This is a true story about real love. It is the story of God's
invisible guidance, the bringing together of two souls, in order that they
might fulfill the destiny God had planned for them. It is the story of
Leroy Grey and Vonda Williams.
If you are blessed by this story in any way, please, pass
it on. I only ask of those who do so, that you keep it entirely intact.
You can find out more about us and our ministry for bringing spiritual
freedom and prosperity to God's people by either getting a copy of my book, “The
Meditating Patriot’s Practical Handbook of Spiritual Renewal and Abundant
Living” or by visiting and signing up at our online membership site, 3Circles Church Communities. There
you'll find our mission statement and core principles. I also maintain a
Wisdom Blog called "Transform
Yourself", which offers insights into the revolutionary ideas God has
been teaching me by his Holy Spirit, through my daily meditations.
I can also be reached via
email at: grey.leroy@gmail.com.
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My relationship with Vonda actually began 7 years and
7 months before we found each other via the Internet, in October of 2004, and
began sharing our hopes and dreams. It was April 4th, 1997, at 3
AM, when God gave me the dream that would change my future. It caused me
to suddenly sit bolt upright in bed. I
knew, beyond a shadow of doubt, that this dream was from God and I had to write
it down. But it wasn’t just a powerful
dream. When I awoke I felt God’s presence; I sensed that great peace and
joy I regularly feel each morning during my daily hour long mediation.
In my dream I saw a woman with brown hair who was in her 30's. Here
is most of the dream:
I was with a group of young women & men
(20's and 30's). I was very much attracted to one woman; we were
in spiritual union but she was still fairly young and uncertain [actually I
mean uncertain in the sense of inexperienced, but it was I who was truly
uncertain because of a fairly large age difference, feeling that it would be
too much to believe that someone that much younger would truly be in love with
me].
I kept thinking she was attracted to another guy. In fact, she was, but
he was her second choice, I was her first. Finally, she came right
out and said what was on her heart, that she was interested in two men in
the room - pointing to a fellow to the right of me and then pointing in my
direction and saying, "You are my first choice". I thought she
was referring to the guy behind me and pointed to him. She shook her
head no. When it finally dawned on me I was overtaken by remorse for
almost missing this opportunity that God had given.
At this time I was suddenly transformed by the power of the Spirit. It was
like a series of dynamos had been suddenly switched on as I acknowledged this
woman's place in my life, as a wife. I then began to teach her what the
spirit was teaching me. In my dream I knew I was dreaming but I also
knew this was wisdom to be shared with others.
Suddenly my new wife was holding a box - like a shoebox without the lid.
It had been partially eaten by the ravages of time and insects and rodents,
being so full of holes as to be unable to hold any valuables. Just as
suddenly a piece of paper appeared in my hands. It was, as most paper
is, limp and without form. As such, it could likewise contain nothing of
value. I then remember the feeling that came over me as I was
instructed what to do next. I felt powerful but totally at peace.
The strength of our unity and the sense of our mission and purpose were
unquestionable and unshakeable. The love was not just the love between
two people, between man and wife, though that was there, but we were so infused
with God's agape love that I felt we could move mountains.
I then took this piece of formless paper and wrapped it around her holey box.
Suddenly both of our ineffectual containers became one container into
which I saw invisible hands placing time, and money, and all the resources
(physical, mental, spiritual) of our one life, into this box.
The substance of what we each contributed to this container, the flat sheet of
paper and a cardboard shoebox with holes, was earthly and perishable - but the
contents of it, the substance of our life consecrated for the service of
others, was eternal. But there was more...
There was more to the dream, but it is not
time to share it all. I underlined those key elements that I used to
determine if Vonda was indeed "the one". First, as mentioned
in the dream, there has been this undeniable spiritual union between us.
We both felt it early on, especially when we began talking online. Many
times we were so annointed that we didn't need to say a word and both of us
just basked in God's presence.
As we now know, God was guiding each of us throughout the years, preparing us
for one other. The proof of this was confirmed in another dream I had
forgotten. When I was in my motel room here in Shelbyville, just after
arriving, I noticed this single sheet of paper sticking up out of my sachel
full of papers. I pulled it out and began to read. It was dated
September 16th, 2004, just about 4 weeks before we met online. Here is
what it said:
Last night was a night of dreams and I
believe some of them to be prophetic. The prophetic ones were first, a
series of dreams... I believe there were three. In each of those three
dreams the same woman appeared. During each dream I was given the
certainty that she would be my wife and I would meet her soon. I felt
that God was speaking to me - that both she and I were being made ready for one
another and the time was near at hand. I awoke with these understandings
still fresh in my mind.
There is much more as to how God worked toward
bringing us together. We met on Christian Cafe, a christian online
service that helps christian singles meet one another. I'd been trying
to find Vonda ever since my divorce went through, in May of 1996. I was
getting pretty discouraged after all those years of searching and when my
Christian Cafe account expired I had no intention of renewing. It was
when my account was expired that Vonda got online to place her profile.
However, Christian Cafe offered me a 5 day "Get re-acquainted" free
membership and I decided to try one more time. Once I rejoined I made a
decision that was not normal for me. I almost never looked at the
profiles of women without a picture. Since Vonda didn't place a picture
with her profile, we might never have met. But this time I felt I should
look at women's profiles who had no pictures. That's when I read Vonda's
profile. Her essay answers were what attracted me to Vonda and made me
realize I wanted to get to know her. It was only after I got here and
told her about how much her essay answes meant to me that Vonda told me she
decided to go online just before we met and change her entire profile.
However, she felt God telling her to leave it just as it was... totally honest,
creative and obviously sold out to the idea of serving God. Had she
changed it I doubt I would have responded.
Soon after we began corresponding it became obvious to both of us that God was
in our meeting, as we were being annointed by God's presence when writing
emails and each time we talked. Both of us noticed this and remarked on
it, especially about how powerful an annointing was being poured out by God.
However, whether or not that meant marriage was another matter. I
had no experience whatsoever with anyone handicapped and Vonda was forth right
and very honest about every aspect of what I should expect. A brain
inflammation, most likely caused by a viral infection, from either a tick or
mosquito bite, left her in a coma for two months, followed by 5 years in a
wheel chair, unable to walk. Two years prior to our meeting she began to
walk, using two canes and walking very slowly. Her speech was also
impaired by that viral infection and I had to be very patient and deliberate in
my conversations. That dream revealed nothing about the woman being
handicapped.
I kept remembering the dream I had April 4, 1997 and re-read it. Then I
began to see each part of it being fulfilled: 1) the annointing by God that was
awesome; 2) the unusual unity we felt with each other; 3) the sense of mission
and purpose spoken of in my dream was obvious once she read my book (she not
only agreed on every point but told me she wanted to likewise serve God); and
finally, 4) the part about her making a choice between me and a younger guy
happened about a month after we met, when a guy she had been interested in for
sometime let her know he was interested in her. I fretted in my heart
briefly, since I had two distinct disadvantages. I was 20 years older and
I was 500 miles away, but I prayed and had a great peace about giving the whole
situation into God's hands. When all parts of my dream were fulfilled,
including this part, I shared the dream with Vonda. Our love grew by
leaps and bounds from that point forward.
This would be all well in good, had this been the end of God's miracle working
power in bringing us together, but there was more. First off I needed to
sell my RV in order to assure we would have a good financial foundation upon
which to build. The serveral thousand in savings I had just wouldn't be
enough. However, I had tried to sell my old 1976 RV many times in the
past, at least 6, and not only did it never sell, people told me it's book
value was only about $3,000. However, when I prayed about selling it
again I saw two things. First, to put at the beginning of the ad the
words, "GETTING MARRIED SALE". Second, to say I would sell it
for "$5,000 firm". The day before I left to see Vonda I sold
it for $5,000 to a man who needed an RV for temporary living quarters while his
house was being renovated. He saved thousands in motel bills and I got
the money Vonda and I needed to get a good start.
There are many other incidents that reveal the hand of God in our
getting married but I'll only mention one more. This one is pretty
awesome. Vonda and I wanted to get married as soon as I arrived.
It was so obvious to each of us that God was joining us together, why wait?
However, I could see that there was some time needed for her family to
get used to me and accept me, not to mention the fact I had to convince her
mother I was OK. For many, this might indicate a need for a long
engagement. However, Vonda and I were convinced that January 15th was the
right date, less then 4 weeks from my arrival. We believed this was long enough
for her family to accept me, but not so far in the future that we would give
into temptation and sleep together previous to marriage. Both of us
decided to do it God's way and abstain from intercourse prior to marrying (this
has turned out to be one of the best decisions we ever made, as it allowed a
depth of trust to grow that neither of us had ever known; neither of us had
ever abstained in previous relationships).
Believe it or not, everyone came around to accepting Jan. 15th. Better
still, when we were invited by one of Vonda's friends to attend a local church
on New Year's eve, that date was confirmed prophetically by her Pastor.
We didn't know him from Adam but her friend, Trish, invited the pastor to come
over and pray for us. His prayer was awesome. Not knowing us or
this story, he touched on the unity of our heart, the mighty annointing that
God had placed upon us, and he confirmed January 15th, telling us that many
would be negative (which they were) but not to listen to them, for we had God's
blessing. He also prophesied that we would have a powerful ministry that
would change the lives of thousands.
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If you wish to write to Vonda (she would especially like to hear from
handicapped women who are wondering if anyone will ever love them again) you
can email her here: grey.vonda@gmail.com.
Leroy can be reached at his email address: grey.leroy@gmail.com