Like Joseph before Mary

Before she really met him, Michelle thought John was an arrogant jock like all the other football players at Ridge Creek High. John knew she was one of the cutest girls in school and was afraid to even look at her.

It was in P.E. class their sophomore year that she changed her mind about him. They were learning to play flag football and Michelle and her twin sister Laura had somehow been matched up against John his friend Jason. She expected him to show-off his athletic prowess and make her feel like a non-athletic idiot, “And then they’ll probably try to ask us out on a date.” She scoffed to her sister before they started to play.

At the end of the game, Michelle was asking John out for a date, because he was completely different than what she expected. He was a gentleman, he was fun, he was encouraging, he was like a coach or a brother. But when she asked him out, he lied and said he already had a date.

They had several other classes together and started spending more and more time together. Michelle would often ask him out on a date and he would always find a reason to say no, and the more it happened the more it became like a game and they would laugh about the lamest excuses he could make. But when she asked him the real reason he did not want to go out with her he said it was God. God was a new part of his life and he talked about God like he had a relationship with Him. He said God was teaching him to think differently about "dating" than the rest of society does. She was intrigued about his faith and wanted to know more about it. God was real to him. As their friendship grew, God became more real to her.

They became best friends and shared a deep concern for each other. (I suppose you might call it real love, but they were afraid to admit it. )

After graduation, their relationship changed, the stakes were higher now. They both knew they had to choose what their future together would be. Michelle was desperately in love with him by now but she was afraid he would always want to be ‘just friends’. John cared about her very deeply, and wanted her to have the same kind of relationship with Jesus that he did. One day they were walking down a road and talking. Michelle was never afraid to ask him anything, but he did not know what to expect when she stopped and turned towards him.

“John, will you marry me?” she said.

Surprised and secretly delighted, he answered with a question,

“Are you proposing?” He said.

Now she looked at him very seriously and put her hands on his shoulders and said,

“John, I’m pregnant”

Anger flashed threw John’s mind. Of course it was not his child, he had never even kissed her and avoided even touching her. His convictions about sex were very strong and he was committed to abstinence until his wedding night. So who could the father be? Bitter rage and jealousy burned against whoever it could be.

He tried to suppress his anger and bitterness in his question,

”What will the father think if we get married?”

“John, you are the father.” She said.

The words hung in the air in front of him like they were written in the sky. Time stopped, and he stood there, absolutely bewildered. Impossible. Impossible. He thought, standing there like Joseph before Mary. He pulled away from her and held his head in his hands. “Michelle, you know that’s impossible, how can you say that?”

She knew this conversation was going to be hard for him to accept...

"I artificially inseminated myself," she answered.