Shannon here: Mesu Andrews shares insight into her real-life romance, an enemies to married tale and salvation story, plus a chance to win a print copy of her Biblical Fiction title, The Brave. Comment or answer the question in this post to enter the drawing. Continental U.S. and Canada only. Deadline: Nove 23rd, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Mesu:
I Hated Him In Third Grade by Mesu Andrews
Roy Andrews, the man destined to become my husband, came to my elementary school when we were in third grade.
I hated him.
Why? Because he convinced my third-grade boyfriend not to give me the gift box of Valentine’s Day chocolates. They ate it instead!
By junior high and high school, Roy Andrews and I had become good friends—but never dated. He wasn’t “naughty” enough for me. I liked older, edgy boys; the ones who teachers knew as class leaders, athletes, and scholars but us kids knew what they were hiding. I liked them because I was that sort of girl, hiding the naughty and polishing the nice.
I was the 4.0 GPA valedictorian, who could chug a half bottle of Jack Daniels—whiskey for those who don’t know such things—and still walk a straight line. Roy never drank alcohol or smoked . . . well, anything. But we could cuss a blue streak that would shame a sailor.
He was a fantastic basketball player, but only small colleges were interested. So, he lied on his application to get the scholarship to a Christian college in Texas.
I, on the other hand, went to college where I enjoyed beer for breakfast on my daddy’s dime. My parents weren’t pleased and bribed me with a car to come home for my sophomore year and commute to Indiana University with my high school best friend and her fiancé—who happened to be Roy’s best friend.
When the fella I’d been dating for five years ended our relationship, my left ring-finger was now bare. My future seemed shattered. I would have ended my life that night had my best friend not kept watch over me.
The next morning was Sunday. Mom went to her church. Dad watched his preachers on TV. I considered praying, but why? I’d given up on religion after hearing my family pull verses from the Bible and use them as weapons to wound. My parents nearly divorced over theological differences. I didn’t need God dabbling in my life.
On Thursday, my bossy best friend said I was going to a high school football game with her, her fiancé, and Roy—whose scholarship had dried up because the little college in Texas had taken athletic scholarship money and invested it instead into something called personal computers. (Surely, those were a passing fad.)
“I should warn you,” my friend said. “I heard Roy got religion down there, and now he’s weird.”
I said, “I’ve been around religious nuts all my life.”
But when he came to my door wearing a tie for a football game, I cussed and asked, “What did those Baptists do to you?”
He laughed and waved off the question.
My friend had been right about weird. This new Roy was not at all like my cussing buddy from high school. By the end of our evening, I was so angered by what had to be his fake new life that when he asked me to go out again, I only agreed to prove he couldn’t maintain the ruse. By our sixth date, he hadn’t once mentioned Jesus or the Bible, but I was beginning to believe this new Roy was an alien that had completely taken over my friend’s body.
“How did those Texans trick you into believing this religious nonsense?” I asked.
“They showed me that the Bible is a single story—a love story—written personally to each of us by the God who wants to know us more intimately and love us more fully than anyone on earth.”
Well, that was something I’d never heard before. “It’s not one story,” I said, drawing from a lifetime of dinner conversation-turned-war. “It’s confusing stories that lead to hate.”
Without a word of explanation, he went out to his car, brought in his Bible, and read Genesis 3:15. “God said to the serpent after Adam and Eve sinned, ‘And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel..’ So, you see? The serpent struck Jesus’s heel with the Cross, but the prophesied offspring of Eve—Jesus, fully human and fully God—crushed the serpent’s heel when He rose from that tomb.”
Was this a trick? Taking one verse, like my family did, and making it mean something it really didn’t? “It’s just one verse,” I whispered.
“I’d love to show you more verses about Jesus coming to rescue you throughout the Old and New Testaments. Even the last chapter of Revelation tells us about the eternal Garden God prepared for us who love Him to the end.”
I looked into the face I’d known since third grade. He was the same but oh, so different.
“Do you want to pray?” He offered his hand and I took it. Since that night, my future has never been uncertain.
Roy led me in a simple prayer that sounded much like the wedding vows we exchanged seven months later. I’m still a bride, waiting on my eternal Bridegroom. Here on earth, I’m Roy’s wife—married for forty years now—a mom and a grammy.
Roy calls our whirlwind romance, “dating evangelism.” I sometimes incorporate echoes of my personal conversion experience in the romance thread of my novels. Brave, Book #1 of King David’s Brides released in October 2024, so I’m now editing Book #2, Noble: The Story of Maakah. It’s all about David’s turbulent relationship with the princess of Geshur—who will become Absalom’s mother. She doesn’t believe in the Hebrew God when she and David meet. Yet through David’s love for Yahweh, and God’s loving plan to build David’s household and heal Maakah’s wounds of loss, betrayal, and hopelessness, their love grows (2 Sam. 3:3).
And guess what…the same God has a loving plan for your future.
Question for Readers: If every part of Scripture—whether history, poetry, prophecy, law, etc.—is intended to draw Creation (and you personally) back into relationship with the God who adores us, how might that change your perspective while reading the Bible?
About Mesu: Mesu Andrews is a Christy Award-winning, best-selling author of biblical novels and devotional studies whose deep understanding of and love for God’s Word brings the Bible alive for readers. Her heritage as a “spiritual mutt” has given her a deep yearning to both understand and communicate biblical truths in powerful stories that touch the heart, challenge the mind, and transform lives. Mesu lives in Indiana with her husband Roy, where she stays connected with her readers through newsie emails, blog posts, and the social media we all love to hate. Learn more & connect:
Mesu’s Website Mesu’s Newsletter Signup Mesu’s Facebook
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About the book – Brave:
In the tumultuous world of ancient Israel, Ahinoam—a fierce and unconventional Kenite woman—flees her family farm with her dagger-wielding father to join the ragtag band of misfits led by the shepherd-turned-warrior, David ben Jesse. As King Saul’s treasonous accusations echo through the land, Ahinoam’s conviction that David’s anointing makes him Yahweh’s chosen king propels her on a perilous journey to Moab, only to encounter hardship and betrayal.
Amidst the unforgiving Judean Wilderness, Ahinoam forges an unexpected bond with David’s sister, Zeruiah. Through her Kenite metalworking heritage, Ahinoam gains respect among David’s army, and the soldiers’ wives offer friendship. However, scarred by painful past relationships, Ahinoam isolates to avoid new friendships and refuses to acknowledge her growing feelings for the renegade king. As Ahinoam’s heart grapples for footing, King Saul’s army closes in, and Ahinoam must confront the true meaning of love, loyalty, and courage. Is she brave enough to love Israel’s next king?
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Get your copy/copies now!
Brave – Baker Book House Brave – Amazon Mesu’s Books
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I look at it like it’s a love letter. It’s not God giving us these unrealistic rules to follow. It’s Him showing us love, showing us His character, and so much more.
Thanks for sharing your story sweet friend!
I graduated with Mesu and Roy and my what a love story to hear ! I learning more of how God and the Bible can be my salvation thru all aspects of my life.
Love BRAVE! Delightfully written a real treasure.
The Bible is so beautiful in it’s love story of God’s love for each of us. God just wants a relationship with each of us and He provides the way with His Son Jesus.
God adores each of us and loves us so much to die on a cross. His creations show how we are loved.
Oh my goodness, your story is amazing and touched me deeply! I love the idea of reading the Bible as one story all designed to draw me and all of creation closer to God. Thinking about seemingly disconnected stories, lists, poetry, and proverbs as being compiled with that singular focus reminds me how deeply He loves us. It makes me want to follow the thread of His Word throughout its intricate weaving, resting in the assurance that He will meet me where I am and walk with me along the journey.
What a story indeed! If you didn’t write just biblical fiction I’d say you should write a novel based on your love story! Thanks for sharing how God continued to pursue you and brought you and Roy together.
And to answer the question- it’s so beautiful to see the Bible as one big love story. It helps us keep verses we may have a hard time with in context with the overall purpose of scripture. Viewing the Bible as a love story helps us see these verses through the lens of a God who loves us and pursues us. Not a malicious or confusing God.
My perspective should be to read God’s word as a love letter filled with His mysteries and miracles created to breathe life into me. A sacred space to find my identity!
Thank you for sharing your love story! To answer your question… Psalm 19 to me speaks volumes about our relationship with God and his word. I often say the book is split in two. The first half being about how his creation speaks of him and shows his handwork. We can not ignore him being real, just as we can’t ignore the sun came up, the wind on our faces, the rain on our cheek…. it all speaks of him. But the second half of that books brings to focus US , OUR relationship with him. Our journey with him as a believer desiring to do his will. He’s active in creation, he’s action in us as well. He’s seen in the Bible, He’s seen in nature, He’s seen in us as we desire to walk in his will. It’s all commented. The Bible is very much alive, timeless, and somehow as each of us read it, he impresses upon us what he wants us to hear. He speaks to us through so many ways, the word being only one of them. David … Psalms, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes are some of my favorite books. Because they seem to always apply to today in one way or another. They are timeless. And I feel closeness to God in David’s words. (_ruth_reads_)
I love this story. So many people don’t realize this truth. There’s a preacher in my organization who has a quote that I love, “You can pull a thread on the lamb in Genesis and he’ll pucker in Revelation.” I’ve talked with so many people who haven’t read it as a whole, who pick and chose verses here and there, without ever getting the full truth. It’s a mighty good way to get very confused about who God is.
I would look for Him in every single line and phrase. How does it interconnect and intertwine? Where does the NT show up in the OT?
I see the Bible as a seamless narrative. When I understand that all of scripture points to Jesus and His desire to reclaim worshippers, for His glory, it becomes a glorious testament to His power, sovereignty and love. God does not need anything. That makes His pursuit of us all the more outrageous and precious and beautiful. I am humbled that He would look on me and say He wants me. Wow.
What a great story both of your spiritual journey and your romance. I love that all of Scripture draws us to Jesus. It makes is rock solid and so meaningful to those of us who believe. Your book sounds wonderful.
The Holy Bible should be our primary navigation system! Every story, every book, and every writer who received divine intercession is showing us how to draw closer to our Creator. Thanks for sharing His Word in your wonderful stories!
I love that so much in the OT is a picture of something in the NT. It’s a blessed book that the reader can see something new each time it’s read.