by Erin McAdoo
I guess you could say it was love at first conversation. Funny thing is, to talk to Dan you need to speak “Danese” as he calls it. You see, Wilson’s Disease dramatically changed the course of my husband’s life—including his speech—when he was just 9 years old. I, of course, didn’t come into the picture until almost 30 years later.
In the spring of 2012, some college students and I were hanging out in the cozy basement of the Clarion (Pennsylvania) C&MA Church (now Epicenter). The occasion? A weekly event called “Coffee and Conversation.” Little did I know that artist Dan McAdoo was in the room behind us painting a mural and overhearing some of our conversation. Dan says he remembers hearing me talk about going to visit Mark David Chapman (who is in prison in New York for the murder of Beatle John Lennon). Dan thought to himself, “If I ever do marry, I want a girl like that who understands forgiveness.”
By Abba’s amazing grace, Dan and I ended up falling in love and realizing that we could adore Jesus better together than we could apart. Four months later, on September 22, 2012, we were married (and kissed for the first time).
We look forward to telling more of our love story. However, dear reader, on this Valentine’s Day 2018, I want you to know something very important. There is a Greater Love. I’m not suggesting we throw out the words of affirmation, cards, hearts, roses, and chocolate. Bring them on! What I do want is to make sure we remember that the greatest love story ever told was written in a different hue of red—not the red of hearts and roses but of the crimson blood of our Savior.