“Do you know Ken Popkin?” I asked my friend, Chris. Since Chris was the youth pastor, I figured he might know the guy from our church whom I was being set up on a blind date with.

Chris did know Ken, but not well. He promised that if he had a Ken sighting the next Sunday, he would take the ‘blind’ out of my blind date. Had I known how this would go down, I would have insisted he not.


After the service, I was chatting with some friends, when Chris caught my eye from across the foyer. He was waving to me and pointing emphatically at someone. A tall, dark, and handsome someone. He was mouthing, “That’s him!”

Oh, good. Now I knew who Ken Popkin was. And so did all the rest of the people in the church foyer. Red-faced, I quickly slipped down a church hallway.

Thankfully, Ken never noticed that he had been a marked man. And my friend, Chris, never got access to any more blind date information. (Partly, because I never had any more blind dates…)

 Within a couple of years, Ken became my husband, and as of today, we’ve been married 16 years. Chris’s pointing finger directed my first glimpse of my tall, dark, and handsome husband, but God’s finger was the one to direct our hearts and lives to converge. 


Ken and I still go on blind dates together. We’re no longer blind to each other. But our dates are often when we collaborate on the veiled future before us. Often, after talking and praying, we go home a little less ‘blind’ about what God has for us next. I’m so thankful for the life partner that I first caught a glimpse of in a church foyer: my tall, dark, and handsome husband, Ken.  



PS. I’ve long since forgiven my friend, Chris Brauns, for his foyer faux pas. He officiated at our wedding, (Chris is on the right and Pastor Jim Jeffery is on the left) and has been a great friend to us for many years. 

Pin It on Pinterest