Mike Paschall . com

Patti and I want to thank you again for all your prayers and concerns for William the Warrior!!!  He arrived on June 28th (8.5 lbs), and had his first of three open heart surgeries on July 2nd.  He’s still in the hospital, but making good progress daily.  You can follow the journey of William Michael Brewer on Instagram @williamthewarrior.  Thank YOU!!! -MDP-

It was bound to happen, right? With that much time in the car… among strangers? Eventually someone was going to figure out that I might be the right fit to do their wedding. Well, it happened, and it was an amazing experience to be a part of an awesome young couple’s special day.

In April of 2017, I picked up a family on an Uber run on the southwest side of Colorado Springs. They were headed to Monument, CO for a celebration involving friends. These people were headed to a party, so the mood was light and festive. It was about a 35-minute ride. It all started with the Dad (Gary) forgetting to grab a couple of bottles of wine for the party. So I whipped the Suburban around and returned to their house. While Gary was in the house, one of the kids began asking me about Uber driving. That’s a fairly common conversation when I’ve got people in the car, and it usually leads to questions like, “what else do you do besides Uber driving?”

As I mentioned, I liked these people and it felt right to disclose details about my ministry history. After a brief rundown, Gary popped off, “what do you charge to do marriage counseling?” The kids were laughing out loud, and I think I said something like, “do you need marriage counseling?” Becky (Gary’s wife) mumbled, “he might, but I think I’m good.” More laughter. I was really enjoying the ride with this family.

“What kind of books have you written?” I must have mentioned something earlier. So when I told them a little about Til Death Do Us Part, Gary suggested to his daughter (Mandi) that she probably ought to read the book. I inquired, “Are you married?” Mandi revealed she was engaged. I said, “If you’ll email me your mailing address, I’ll send you a signed copy.” I had heard enough from Mandi during our brief encounter to know that this young woman was strong, bright, and on-point with her life. I know a force when I’m around one. Mandi was a force. I spouted off my email address and she put it in her phone. I didn’t really expect to hear from her, but I was serious about sending the book if I got an email.

I dropped the family off at their location. We said our goodbyes, and I was tipped generously on my Uber app. It was one of those rides that would make any Uber driver’s day.

That ride was on a Saturday afternoon. The following Monday morning, I got an email from Mandi with her mailing address. Patti and I signed a book, and I put it in the mail to her. I absolutely love putting Til Death Do Us Part into the hands of engaged couples! I still believe the book is valuable to their preparation if they’ll actually read and absorb the power of the stories. As far as I knew, that would be the end of this story. It wasn’t.

Five months later, I got the following email from Mandi:

Mike, I hope this email finds you well. I’m writing to you because I met you in an Uber with my family awhile back, and you sent me a copy of you and your wife’s book because I was recently engaged. I reached out to my church in Denver because they usually do pre-marital counseling and we were thinking we would just have one of the ministers there be our officiant after we got through the pre-marital counseling. However, I guess no one signed up so they are canceling them for this fall. I know I could ask them anyways to be the officiant, but to be honest I had already thought of you prior to that plan and this just seemed to seal the deal that I had to at least ask you… I could not get that Uber ride out of my head and I think my fiancé would connect well with you as well.  That being said, would you be willing to get to know us a little better and be our officiant if all goes well? I don’t know what the fee is for this sort of thing, but I’d do whatever you consider fair.   Our wedding is July 7, 2018 in Littleton, CO. We would make it easy for you and come down to Colorado Springs, other than for the wedding of course 🙂

No pressure if you’re busy or not doing these sort of things any more, I completely understand either way – we will be fine and still have our church, but I had to ask. Thanks Mike! Mandi”

See? A force! I’ll shorten it from here. I met with Mandi and Everett (a slow talking Oklahoma man… that I mucho dig) several times for their premarital counseling late Spring of this year, and did their wedding last weekend! The venue was spectacular and the service went off without a hitch (not counting the driving windstorm, hail, and rain that began about three minutes before the service began). We waited for about 45 minutes, and then proceeded to do the deed.

In the few short hours I spent with Mandi and Everett, I was reminded one more time about how the grace of God makes these crazy connections possible through the most unusual means. I absolutely fell in love with these two kids. They are in love, and I felt so honored to be asked and included. What was more amazing to me is that they both strongly stated they wanted a spiritual event for the wedding. They totally trusted me, and asked me to do whatever I felt was right for their service. They didn’t really know me, nor had they ever been to a wedding which I conducted. I will say that took a lot of guts!

After all of the crazy stuff I’ve gone through with Uber (the 3:40am alarms, the gallons of coffee before the sun ever rises, and the tens-of-thousands of miles driving through Colorado Springs), my time with these two people has be such an amazing experience! Many congrats to the new Koelling family! Mandi, Everett, thank you for blessing me with such a sacred privilege! I know you two are going to rock life big-time together!

Live every day inside this magnificent truth: GOD LOVES US ALL!

BE GOOD AT LIFE!

Mike