Check out my blog Life in HD at… hollanddavis.com.

Today is my wife Roxie’s birthday… this morning I was reflecting on the story of how we met and the prayer that I prayed to the Lord in asking for a wife. In those days I was a young, up and coming preacher in the making. I led worship at the Calvary Chapel in Escondido, Ca. I taught a Bible study that had 40 to 50 people in it of all ages. I was in a Christian Rock band that was doing really well… but in my heart I wanted a wife. So I prayed for someone that loved the Lord, but wasn’t religious, was independent and loved old Rock and Roll… don’t ask why… I still can’t figure it out. Well… Roxie was the answer to that prayer and she fit every description to a tee.

I remember playing country dance music for a friend of mine who got married in Julian. In between sets, my pastor came up to me and said he really needed to talk to me. I thought I was in trouble for playing country music because I was the worship leader of the church!!! We were down in the basement where the refreshments were and he said… do you know that girl Roxie in the church? I didn’t know her name and I said… no. He said, she’s really cute and she dresses sharp. I knew instantly who he was talking about. He said to me… she’s got the hots for you… you need to go for it!!! He then told me about the relationship she was in that wasn’t healthy for her as a Christian.

So… as an obedient man of God under the direction of my pastor – I went for it. Only it wasn’t as easy as I thought. Every time I would try to meet her it wouldn’t work out. We’d go to restaurants, but the group was so big we couldn’t sit by each other. It was torture. One day I heard she was sick with strep throat. So I took a friend of mine – Mark Dupont – and we went over to pray for her. Mark and I were prayer partners and ministered together frequently. As we were praying, Mark said open your mouth. So she did. Mark stuck his finger in her mouth and said in the name of Jesus be healed. She literally had a severe and gross infection on the back of her throat and by the next morning, she was completely healed. Not only that, but it has never come back. After that, I invited her to come see my play at a local Christian Coffee House called His Place Restaurant. Afterwards we went to the local Denny’s and the rest is history.

One memory that really sticks out was the Holiness Unto The Lord Conference at Vineyard Anaheim. There was this old methodist preacher by the name of Leonard Ravenhill. He would open every session with a hymn and I discovered that Roxie knew every stanza of every hymn. I never knew that not only had I married a lady who had an intense love for God, but she had a legacy of parents, grandparents, etc. that had a rich vocabulary of worship and a deep reverence for God… although there wasn’t a religious bone in her body.

She still continues to amaze me to this day. There are moments where I’m at my lowest point and she will leave me a voice mail that will be straight from the throne of heaven. There are times where I’m feeling weak and she will lovingly give me that word that motivates me to keep going. Usually it sounds like nagging… but I’ve learned to interpret it in light of Christ in her!!!

We would often have people pray over us – not because we ask for it – but because they felt led by God to do it… one of the pictures that God used to describe Roxie is that she is an exotic Bird of Paradise. Unique, beautiful, not-common, special, exotic… that describes Roxie. We have now been together longer than we were single and I am growing to love her more and more each day.

So to my beloved bride and closest companion… my friend and lover… my wife and the mother of our kids… I wish you to a Happy Birthday!!!