Chasing God Until He Caught Me: Chapter Twelve - When You Know That You Know

The Compelling Story of God's Relentless Pursuit To Rescue One Lost Soul

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Colonial Lake, Charleston, SC. Photo courtesy of Pinterest.

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Two hours later, I was sitting in a Bible study surrounded by people who loved Jesus.

The teacher, Pastor James Hatcher, was a man that I soon discovered was one of the most knowledgeable Bible teachers in the area.

That first week, I left right after the study, so I didn't get to meet anyone that night when they broke for a time of “fellowship”.

The second week, I planned to stay afterward, particularly to meet the pretty girl I spied the previous week, who had been playing the piano when we were singing.

She didn’t appear to be “attached” to anyone, and I had every intention of introducing myself.

Another interesting thing was that, though no one had said a thing, I decided to clean up my appearance.

So before I returned the next week, I made a trip to the barbershop for a trim, the department store for some decent clothes to wear (here in the South, that meant an Izod polo and khakis), and ditched the earring and birkenstocks.

The following Thursday night, Pastor Hatcher began a new study, teaching through the book of Romans. I soon realized this was probably the best thing that could ever have happened to me as a new believer. I read ahead a lot on my own. One of the things he encouraged was to memorize some of the passages of scripture we covered, to “hide it” in our hearts and minds.

Studying the book of Romans is akin to getting a theology degree as it systematically covers the spectrum of God's plan for the ages. For the next five years, we went verse by verse through Paul's letter to the Romans. I couldn’t get enough.

That night, I could not keep my eyes off the beautiful girl playing the piano. She seemed so enthusiastic as she listened to what was being said.

I noticed that she glanced my way a couple of times and smiled. I hoped she had an interest in meeting me.

Afterward, when the refreshments were served, I kept trying to angle my way over to introduce myself to her without being rude to others who took the time to introduce themselves to me.

I was truly grateful for their kind efforts, but all I could think about was that I had to meet her before she left.

Finally, I was standing next to her and I thrust out my hand and said, “Hi, my name is Cork Hutson”.

She smiled, shook my hand and said, “I'm Susan Hatcher”.

“You're the Pastor's daughter?”, I asked.

“I am”, she smiled.

She told me she was in nursing school at the Medical University of South Carolina and had just transferred there from another school in Charlotte a couple of months before I moved back.

My heart skipped when I found out that she was also single. As we all began to leave, I walked out onto the porch with her.

“Susan, are you dating anyone?”, I blurted out while I had the chance.

“Only my books at this point.”, she said, with a laugh.

My heart skipped again. “Would you think about going out with me on a date?” I asked.

“That would be nice, Cork. I’ll ask my Dad, but I think he would be alright with it. You can call me later. ”

I got her phone number and left.

I don't think I even touched the sidewalk as I walked the short block to my folk’s house that night.

When I walked in, the first thing I said to my mother was that I had met the girl I would marry. She had heard that before, so she just sort of rolled her eyes and smiled.

“We’ll see”, she said.

But in the times before, I had been much younger and more naive.

I soon began attending the Sunday services of Grace Bible Church, where Pastor Hatcher preached.

Susan and I began seeing each other regularly and it wasn't long before I knew I was truly in love. It wasn't long before I had to risk telling her how I felt.

I prayed that God would give her a love for me as well.

One night after we had gone out for dessert, we went walking around Colonial Lake in Charleston. It was a beautiful Summer night. We could feel a warm breeze and smell the salty marsh from the nearby Ashley River.

As we were walking, I suddenly turned to her and said, “I am in love with you, Susan Hatcher”.

We both stopped and just looked at each other for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, she said, “I believe I love you too, Cork”.

At that time, I was 28 years old. Though I had dated many girls over the years since high school, I had never encountered anyone like Susan. The combination of her love for and desire to serve God and her musical talent was something that I found totally captivating. And, of course, the fact that she was extraordinarily beautiful with olive skin, dark brown eyes, and raven black hair certainly did not go unnoticed.

A couple of weeks later, in mid-August, she invited me to a wedding she was singing in. Afterwards, we had planned to go out to Edisto Island, just South of Charleston so she could meet my parents.

When supper was over, I took her hand and led her out to the dock. It was a beautiful moonlit, starry night. The slight breeze off the water brought the familiar scent of salt marsh and kept the mosquitos at bay.

It was perfect for what I intended to do. When we got to the end, I turned her around and got on one knee.

“Susan, will you marry me?” Without hesitation, she said yes.

We had known each other for barely a month.

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