Do you believe that God predisposes people toward certain things... particular interests and activities... even specific people? Well, I know with full certainty He did with me. I didn’t know until I met him, but it was probably there even before we met... because God knit me in my mother’s womb with all that I would fully become. Oh yes, it still was yet to be discovered, bud, and eventually bloom, but there it was... a seed. My heart has, I believe, always had a predisposition toward this certain skinny, little boy I eventually meet in high school.
My parents came from the Philippine Islands. After getting married, they set out to create a “better” life for their family. With courage and fear, boldness and timidity, they made their way to the States. At the same time, arriving in Portland, my husband’s parents travelled from France. They had always been nomadic, and like most of the world, they had their sights on America. With fortitude and determination, Jean-Marc’s dad and mom strove to establish life in Oregon through a myriad of their own businesses from painting to cleaning services and other miscellaneous jobs. It would be 1976 - the same year, that both families would make their first home in Portland, Oregon.
Fall of 1984, boy meets girl. Oh, I didn’t quite know what to make of him when we were first introduced. I couldn’t even shake his hand or look in his face. In fact, I quickly left the circle of our first meeting with no explanation. Yeah, he still tells the story to friends and anyone else who would believe, “She ran away from me.” Truth be told, I was tongue-tied and my spirit paralyzed within me. It actually makes me blush even thinking of that moment... yes, still... that was over two decades ago. I didn’t know then, but in reflection, I understand my heart had finally met the one it would move toward all the days of my life.
We spent our first time together, one bright morning, playing tennis. I confess, I lied. I lied...I was not going to pass up his invitation, any of his invitations. I was just happy to be invited. He asked if I enjoyed tennis. “Oh yes, I love it!” I just had never played. It didn’t take long before he figured that out. Swiftly he caught the ball that was clumsily and miraculously hit over the net, and gently and sweetly approached mid-court. “I have an idea... do you want to go and get a yogurt?” “I would love that!” He had just spared me from further embarrassment and from that moment, I knew I would love him all the days of my life.
Days turned months that senior year, and one day, as he kindly dropped me off at the yogurt shop I worked after school, he softly reached for my hand and gently pulled me closer. There it was... a first kiss... ours and mine ever. Never kissed a boy and I knew this was the one that I would know forever... all the days of my life.
He whispered in my ear... “Je t’adore” I just smiled. His first language was French, and I had not a clue what he was speaking. I could just grin. I thought it might be some silly, boyish gibberish. I wouldn’t learn until months later that he had just spoken what his heart had felt for many months before.
Events, times, and circumstance would move us physically apart, but my heart would time again gravitate toward what God predisposed it from the very beginning.
Jean-Marc and Jenni Lenc ~ Married March 18, 1995
