It drives me crazy as a reader. And as an author, I have never used this scenario and I never will. Have you ever read a book or short story about two people seeing each other across a crowded room and falling madly in love with each other? I’m talking they want to get married that second and they don’t even know each other’s names.

It’s not that I don’t believe in love at first sight. I don’t believe in the over used scenario in the above paragraph. What about you? Do you believe it’s truly possible to look into somebody’s eyes for the first time and fall in love?

Maybe there’s attraction at first sight and the love comes later. Or could it be that it’s God telling you that this is the person He has intended for you. Then the two of you fall deeper in love over time. A good example of this can be found in Genesis:

“And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.” Genesis 24:67 (KJV)

Here’s a thought: maybe we should call it the “Isaac Syndrome” instead of love at first sight. Isaac did know the instant he first met Rebekah that she was the one God had intended for him.

I am going to share three real-life stories about the Isaac Syndrome. This first below came as quite a surprise for me.

I was like any other 12-year-old kid in that I thought my family were the most boring people God has placed on the planet. My mom changed that one day after she came from work. She told us about an elderly lady she waited on and recognized her name. My mom wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to do, but she told the lady she was E.O. Clark’s granddaughter. The lady was thrilled and would only let my mother wait on her from that day forward.

Being a kid, I asked, “So what?”

“This lady was engaged to my Papaw, your great grandfather, before he married Mamaw Myrtle,” my mother answered.

I was dumbfounded. It never even occurred to me that my great grandfather could have been interested in anybody else besides my Mamaw Myrtle/Girdle.

It all started when my great grandfather took a trip uptown to visit his cousin Lillie. She lived off of Broadway and across from where Fulton High school is located. It just so happened that Lillie’s next door neighbor Myrtle was visiting her that fateful day.

I have no idea exactly what happened after Lillie introduced my papaw and mamaw to each other, but I do know that my great grandfather went back home and broke up with his fiancé. And this was the same lady my mother had waited on at work.

For my great grandfather to call off his engagement, he must have experienced the “Isaac Syndrome.” I dare say when he met my Mamaw Myrtle/Girdle, God let him know in a big way this was the one intended for him. And my great grandparents did go on to have a very happy and blessed marriage.

As for the lady papaw was engaged to, I felt sorry for her. What heartbreak she must’ve felt. One day she’s planning a wedding while looking forward to their future together and the next day it’s all gone.

But then I realized something. If my great grandfather and this lady’s marriage wasn’t God’s will, then they wouldn’t have married whether or not he met Mamaw Myrtle/Girdle that day.

“Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:20 (KJV)

So, keep your heart open to God’s word before you jump into anything. And if you do fall for somebody you’ve just met, ask God if this is the one He has intended for you.

As for me, I experience love at first sight when I glance across the room to see the desert table and there’s lots of chocolate.