How We Met

Is the world waiting to know how Mimi and I met? Hardly! But it is waiting to know how you two met. Through your story people will find help, hope, and encouragement. Oh? You don’t have a story? C’mon! That’s not true. Every couple has a story. My purpose in writing my story here is to encourage you to write yours. I think you’ll be surprised how much detail is in your story you never realized was there and how much you’ll learn from just writing it. I said this is my story. Mimi has her story. This one is me going solo.

Sixty-Three and Counting

Inspiration for this blog comes from the calendar date. Yesterday (as I write) Mimi and I celebrated our 63rd Anniversary. And the untouched (ugh!) photo that you see with this blog — taken this month — is us. 

The Genesis

In high school I went out with girls as did all my friends — mostly double-dating after football games. I even went “steady” once — for about three weeks. The conversation on dates seemed sort of empty and pointless, but it was just fun being with the opposite sex for a few hours. Then God grabbed my attention —big time. I came to realize he invented life and he invented me; that he knew all about me; that he wanted to be my friend and more. I took him up on it. I moved over and gave him the driver’s seat and life became an adventure. Turns out, it’s all I wanted to talk about, and finding girls I enjoyed being with (and vice versa) who were of the same mind was nil to none so I gave up dating. 

Fast Forward — College and The Desperate Prayer Meeting

Toward the end of college (Georgia Tech) it dawned upon me and a bunch of other guys who were brothers in faith — connected through church and InterVarsity Christian Fellowship — that soon we would be out in a big world looking for one little person to have and to hold from this day forward. There’s a famous prayer by a French fisherman that fit each of us: Dear God, be good to me. The sea is so wide, and my boat is so small. We met a number of times for the express purpose of praying that prayer in many shapes and forms asking God to guide us to the one he had in mind for each of us. Back then Tech was an all-male school and there was no such thing as e-harmony. Desperate is a fitting choice of words for those days.

Out of the Blue

Then a friend I’d known since high school grabbed me one day and said with a hint in his voice, “Sim, do you remember Mimi Volpitto?” (I knew about her, that she was very popular and very beautiful. And yes, I had admired her from a distance, but she was much younger than I. And as far as being interested in life with Jesus Christ? Well, forget it.) My friend continued, “Well, she just came back from the Young Life Ranch in Colorado on fire for Christ. Her dad who loves the makeover is even going to be the ranch doctor next year to find out their behavior-transforming secret.” Needless to say, my interest was piqued. 

How in the World Would We Ever Meet?

She didn’t even know me. I was in college. She was in high school. I prayed. Then, when home for Thanksgiving, Bob, the Young Life leader phoned. “Sim, we need an extra car to take kids to a big Young Life Weekend in Asheville. Can you help?” I knew Mimi would be there. I asked my dad for the car. No soap. Even though my dad’s word was always final I risked asking again. Another “No!” with sharp edges. Bob called again. He was at last-resort for a car. I had recently read in the Bible these words: The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water: He turns it wherever he wishes (Prov. 21:1). So, I prayed: “Lord, my dad definitely has a king’s heart. It’s in your hands. You can change it. I’ll ask him again. I’ll take a yes or no as from you and will be at peace with either.” My dad, in bed as I went to his room door, was just turning his light off. His “No!” was emphatic. I went back to my room at peace. I had gotten God’s will. Cool! Ten minutes later my dad’s voice resonated through the hallway from his bedroom to mine: “Son, come here a minute.” The image is still fixed in my brain. As I stood in his doorway, he threw me the keys to the car. “Have a good time,” he said. I did and I met Mimi — causing a new prayer: Lord, now what? Help!

Christmas Presence

Home for Christmas, the phone rang. It was Mimi — of all people! And it was all business. She was helping to gather people for a Young Life Christmas party to surprise the Young Life leader and his wife, Betty. I was head of a guy’s Young Life Alumni group. She wanted me to get my group to come. Before she hung up she said, “Oh, and tell everybody to bring a date.” God spoke to me almost audibly: “Sim, now it’s your turn.” “Uh, do you… do you have a date for the party?” We’ve been dating ever since. Thanks be to God!!!