I told my mother that I was going to marry Mighty Mouse when I was 3 years old. For those born after 1990, Mighty Mouse is a cartoon character who is known for flying around and saving a beautiful girl mice from the evil felines of the world. He was brave and strong. What’s not to love when you are 3?
As I matured and became in touch with reality, the vision of my future husband changed from being a cartoon character into a Brad Pitt look alike. My future husband was going to have it all: a hot body, athleticism, off the charts intelligence, an outgoing and funny personality, and was going to LOVE cooking and cleaning so that I wouldn’t have to lift a finger.
Yes, this was going to be my future husband.
As I neared my 30s, I still waited for my Brad Pitt look alike. On most days, my waiting wasn’t pretty. I wanted to live inside my dream world because the real world was painful.
Thankfully, rejection sent me in the direction of Jesus Christ. The more I read about Him, the more I longed to marry a man that resembled Him.
Absent from my Bible were the verses that described Jesus as athletic, wealthy, or popular. What was evident is that Jesus loved God and loved people. He left Heaven to serve, protect, heal, and save people. Jesus was honest, patient, pure, and committed to obeying God’s will while on earth.
Once again, my dreams for my future husband changed.
I learned that while dreams are fun and inspiring, dreaming does not make things happen. Praying makes things happen. Dreaming keeps desires bound in my heart. Praying frees my desires by placing them upon the altar of my heart before God, allowing them access to Him.
After praying for my husband for many, many, and many more years, I married the man from my dreams on January 12, 2008. God honored my prayers! My Chad loves Jesus and models His love, patience, honesty, and faithfulness to me and our children. I will add that Chad is also a hottie, athletic, intelligent, and loves to clean and cook too. Bonus!
But here is what is truly remarkable: Chad flies around and saves people because he is a Combat Search and Rescue pilot in the United States Air Force. Whom did I want to marry when I was 3? I see parallels to Mighty Mouse here. God has a sense of humor, doesn’t He?
God honors those who pray and those who lay their dreams before Him on the altar of their heart.
Are you currently dreaming of a future husband? I encourage you to take the next step and begin to pray for him. I highly recommend that you grab the book Praying for Your Future Husband by Robin Jones Gunn and Tricia Goyer and dive into it. Your heart will be encouraged while you wait for your Mighty Mouse, too.
This book is a beautiful testament to the power of prayer. Each chapter is packed full of applicable Bible verses, sample prayers for you and your future husband, reflection/journal space, reader testimonies, and discussion questions. As you journey through the book, you’ll have opportunities to pray for your future husband’s: heart, love for God, patience, strength, and contentment. This is also a wonderful resource to utilize in small group settings or during a weekend retreat since the discussion questions create the opportunity for some great conversation!
I was also touched by the inspiring testimonies of Robin and Tricia that were woven throughout the chapters. Their lives prove that God hears, forgives, loves, and answers those who pray to Him. The authors’ transparency makes them relatable and inspirational to women of all ages. I highly recommend this book and will definitely be reading through it with my own daughter once boys begin to appear on her radar.
It’s your turn:
If you are not married, what type of man are you praying for?
If you are married, did you pray for your husband? If so, how did you pray for him and how did God answer your prayers?
