This morning, I brought Jan flowers, a card, and a gift to honor her on Valentine’s Day. I am thinking back fifty-five years ago to our first date.

One night, I entered the cafeteria at Multnomah University, where we were students, then known as Multnomah School of the Bible. I looked across the cafeteria and saw Jan waiting in line. We had been introduced a week or so earlier, so I wasn’t a complete stranger. 

I walked up to Jan and said, “Hi, do you want to go get a taco instead of eating this cafeteria food?’’ She smiled and said “Yes.” Our journey of life together began with her “Yes.”

Since I had no car, we had to walk in the dark almost a mile to the nearest taco place. Valentine’s Day was only a few days away. Jan already had a date with someone else to attend a Valentine’s Day event on campus.  

When Valentine’s Night arrived, Jan was waiting for her date to arrive. My roommate and I cooked up an idea. We were among a few longish-haired boys on a very conservative campus. Our presence was viewed with a bit of suspicion. We wore military surplus jackets, blue jeans, and boots.

On Valentine’s evening, we had a crazy idea. We entered Montavilla Park which bordered the campus and climbed up into a tree, The tree was within sight of Jan’s dorm entrance.  

As we hung in the tree waiting for Jan to emerge, I finally saw her and her date come out of the entryway of her dorm. She was stunning wearing a formal dress she made by hand. As a missionary kid, there were no stores where she could shop in Central America, so she became a gifted seamstress making all her clothes.

Now, 55 years after that first Valentine’s night, I can still remember the moment I saw Jan walk out from the main door of her dorm. At that moment, I was struck by her beauty. That feeling of being struck is still alive today, but now it’s much deeper after all the intervening years of our lives and the trials and testing we have experienced together along the way. 

Now as we embrace our final years together, we have experienced the maturing presence of God’s Spirit. It has drawn us deeper together than we ever thought was possible on our first date. 

I am a struck man. I am struck by the faithful love of God and the love of a woman who has helped me go deeper with her into the unexplored depths of God’s love. 

Happy Valentine’s Day!