The Phone Call That Changed My Life - Melissa Ong

“Melissa, how are you? What are your plans for the New Year? I would like you to meet my friend Richard.”

“Err… I’m not interested.” I responded.

“Come on, can you help me, please? Richard’s wife passed away after battling cancer and I would like to help him get back into a social circle. By the way, he is a Christian and I think you both would have plenty to talk about.”

“NO...”

“But you are such a compassionate person, right...?!”

THE POWER OF ONE COFFEE

After much persuasion, I hesitantly agreed to meet on 1 January 2015 and made it clear I cannot stay long and have to leave immediately for my family New Year’s dinner.

My friend who initiated the coffee was my former boss and Richard was one of his schoolmates. The three of us met up for coffee and had a wonderful afternoon chatting away. As we were about to leave, Richard spontaneously asked me if I was available for dinner. I told him I did have plans - but during the coffee chat my mum cancelled the family dinner because she had to attend to an unexpected urgent matter. I accepted Richard’s invitation. That evening we had dinner together and enjoyed each other’s conversation. After a nice dinner, I got into my car and turned on my ignition key, the unexpected happened. Tears started to stream down my face uncontrollably and I felt the warmth of the Lord’s presence. It was the strangest 15 minutes’ drive home. Why would I cry after meeting this person?

That night I called my mum and told her about Richard. Surprisingly my mum was not concerned that he was a widower with a three year-old-son. In fact, she encouraged me to ‘go with the flow’. I did not sleep much that night as I pondered about this situation. Early the next morning I texted my Pastor who mentored me in my childhood days. The reason I reached out to him was because a few years prior, he told me that he sensed the person I would one day marry would either be a divorcee or a widower. It was not exactly what I wanted to hear at that time, especially when my own parents had a messy marriage and eventually divorced. In the end I met up with my Pastor and he encouraged me to be open to explore the friendship and see what God will do.

“I sent a text to Melissa early the next morning because I felt that the level of connection I experienced the night before was not normal and was approaching that which I had with my late wife whom I had known for 21 years and was married to for 15 years. I knew Melissa was special but I wanted to know whether she had felt the same way and more importantly if she was prepared to invest further in this friendship and deal with the complexity of my life.” - Richard Low

I did respond to Richard. We went for dinner again that week before we both flew off to our separate ways. Richard went back to Indonesia where he was working at that time while I was off to Thailand to meet my missionary friends.

A DIVINE SET-UP

Interestingly, I was not even supposed to be in Malaysia during the first week of 2015. I had initially arranged to visit my missionary friends who were in Thailand at the end of the year. But unexpectedly they asked me to reschedule my trip to the second week of January. On the Monday that I flew out to Thailand, my friend picked me up from the airport, we briefly caught up before we called it a night. I told her that I am not in a relationship but I met someone over the new year and that he is a widower and have a son. With nothing else much to say I left the conversation there knowing that the next few days were going to be busy with the kid’s programmes and church outreaches.

During our time on this mission trip was a sweet moment of peace, my friend came into my room for a chat. She said “The Lord gave me two words for you, Melissa;

“Women bear their children from their womb but you will bear a child from your heart. Your relationship with the child will always be strong. Don’t worry about bringing up this child. When you accept this child as your adopted, you will have full authority as a mother to nurture and discipline.”

As the words were spoken over me, I burst out into tears as the revelations addressed the core of my fears which I had not shared with anyone including my friend. Yes, I enjoyed the little time I spent with Richard but at the same time I had built a wall in my heart to guard it from developing beyond friends because if things got serious, I would need to assume the role as an instant mother - a role which I was anxious and felt incapable of filling. But I knew deep down that God had released these specific words through my friend to address my fears and there was no ambiguity that this was a divine set-up.

TRUST IN HIS TIMING

Many miracles followed subsequently throughout our journey towards marriage and we tied the knot in that same year. I am still in awe of how God moved so suddenly after waiting and praying for years for a life partner. I remember asking God countless of times, “When will I meet my man?” I had led my closest friends to Christ and they found their life partners in church and eventually got married. So, why hadn’t He come through for me?

For all the single women reading this, no matter how cliché it sounds; He truly has the best for us and we need to trust that He will make everything beautiful in His time.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him and He will make your paths straight.’’ Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)

I echo what my friends said during their speech at our wedding; “God has saved the best for last.”

He did it for me and He will do it for you too!

Written by Melissa Ong
Melissa is married to Richard, together they are raising a son, Ryan. They live in Singapore and is part of Kingdomcity.

Follow @mrsmelissalow