Shannon here: Molly Noble Bull shares how she met her husband, plus a chance to win a print copy of the Historical Romance novella collection, Cowboy Cousins, which includes her title, Lucy and the Lawman. U.S. only. Comment or answer the question in this post to enter the drawing. Deadline: May 14th, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Molly:
Hi, my name is Molly Noble Bull. This is the story of how my husband and I met and much more.
So, let’s get started.
Who will I marry?
That thought crossed my brain a lot my senior year of high school because I had a steady boyfriend. Was Ron the one I was to one day wed? He was a cowboy like my father and grandfather. So, I prayed about it. I asked the LORD who I was to marry without mentioning Ron.
I was a member of the girl’s choir, and soon after that prayer, the choir and our student teacher/director were driven to a nearby college campus to be judged in sight-reading and songs sung in class. We gathered as a group on the big stage at the college auditorium with the judges in the orchestra pit below us.
Though aware of people moving in and out of the auditorium, I didn’t pay much attention to them. My eyes were on the conductor, hoping the judges would give our choir an excellent score, and they did.
The next day in choir the student director said, “Molly, please stay after class.”
Stay after class? What had I done? I was stunned, embarrassed and scared out of my orbit. The other students left the room, leaving me sitting there—wondering what would happen next. After a long moment, I joined the student director at the piano, expecting to be disciplined. Instead, he smiled.
“Molly,” he said. “There is a boy up at the college who saw you up on that stage, and he wants to go out with you. His name is Charles Bull.”
Charles Bull. That had to be the strangest name I had ever heard. At the same time, it was such a relief to know I wasn’t in trouble. “I have a boyfriend,” I finally said. “We go steady.”
That ended the matter. I never recalled the name again. Or did I?
I graduated from high school, entering that same college in September. Ron and I had broken up. Of course, I joined the college choir.
On the first day, I noticed that the president of the choir was mature yet kind and special somehow. Still, he was probably too old for a freshman like me, and I didn’t think he was a cowboy. Cowboys were high on my possible boyfriend list. Nevertheless, I decided to ask the girl seated in the seat beside me a bold question. We will call her Jane.
“The choir president, Charles, sure is cute,” I said. ”Who does he go out with?”
“Me.”
Me? I melted into the back of my chair, planning never to make bold comments again.
At Christmas time, the choir gathered in the back of a big truck for a caroling party. We visited a hospital and a nursing home for starters. Jane didn’t attend, and I happened to be standing beside Charles.
We were both holding on to the side of the truck as we sang. All at once the sides of our hands touched. I had no idea what he felt. I felt a kind of romantic tingling, and he wasn’t even a cowboy.
By then I knew that Charles was a history major and a college sophomore; he wasn’t too old for me. But he never asked me out. However during my sophomore year, Charles and Jane broke up, and he finally asked me out on a date.
We went to a movie. At the door of the girl’s boarding house where I lived, he threw me a kiss instead of kissing me. I found that charming. Neither of us dated anyone else after that first date. We married a year later.
One day my husband, Charles Bull—now called Charlie, said, “Remember that boy who wanted to go out with you when you were in high school. Well, that was me.”
God answers prayer. He answered mine on the day in choir when I was standing at the piano with the student director, but not in the way I expected. The LORD gave us three sons and six grandchildren, and all of our sons are cowboys. He also gave me Charlie. Oh, he is also called Charles.
Our marriage has lasted for almost 65 years.
I have a Texas cattle ranch background. Today I am introducing my newest western, Cowboy Cousins, a collection of three novellas. My novella is titled “Lucy and the Lawman.” Set in the Texas hill country, Lucy is about a sheriff who wants to quit his job, run cattle full-time, and then he meets a young woman who needs a lawman’s help.
Molly Noble Bull has published with Zondervan, Love Inspired, Barbour Publishing, and others. Sanctuary, her long historical, won the 2008 Gayle Wilson Award in the inspirational category and tied for first place in a second national contest for published authors that year. Later, the publisher went out of business, and Hartline Literary published Sanctuary under a new title, The Secret Place.
Molly’s Gothic historical, Gatehaven, won the Grand Prize in the 2013 Creation House Fiction Writing Contest. When the Cowboy Rides Away won the 2016 Texas Association of Authors contest in the Christian western category. Barbour Publishing published The Secret Admirer Romance Collection on May 1, 2017, and Molly’s novella in that collection is titled “Too Many Secrets.” Cinderella Texas and The Secret Place were published by Hartline’s White Glove Publishing. Learn more & connect:
About the collection – Cowboy Cousins:
Lucy and the Lawman by Molly Noble Bull: While on a business trip to Colorado in 1890, Sheriff Caleb Caldwell stops to inform Miss Lucy Gordan and her widowed mother of property they inherited in Texas, land coveted by a rich and powerful man—willing to do anything to get his hands on what is rightfully theirs, and Caleb feels obligated to protect them. However, he cannot reveal his attraction for Lucy. To do so would mean disaster for all of them.
The Meddlesome Maverick by Kathleen L. Maher: A new job as a bronco buster on a Lincoln, Nebraska ranch offers Boyd Hastings a fresh start. Cured of romance after a kiss-and-tell flirt falsely accused him, he must flee his hometown and cousins who have been like brothers. Banjo picking for a music show would lure him to the big city, but an opinionated tomboy with a heart of gold makes grand plans for him. Can he trust a meddlesome maverick to steer him true, or will she lead him into a briar patch of trouble?
A Panhandle Sunrise by Kathi Macias: Thirty-one year old Jake Matthews, newly appointed foreman of the Double Bar-J Ranch, is deeply attracted to the ranch owner’s daughter, Anabelle, but he can’t work up the nerve to approach her father, Jasper Floyd, and ask for permission to court her. But when tall, handsome, longtime Jasper-family friend, Clint Jordan, gets hired on, it seems Clint doesn’t have the same insecurities and begins pursuing Anabelle immediately. Jake now accepts that his dreams of a life with Anabelle are hopeless—until a near life-and-death situation changes everything.
Can’t wait for the drawing? Worried you won’t win? Interested in Molly’s other titles?
Get your copy/copies now!
Cowboy Cousins – Scrivenings Press Molly’s books
Question for Readers: Who has the longest marriage in your family? How many years? How long did they date before marriage?
Come back May 6th for Gail Pallotta!
My parents were married for 56 years before my Daddy died. They dated 4 1/2 months before they got married. My husband and I have been married for 43 years. I love Molly’s story
Thanks for replying, Susan. I am so glad you liked my story. It has been a blessing through the years to know that God had a plan–that our marriage was planned before we met.
My parents celebrated 61?years together. They dated six weeks.
Great to hear from you, Betty, and good for you and your parents. May the LORD continue to bless you and your family.
Good to have you here again, Molly. My parents will have their 60th anniversary this year. My grandparents were married longer than that, but I can’t remember. My parents dated for 4 years because my mom was only 15 when they started.
Thank you, Shannon, for having me as a guest, and I hope all good things for you and your family. We have things in common, your parents and I. The world we grew up in is gone now, and but as Christians we know that the world to come with be glorious because the LORD is there.
My parents have been married for 65 years. They met in high school and dated maybe a year. My dad joined the Army when he graduated and was stationed in Germany. They married when he was home on leave at Christmas. She was 17 (a Junior in high school) and he was 19. She quit school to join him overseas and later was able to get her GED.
Of all the sweet messages I have read so far, the experiences your parents had is closest to the ones Charlie and I had. He was drafted into the U.S. Army, stationed in Germany, and since we were married, I lived in Germany, too. My very first published novel, For Always, was published by Zondervan Publishing House, and the novel is partly based on our experiences in Germany. However, For Always is not out of print.
Sorry, Cindy, I meant to say For Always is NOW out of print.
My paternal grandparents were married 58 years before my grandfather died.
And I have an aunt and uncle that have been married 49 years this year, before they were married they dated for 8 years.
God still hasn’t told me who I’m marrying.
God bless you and yours, Jennifer. Sounds like you have a wonderful family.
My parents have been married 53 years, not sure how long they dated but a while because my mom was 13 when they started dating and my Dad was 19. I meet my husband when the rodeo clown at Flying L Rodeo brought two brothers to me to choose from. Lol. I am thankful I got the best one. We were 6 months after we meet and now have been married 26 years.
Alicia, Forgive me. I didn’t mean to skip your wonderful comment, and what a wonderful family you have. I especially love families where there are cowboys, like yours, because I come from a cowboy family, too.
My aunt and uncle were married for 60 years and dated about a year. I’ve been married 43. Those are the top two.
Susan, You have a wonderful family, too. May the LORD continue to bless you and yours.
We have cousins who have been married 40 years. They came to our wedding and had their baby a few weeks later.
Family members can be so great. Sounds like yours sure are, and I do love babies.
Well, all our parents and aunts and uncles have passed away. Today is my one of my brother’s anniversary. I wasn’t able to attend his wedding and don’t know how long he has been married. My guess is 42 years, based on the age of our kids. This year it will be 29 years for my husband and I. We dated for two years before we married.
Hi Linda. I hope your marriage last as our’s has. Twenty-nine years is a great start.
My parents have been married for 56 1/2 years. My mom is from Spain and my dad from Germany. They met over here after each immigrated to the US. I think they dated about a year before they got married.
Diana, I love to hear romantic love stories like your parents had. What a blessing to be their daughter.
My mom’s parents were married for 70 years before she passed away suddenly on March 24 2020 I think they dated a year or two.my mom and dad have been married for 28 years and have 13 children from ages 27 to 1. My mom and dad dated for 3 or 4 years cause they started dating at 16. My mom knew she was going to marry my dad in the 8th grade.now they have 2 grandsons and 2 granddaughters and a grandson or granddaughter on the way.
Kendra. I love what you said about your Mom knowing she would marry your dad in the 8th grade. Wow!
My aunt and uncle have been married for 74 years! They are both 93 years old. I believe a friend introduced them and they eloped after a very few months. My uncle still drives and they go out to eat every day.
Wow! Your relatives are amazing–93 and still going out to eat is fantastic. Bet you are amazing, too.
My parents will be celebrating 56 years in August. They dated when my mom was in high school for a couple of years.
I love to hear of parents, like yours, who stayed together. Sounds like you have great parents, Cherie.
What a beautiful story!
My grandparents were married for 65 years.
I am so glad you liked our story. May God bless you and your family.
I have a winner! Alicia Acock won the drawing. I appreciate Molly for being my guest and everyone else for stopping by.