On the night that I first saw Bill Byrd, I was picked up at my dorm by one of his fraternity brothers and was escorted to a social event on Auburn’s campus for those of us who were candidates for sweetheart of their fraternity. As my escort and I walked down the steps at the end of the walkway toward the car in front of the dorm, I saw a shooting star arc across the sky and thought how auspicious that seemed for that particular night.
Twenty four years later our son had been dating a young lady for a couple of months when they called to us they were getting married. She asked me to come to Montgomery to help with plans for the wedding and reception. On my way home I was talking to the Lord and praying that this was his plan for them both and asked him to give me reassurance and peace about their marriage. In that moment as I drove south on Hwy 231, just south of Alford, I glanced to my left where I saw a full moon rising. When I looked back to the road ahead, there was a shooting star that shot across the sky in the full view of my windshield. I cried the rest of the way home, relieved and happy for what seemed to me God’s affirmation
I have told that story to our children and grandchildren through the years. It is a sweet family story of love and feeling God’s presence. Our granddaughters are now young women —- ages 21, 19, and 15. The two older girls are dating young men who seem quite taken with them. I have been told that while one of them recently was home with her gentleman friend, she and he went outside to sit and star gaze by the lake. It was there that she, too, saw a shooting star. She told her mother about it. Could it be that God is reaffirming for another generation of Byrd women that God does have an opinion about our choices in covenant marriage?
Postscript:
Prayer I had written the day before I turned 17 in my journal, almost 1 year before I met Bill …..”I love Life. But it is worthless to me if I can value nothing but material goods or even only human love. If love is to be my only possession, let me love God, and Truth, and my fellowman. I am weak and require someone to love me and make me feel secure. But, Lord, let him share my love for Life, Truth, and Thee.” 2/18/1971