Tanya Ashworth/AZ

THE NINTH HOUR

Oh, those fabulous years of being young and alive and full of vitality, when the “I can do anything” outlook prevails. Everything is rosy and full of possibilities.

We had just finished college when my boyfriend, Alan, asked me to marry him. I was not ready for that. All of life was still out there and I was going to grab it all! Marriage wasn’t in that picture. Alan had been given his deployment papers and had twenty days before heading off to Viet Nam. “Marry me now or….it’s never.” That was the way he worded it and I knew he meant it.

That left me in a dilemma. I had to make the decision. That was, and still is, not something I do well. The days were ticking off and he needed an answer and I just plain could not make that choice. Alan was well aware of my indecisive nature so he said, “Okay, let’s get the license and we’ll at least have that taken care of before actually being pronounced man and wife.” I agreed to that thinking it would buy me time.

While he and his mom were celebrating the presupposed nuptial, I quietly slipped out and ran away to the next town where I stayed at my best friend’s apartment. My friend, along with a large part of the small college town residents were away for Christmas break. I had the place all to myself. Now I had the space needed to think this thing through.

But I couldn’t. What I did instead was to ask God to make the decision for me. Wanting to be sure it was definitely from Him I asked for the answer to be a very clear and decisive “Yes” or “No” and for it to come at exactly nine o’clock. I went to bed and slept well assured that I would have the answer I was looking for in the morning.

In the morning I had both the radio and television on. I read the entire newspaper word for word and several magazines. I can truthfully say that there was not one single “Yes” or “No” written or spoken. None!

It was past nine o’clock but I was not discouraged because I knew that God does things His way and that He would be there for me. So I started reading the books on the bookshelf. I read the entire book, “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley. I can tell you without hesitation that I did not find the word “Yes” or “No” used at any time in that book.

Then the phone rang. Alan was on the other end. “I’m here in town,” he said. “Can I come over?” I went numb with joy just hearing his voice and was enthusiastically dizzily spinning around saying, “Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes….”, when my eyes caught a glimpse of the clock that read nine o’clock on the dot. It was at that moment I heard the voice of God. I did. It wasn’t audible as we know it on earthly terms, but is was there and what He said, with a bit of jovial teasing in His tone was, “You didn’t say a.m. or p.m.”

I was dizzy with love for Alan…but even more so for the love I felt so clearly from God and for God and that He allowed me to hear His voice! It was a moment in life unlike anything I’ve ever known. Joy to the enth degree……Oh, my YES!

story submitted September 2025