Foreshadowing

I'm hopelessly sentimental.  I relish romantic movies, old couples holding hands, and hugs that bring a smile to your heart as well as your face.  Last weekend I witnessed one of the more heart-warming things I have seen in awhile.  

I was traveling and stopped at one of those government-run rest areas - you know, the ones with vending machines and brochures on state parks.  I needed to go to the bathroom and stretch my legs.  As I walked up to the door of the women's restroom, I was startled to meet the back of an elderly man, hunched-over, peering in.  
I was puzzled.  Hmm...
Not wanting to jump to scandalous conclusions, I said simply, "Excuse me."  
And I thought I was surprised!  He jumped and the tall, slender, bespectacled gentleman fumbled, "Oh..oh, excuse me.  I'm just watching to make sure my wife is alright."  
I asked if she needed help.  
He turned and hollered into the ladies restroom - "Lois, are you alright?"  
A faint, "yes," came in response.  
As he moved away from the door for me to go in, I spotted what I guessed was Lois' stall - red wool-socked feet with Easy Spirit sandals and walker legs with tennis balls could be seen beneath the stall door.  I went about my business and as I left, I passed the sweet elderly gentleman waiting patiently outside the restroom.  

I thought to myself, How precious is that?! That sweet man - patient and steady- just wanted to make sure his wife was alright.  He didn't care about appearances.  His love was unabashed.   

I smiled as I walked to my car, thinking of Ryan and me as an old elderly couple - Ryan hollering to make sure I'm doing alright in the restroom, pushing our walkers side-by-side, holding each others' old arthritic hands.  

Perhaps God was subtly giving me a glimpse of a what our future might be like one day.  Only God knows.  
But perhaps it was foreshadowing. 

As my thoughts have the tendency to do, especially when I'm driving, they continued to wander.  I thought of my relationship with Ryan and how God had in small, discrete ways foreshadowed, or perhaps, prepared me for Ryan and life on the farm.  

I thought of Leona, the sweet white-haired woman at my church growing up, that once told me she was praying for my future husband.  She told me directly and with emphasis, "Now I'm praying for someone tall, dark, and handsome!"  And I said, "Amen to that, Leona!" Thank you, Leona, for your faithful prayers.  The Lord delivered on each of those requests! :)  

I thought of when I told my sisters that I didn't want to marry someone short.  I wanted to marry someone tall...someone with whom I could wear all of my cute heels and boots.  Years later, in walks Ryan, measuring in at 6'7".  

I thought of how after both my sisters were married in 2006 and 2007 to men with the last names starting with "B" and "H", I guessed that someday I would marry someone with a last name that started with a letter at the end of the alphabet.  In January of this year I was welcomed by the kids at the back of the line when I took the name "Wood".  

And finally, I thought of the time I told my mom that cornfields felt like home.  At the time, I was living in Arkansas and was homesick for the familiar.  It never did cross my mind that in a few short years I would be surrounded by cornfields on every side. 

I guess sometimes we get a taste of what's to come.