YESTERDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2023, DORY AND I CELEBRATED A JOURNEY OF
"FIRSTS" WHICH BEGAN 46 YEARS AGO! ~ The video below follows us for
only the First 43 Years of Firsts, but is indicative of how God has
blessed us for 46 years, and counting! Look out 50, here we come!
In the Spring of 1977, two lives came together for the first
time. In Santa Ana, California, Real Estate Agent Dory Daludado was attending a weekly Red
Carpet Realty sales meeting at the Saddleback Inn Hotel
and Conference Center ~ and Bill Gray was at the Saddleback Inn
Hotel to join friends for an evening of entertainment.
At that
time, while Disneyland and the Anaheim Convention Center were
the hub for national and international business and visitors -
ten miles away - the Saddleback Inn Hotel and Conference Center
in Santa Ana, California, was the hub for local business
meetings and entertainment.
Today as I look back over the years, I can see how God
orchestrated a meeting between
those two unlikely participants, Bill and Dory, which would
eventually fulfill His eternal plan for our lives. Over the
years, I have had three very special relationships. All three
were special, but all three were different in a very important aspect
of what I believe was God's plan for my lives.
The first was
Roman Catholic, the second was into Eastern Mysticism, and I
believe the
third, Dory, fulfilled God's spiritual plan for my life, which
set me on a path
I have followed for the past 36 years, that I should be a
Christian believer
and have a Christian writing ministry.
If Dory and I had not met and married in 1977 - I would not have
met
Pastor Sam & Ida Lacanienta - and very likely I would not be
a believer. It is my firm belief that God used the Christian
love I experienced when I met that Godly pastoral couple which would
point me to the cross of Jesus Christ.
When I think of how Pastor Sam & Ida Lacanienta showed me the path to eternal life in Christ, I am reminded of a story
I read years ago in Our Daily Bread, Fall 1991 issue. It was written by
Henry Bosch and tells of a missionary to the Kiowa Indians. The first missionary to
the Kiowa Indians was a woman named Miss Reside. After living
with the Indians long enough for them to understand what it meant to be Christian, they began calling her "Aim Day Co."
Explaining the significance of this name, Chief Bigtree said, "When we Kiowas see anyone on the wrong trail, we call out, 'Aim day co,' which means 'Turn this way.' Our sister came to us from a far land and found us on the wrong path and in great danger. She stood and called out to us saying, 'Turn this way.' Then she showed us the Jesus road. God bless Miss Aim Day Co."
Miss "Aim Day Co" did not stay in her comfort zone. Instead she went to where the Indians lived, she went to their comfort zone. I'm quite sure she did not start beating them over the head with non-stop Scripture or demand that they learn her "Christianese" language. No, I'm sure that she first learned how to tell them, in their own language, "Turn this way! Aim day co!"
Thirty-six years ago, Pastor Sam & Ida were my "Miss Aim day co!" Yet it is my firm belief that God began my journey on that Wednesday evening in 1977 when (by divine purpose?) I met my future Life Partner, Dory - 46 YEARS AGO!
I invite you to take just a few minutes, relax, and journey with Dory and me as we relive the "First
BILL & DORY GRAY ~ "Our FIRST 43 Years Of FIRSTS"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4GHYO9Qgto
Every
year as we celebrate the blessings of our lives together, we thank
God. With God's blessings we have celebrated our 46th WEDDING
ANNIVERSARY!
And with His continued blessings, I say, "Look out 50th, 60th, and counting! Here we come!"
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
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