times Roy would let me listen to a
piece of their recording. His father sounded very firm and authoritative.
I was to meet Roy’s dad on our honeymoon and I didn’t know what to
expect. When the moment came I was very surprised to see what a tall handsome
and loving man he was! We became very close in heart and spirit and enjoyed
many years of deep friendship and deep respect for one another until his death
at the age of 89. It was a privilege to have been one of his daughters-in-law.
He would be, in the years to come, following our marriage, a God given vessel
to speak much truth into my life. He was always gentle with me and very patient
although he could be gruff with others mixed in with gentleness—I think he
knew I couldn’t handle the ‘gruff’ part so stuck to the ‘gentle’ with me.
...
(Join us next week as we continue this journey of Roy's memoir, Like Those Who Dream. The book is available through DaySpring and Christian retailers everywhere.)
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©2022 DaySpring, Roy Lessin, Meeting in the Meadow. Used with permission, all rights reserved.
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