Before the Waiting was Over

Both were a dream—writing a book and getting married to the right man. Both came true. But not until after I learned valuable lessons which I will carry with me for as long as I am walking this side of eternity.

This is not a book of do’s and don’ts. What you have in your hands is simply a sharing of my experiences as a sojourner through life and love. This is an intimate section in my life’s journal wherein I risked speaking my mind and baring my heart, sharing with you deep thoughts and intimate secrets.

I have read volumes on love, listened to a lot of sermons on obeying God’s will, and attended countless seminars on love, courtship, and marriage. I have come to conclude that God gives us pointers on how to please Him in our love life but it is our decision to bring it under the lordship of Christ. It is ultimately our choice to be joyful in our God-designed romance or to be miserable in our self-appointed entanglements.

This journey taught me that there are no hard and fast formulas. Each love story is unique. God can write our love story if we let Him. We may dream and He may grant it to the detail but He may also choose to give you something far beyond what you could ever ask or imagine. Indeed, mine is a love story written in heaven, lived and enjoyed on earth. Thus, I feel it is more appropriate to call what you are about to read in this book a “faith story.”

It is my prayer that my “faith story” will give the lonely heart a reason to smile, the downcast soul strength to look up, the hopeless wanderer a shade to rest in, and the lost lover a place to belong.

Grace Gaston-Dousel
June 2004