You can inherit houses and land from your parents,
but a good wife only comes as a gracious gift from God!
– Proverbs 19:14, TPT
The 9 Month Break-Up
Before Claudia and I got married, we separated for nine months, because of my fault, but that’s another story. Before we broke up, Claudia fasted for a week. God gave her a dream of our future relationship. There were four key details important to know for later on. First, her dream began with us ending our relationship. Next, Claudia was being pursued by somebody. During this pursuit, I came back into Claudia’s life. Then we saw each other in front of the Youth With A Mission Kansas City base where I gave her a gift that was a transparent bag with water and a flower in it. Finally, we walked into the YWAM KC base and never separated again. I told Claudia she needed closure. I broke up with her after she shared her dreams. Which later I found out I needed to pray more…
Before we broke up, Claudia fasted for a week. God gave her a dream of our future relationship.
Nine months later, my life was a mess and totally misaligned with God’s will. I took a short sabbatical dedicated to prayer and fasting in hopes to set everything right and get more clarity on what was happening in my life. The Lord reminded me of my call to the nations. The move of God from the Philippines into the persecuted nations, everything my heart was set on since I gave my life to Jesus. The Lord was swooning my heart again with my calling, something I felt I left behind when I left Claudia.
The Lord reminded me of another promise 15 years ago He gave me. In an audible voice, God told me, “First I will send you back to America to work in the inner-cities. Then after that, I will send you your wife. Then I will send you back to the Philippines.” God told me Claudia was the only woman I can fulfill this promise with. I asked the Lord, “What would it be like if I married Claudia?”
He responded, “You will fall deeper in love with her, with every passing moment”. Which looking back, His response was true.
I came back searching for Claudia in a deepened and convicted passion.
During this time I wrote “My Dove’s Eyes”. Which was also the longest three days of my life.
Claudia was being pursued by somebody else. When we finally met again, I told Claudia, “I won’t stop pursuing you until someone puts a ring on your finger at the altar.” When Claudia heard me say that she almost choked on the water she was drinking…
That weekend Claudia invited me to one of her friend’s weddings. Together we decided to buy a gift from Bed Bath and Beyond, a detail important for later. Which I gave to Claudia in front of the YWAMKC Base. Then we had our first dance together at the wedding dinner and Claudia and I never separated again.
Weeks later, what I remembered was Claudia’s dream. I came back after she was being pursued; I give her a gift that was a transparent bag with water and a flower in it, we walked into the YWAM KC Base, and we never separate again. Every single major detail came to pass!
Bed Bath Beyond had a symbol of a transparent bag, with water, and a flower floating on top of it. Which is the gift I gave to Claudia for the wedding help in the YWAM KC base!
A year later Claudia and I got married. A year after that, we moved over to the Philippines and began doing the dream that God planted in our hearts more than a decade ago, before we even met.
Writing My Dove’s Eyes
As I said, I wrote My Dove’s Eyes right before I came back to Claudia at the YWAM KC Base. I tried to capture the essence of my regained pursuit of the love of my life. Knowing that I had lost her by my own choice. Remembering that God had a promise for us, that might just be there still if I had enough faith to walk on water and follow Him (lyrics of the chorus).
The restoration of this relationship was only possible with God’s supernatural intervention.
Everything I am doing now exists because I married Claudia. God’s Kingdom intertwined our relationship. Returning to Claudia was “my last draw, in my fight, the final shot” (lyrics from the second verse).
One of the greatest relationships, after our relationship with Jesus, will be who we marry.
After five years of being married to Claudia, I now know fully she is the only person I could have fulfilled God’s promises with. I always encourage singles, unless God is telling you to marry whoever you want, then He might have someone special in store for you. Not just for you, but for the Kingdom. If that is the case, then pray, listen to God, and obey his every command. You never know what God will do with marriage put together by God Himself.
The Song
