Larry Morgan & Ellen Carter Saturday, September 1, 1984

Her Story. . .

It was at Midwest camp meeting that I first met Larry, and really there was so much going on in my life right then that I did not think much about him. That was the camp meeting I gave my life to the Lord, so naturally my focus was elsewhere. However, less than a year later he moved to the city I was living in, and since we both attended the same small church, of course, we got to know each other. Incidentally, he was dating my friend at the time, which was fine.

Interestingly enough, later we were both boarders at the same house. We got to know each other better during that time in a friendly sense, which is a good idea before a serious relationship. Things went on that way for a while, and my friend ended up dating and marrying someone else. That left Larry footloose. Even though I was unattached, I had no interest in having a boyfriend; I wasn't looking.

But Larry had some interest, I guess, and one evening after attending a mission meeting he gave me a lift home. On the way we stopped for fast food and split a coupon deal, drove past the three-story-tall yellow ribbon tied around a downtown building, and went to see Jester Hairston at a local high school. From then on we spent more time together, so that was probably a first “date.” This continued for a few weeks, but I was really not sure about the whole thing, so we cooled to “just friends” for a while.

Larry was most attentive, I must say. I was living on my own at the time, and he regularly “just happened” to be going my way as I walked to church or waited for a bus. I have to admit that some of those winter days in Minneapolis were very cold, and the sight of his battered green panel truck was quite welcome. We both were assigned to the same Sunday school van route—he drove and I kept the peace—so he came by early each Sunday to pick me up. Even though he didn't like coffee at all, he usually picked up a hot cup of it for me before coming to my place. That was a nice touch! We dated on and off (mostly off) for a couple of years.

Then one Thanksgiving, a group of us young people were going to Richland Center for Thanksgiving. One by one the other people decided they were unable to make the trip. The result was that Larry and I went alone. “Great,” I thought. Five hours with only Larry and I. I wondered what we would talk about. Although the situation was not my first choice, I still wanted to see my family for Thanksgiving, so I was committed to the trip.

That was an unforgettable trip. To begin with, there was a huge snowstorm that Wednesday, so there was some discussion of whether the roads were OK. They really were not, but being young and foolish, off we went for the 200-mile trip anyway. The first part of the trip was focused merely on seeing the road through the heavily falling snow. Remember, we were not in a new SUV, either. After some distance, it must have cleared up, because there was a heavy discussion. I thought, “Oh, no. Here we go!” as Larry started discussing matters of the heart. Basically, he said that he would appreciate prayer on the subject of our relationship, that God would change either him or me. He didn't want to continue hanging on indefinitely for nothing. Heavy. I agreed to pray, though. We continued on to Richland Center in a very quiet car.

The outcome of those prayers was that I was the one who changed. He was all right after all. We dated again, and Larry is quite a romantic, so he brought flowers, candy, etc.—all very nice. There were places to visit and things to do. It was exciting.

On Valentine's Day we went out for Tepanyaki at a nice Japanese restaurant. Our reservations were for a certain time, but when we arrived, they had used our spot (eight people sit around one table). Larry talked to them, and they pulled a guy off break and had him fire up the grill at another table, so we ended up having a very private dinner—only the chef and us. After a delicious meal Larry proposed, having written his proposal as a poem in the Minneapolis Tribune LoveLines. There were red roses and candies—everything was perfect. I told him to wait.

In my defense, I was waiting for the Lord to answer a “fleece” concerning the matter. It was not a very romantic way to end the evening, but the Lord must take first place in such matters. A couple of weeks later, I was able to say, “yes,” and we planned a wedding for the beginning of September. By the way, he was sick the morning of the wedding—I think he was nervous about marrying me!

His Story. . .

When I was in my late teens my older brothers got married. I was not dating at that time and a common remark was made to me, “You may not have met the girl you will marry.” I could not imagine getting married to someone that I did not even know yet. If I were to marry, I knew it would be someone from our church. Our family had visited a number of branch churches and I thought that I knew pretty much everybody my age.

Then, on that memorable Saturday at midwest camp meeting in 1978, I met Ellen. When I first saw her I thought it was someone else, and as I said an exuberant “Hello,” I realized I had no idea who I was talking to. I did get to know her some that week, and had the privilege of praying along with others for her on Friday when she prayed through to salvation.

On Thursday, the day before Ellen was saved, I felt God place His hand on my life and he showed me that I was to move from Portland. I told the Lord I would go anywhere except St. Louis, Missouri or Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The following February 1979, I took a trip to Minneapolis to visit one of my brothers. While there I felt God direct me that this was to be my new home. I needed a place to live, so Brother Tom Pricskett invited me to stay at their place. They had another boarder, a young lady named Ellen Carter, so I moved into the guest room down the hall and got along just fine with my new “family.” I lived there at the Pricsketts for about a year, but Ellen and I never paid much attention to each other during that time. I moved out of the Pricskett home, got a place of my own and life continued on.

In September 1980 I attended a wedding in which Ellen was the Maid of Honor. I could take you to the spot in the Minneapolis church where, during the reception, I realized I was attracted to her. I turned to one of my friends, motioned towards Ellen, and commented on the fact that I thought she looked very nice. At that moment a special place in my heart opened up for her.

Ellen was not interested in me then, so my best effort was just to give her rides, as she did not have a car at that time. It took some effort to be in the right place at the right time on a consistent basis, but I managed to give her rides home from work, to mission meeting, to church, and other activities.

That Winter Brother Tom Pricskett asked me if I would be able to drive a Sunday School van. I was able to get Ellen as an attendant to ride along. Even though we had lived in the same house for a while, we got to know each other much better over those months of riding together.

On a Thursday evening in February 1981, we were leaving a mission meeting together. We decided to drive past a high-rise office building that had a four-story yellow ribbon tied around it to welcome the Iranian hostages home.

As we neared her home, she mentioned she had a 2-for-1 McDonalds coupon to get a couple of those new McChicken sandwiches. I was more than glad to stop. After the sandwiches we decided to head over to a local high school to see Jester Hairston directing their choir. On the way home we decided we had just been on our first date, unplanned as it was. I went home thrilled to no end that just maybe Ellen was responding to my advances!

We did begin dating on a regular basis after that. I felt early on that I had found the lady that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I tried to pray it through, but it seemed like praying for one of my three experiences. I just knew it had to be the Lord's will, there seemed to be no other possibility.

On one of our first dates I told Ellen that I wanted to read the Bible and pray before each time we went out. She eagerly agreed and I was more sure than ever that she was the right one for me. As a child I had heard of a couple that read and prayed before each date, and at that young age I determined that was what I was going to do when I dated. This was especially important, since I had two previous girlfriends that had refused.

After a time Ellen called an end to our dating, saying she did not want to get ahead of God. I was heartbroken. I tried to leave her alone, but I could not stop the flame burning on the inside of my heart. I found myself many times before God asking him for direction, but there did not seem to be any. I attributed this to me being too stubborn to hear God's voice on the subject. We did date occasionally (rarely) over the next three-and-a-half years. I thought many times that she went along out of sympathy for me. I still showed up mysteriously when Ellen needed a lift, and she continued to ride the Sunday school van each week, but sometimes the atmosphere was quite strained due to our relationship, or lack thereof.

In the Fall of 1983, Ellen invited all of the church young people to go home with her to Richland Center, Wisconsin for Thanksgiving. At first there was quite a group going, but as it got closer to  the time to leave, one by one others were not able to go. At last it was just Ellen and myself. On Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, we headed out of town, just the two of us. Again I was there giving her a ride.

Since I knew we were going to be alone, I had decided to take advantage of the time and discuss our relationship. By this time we were both getting weary of dealing with the situation. As much as I wanted to stop bothering her, I could not get over being completely in love with every aspect of her. As we drove, I talked about the previous years, acknowledging that she was more tired of it than I was. I asked Ellen to form a covenant with me and pray over the next few weeks asking God to change either one of our hearts. As much as I felt I loved her, we needed a change because it had become painful for both of us. My goal was that God would make the change by the end of the year. It was, to say the least, a very interesting weekend in Wisconsin.

On the following Sunday evening, while praying about this, God spoke clearly to me. He asked me about my consecrations, my sacrifices for Him. Why couldn't I put up with the situation? After all, Jacob worked for Laban fourteen years for Rachel. I knew that it would be best to give all to God, so I refreshed my consecrations, asked God for help and went to see Ellen. I gave her a ride home that night and told her what God had asked of me and that I would not bother her any more. I asked her to forget everything that we had talked about on the way to Richland Center that week.

A few days later, my work announced an early Christmas dinner for all the employees. We were told to bring a date. Even though I knew better, on an impulse I called Ellen. She went with me to the dinner and we had a wonderful time. As our evening was drawing to a close, she said, “Don't expect this to be a regular occurrence.” But something had changed, and we found ourselves dating like we had three years earlier. Once God had drawn from me the consecration He wanted, He changed her heart!

A couple months later, Valentines Day was nearing. I felt it was time to propose, so I carefully planned out the evening of the 14th. At first there seemed to be a disaster with our dinner reservations, but it worked out that we had our own personal chef. After we left the restaurant I found a quiet place to ask the big question. I got out the current newspaper in which I had placed an ad -- my written proposal. It read...

Ellen,
My hair is red,
My life is not blue,
It's been three long years
Since I fell for you.
Last Christmas you returned my love,
This Summer let's return vows.
I guess this means
I'm proposing right now.
So at this time
I put the question to you,
Will you be my Valentine
and say “I DO”?
I love you,
Larry

I presented her with the engagement watch and anticipated her answer. She said, “No.” Aaaaarrrrrrrgggghhhhh!!!! Ellen explained that she felt it was the Lord's will that we get married, but she had a fleece out before God and she did not want to get ahead of Him. She asked me to wait a while for God to answer her fleece, and then please ask again. Of course she would not tell me what the fleece was, because if she did I would be out there at night dumping buckets of water on it.

Two or three weeks went by and one evening when we were together, God answered her fleece. He also witnessed to my heart what had just happened. It was that ever-so-familiar still-small-voice that spoke to us that night. I turned to Ellen and said “That was it, wasn't it?” Her reply, “Yes.”

A few days later I tried to recreate that special evening and I proposed to her again. Her reply, “Yes.” We began to make wedding plans and we were married on September 1, 1984. On October 1, 1984 we celebrated our first month anniversary. We have not stopped since; on January 1 of 2005 we will celebrate our 244th anniversary, (20 years, 4 months)!

It is more important than any of us can comprehend to listen to the Lord's still-small-voice. It will guide you in everything you do. I have never had even one moment of regret about marrying Ellen. The Lord has truly blessed our marriage.

Larry and Ellen Morgan are still happily married and have three lovely daughters. They live in Portland, Oregon where they attend the Apostolic Faith Church.