Bill McKibben & Lori Walden Saturday, December 11, 1976

Her Story. . .

My life has always been centered around music and my church. It is because of my interest in music that I met my husband. I enjoyed playing my flute in the band at school and by the time I was in high school this interest in music pretty much shaped who I hung around with. Most lunch hours you could find me “hanging out” in the band room with many of my friends. It was during my junior year that I met a nice sophomore who played the drums in the same band. He always seemed so friendly and talkative, that it didn't take long before we became friends.

He seemed to be interested in me because he always noticed that I was never at the Friday night football games or the dances afterwards. During one of our lunch hours he teased, asking me, “Where DO you spend your Friday nights if you don't come to the games?” Of course told him that I went to church every Friday night. I think that conversation put a spark of interest in him as to what kind of church would have services on Friday night, and why I would want to be there instead of going to the football games. What he didn't know was that I really did want to be at the football games with all my friends but church was very important to my parents and they felt that I should be there whenever possible. I loved my church but was caught between that and having fun with my friends, too.

It wasn't too much later that Bill and I were talking together and a friend came up and invited him to her church. That convicted me because I had never invited Bill to my church and I was afraid that he would go with her and be led in a direction that I knew was wrong. I told him he never came to church with me and he said it was because I never invited him. I invited him right then and he came that night!

I was very nervous because I was supposed to participate in the orchestra and choir since it was a young peoples' meeting. That meant he would have no one to sit by during the service. My father offered to sit with him because he wanted me to be in my place on the platform. I thought “Oh great, what will Bill think, and what will everyone else think about him coming to church and sitting next to my dad?” My only consolation was that they knew each other because Dad was the choir teacher at school. It must not have been too bad of an experience for him because he sat by him that night, and kept coming back to church after that.

Our friendship continued to grow and we wanted to spend more time together. My parents were very careful about who I was with and what I did during my social time. Most of the time we were together was at school activities. Bill professed to be a Christian, but I wasn't sure how much he knew about real Christian living as I had been taught. I continued to pray that he would really come to know the Lord. I will have to admit that some of my prayers had selfish motives because I knew that until my parents were sure he was a Christian, they were not going to let me spend much time with him outside of school.

After coming to church on Sunday mornings, it was only a few months later that Bill realized that what he heard preached there was not the same Christianity that he had, and he gave his heart to the Lord. I was so excited (and I think my parents were very relieved), because, aside from caring about his spiritual well-being, I had learned to care very much about him as a person and potential boyfriend!

I remember very well our first “date.” It was not actually a formal date, but the first time I was allowed to go somewhere with him besides just school. We had been at a concert and we went out for root beer floats on the way home. A good friend of ours had been with us earlier that night and thought it would be great fun to follow us home in his vintage 1953 Chevy. When we got to my house I teased the friend about never letting me drive his “new” car. He handed me the keys and said, “Go ahead and take it for a drive.”

We all hopped in, and away we went. The only bad thing was that no one warned me that the brake pedal on older cars was much higher up than on newer cars. As I came to a crossroad and a stop sign I could not find the brake! I decided the only thing I could do was try to make the corner without stopping first. Well…..we almost made it around the corner unharmed; however, the front wheel hit the gravel alongside the road and over we went, into the irrigation ditch, on our side! That was not my idea of a good way to impress someone on your first date! We finally made it out of that mess and back to my house. By that time, Bill's parents had been called and they were on their way over to see if we were okay. I had never met them before so this was my chance to say hello to them for the first time. I often wondered what they thought about this new girl their son had just taken out for the first time!

By my senior year at school, Bill and I had many opportunities to do things together and get to know each other. I am glad that we became good friends with each other before we started dating. We spent lots of time doing things with groups of friends. His friends became my friends and my friends became his. He no longer teased me about not going to Friday night games and dances, but instead started joining me at church.

As we entered college, we realized that our relationship was getting more serious. We had talked about our future together, and I prayed many times to make sure that he was the right mate for me. One night after coming home from church, as we sat in his car in front of my house he began to talk about marriage one more time. I thought maybe we would just be discussing the subject again, but to my surprise he was actually asking me to be engaged to be married. I knew this step was a big one, but by that time I had prayed enough about it to know that it was the right thing to do.

Serving God and attending church has always been a priority for us in our relationship. God has blessed us so much in our married life as we have tried to put Him first. I am thankful to be able to share my life with the loving, caring, and understanding husband God provided.

His Story. . .

My courting days with Lori were filled with humor as well as romance. She was raised in the Gospel and serving the Lord when we met in high school. She was a bit shy, but had a sweet personality. I, on the other hand, was gregarious and friendly.

She invited me to a youth service but only after I teased her about never inviting me. I'm sure she felt awkward about that, but the tables were soon turned when I found myself sitting next to her father as she took her place in the orchestra (she played flute). It didn't take me long to assess where her priorities were.

It was about this time Lori's parents allowed me to take her home from a school band/choir concert. We stopped for a root beer float with a mutual friend and had a good time. Lori teased the friend about getting a “new” car and letting her drive it. It was an old 1953 Chevrolet he inherited from an uncle. The three of us climbed in the car, with Lori at the wheel, and headed out. Her unfamiliarity with the car caused her to miss the brake pedal and run a stop sign, sliding the car on its side into a slimy irrigation ditch. Everyone was safe and the car was virtually unscratched, but we were all pretty shook up. This was the first time our parents met as we all gathered at Lori's house after the event. That was the first time I ever put my arm around Lori. I remember thinking, “this isn't exactly how this was supposed to happen!”

During the course of our early acquaintance and my first few months of church attendance, I realized my need of salvation. God was faithful to change my life. Of course, the first person I told was Lori. It was difficult because, in my ignorance of real salvation, I had told her I was already saved. That afternoon when I picked up the telephone I heard a little voice say, “She will think you are a hypocrite.” Of course that was the enemy of my soul trying to discourage me. I made the call explaining that what I had claimed before was not true but that I was now really saved. After a long silence on the other end of the phone line I realized that Lori was crying. I guess it may have been the thing for which she had been praying.

Lori's parents were very careful and faithful during this time to encourage me. They not only encouraged us to spend time with groups of Christian young people, but also invited me to their home many times for dinner or snacks. While they were very protective of their daughter, they also were very much a part of my Christian growth. It was not long before I received my sanctification as Lori's family stayed and prayed with me on a Sunday evening. A few months later, I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and once again they were faithful to encourage me.

As Lori and I finished high school and entered college, the Lord spoke to me about making absolutely sure that this “budding romance” was within His will. I spent time in prayer and the Lord made it clear to me that any relationship outside His will would be like “playing with fire.” After spending time in prayer, I became convinced that Lori was the one God had chosen for me. I did not tell her or anyone but just kept praying.

I remember during one camp meeting we, just as some of our friends did, attended meetings but then made it a priority to go out together after church. It seemed that all our friends were having a good time and getting along, but we were in constant disagreement. After some consideration and discussion we decided that we would not even consider going out until both of us were finished praying at the altar. It was about this time that I got the bright idea that we should read a chapter in the Bible and pray at the end of any time together we had. This was a bit awkward at first, but I believe the Lord honored the desire we had to keep Him first. We joked about having to get past “Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John before getting near each other” and yet the reality was that it did keep us accountable to God in our relationship.

While I was convinced that Lori was the one God had for me, I was concerned as to how I could provide an adequate home and support for her. We talked and prayed but I knew that even though we would be a team, I would be a leader and provider. Finally one night after wrestling with the finances of setting up our own home, I went to prayer asking God for direction as to His timing. It was not long before God gave me peace about asking Lori to be my wife. I had prayed for God's will before I kissed her the first time, and I prayed for a similar assurance before I proposed. God was faithful.

Without telling Lori, I had decided that not only would I ask her to marry me but that I would also ask both her parents and our pastor. I determined that if any of them had reservations we would not proceed. When I suggested to Lori's mother that she wished to change her last name to McKibben she began to call for Lori's dad. Lori sat mute next to me while I explained that we wanted to get married. Her dad asked me three different times if we were just kidding but finally recognized the seriousness of the question and offered his congratulations. The next day we met our pastor at prayer meeting and he was excited that we wanted to serve the Lord together. He was also careful to offer wise advice to keep our focus on God during this exciting time in our lives.

During the months of our engagement we made preparations but also made a commitment to keep our focus on the Lord and to be faithful in our commitments at church. We never felt like church was an invasion of our time or deterrent to our relationship, but rather it was like a greenhouse, which helped our love for both God and each other to grow. It is still that way today.

I am told that on our wedding day while traveling to the church, Lori's father asked her if she was consecrated to be married to a minister. He must have seen something in us that I had not yet realized. She did not relate that conversation to me until over two years later just before I preached my first sermon. Lori has teasingly said to me since then that she wished her dad would have warned her earlier. The truth is that I could not have been blessed with a more loving and supportive wife than Lori.

There is still plenty of humor as well as romance in our marriage after twenty-five years. I believe our love for each other has grown through both joyous and difficult times because of our love for God. We are still doing our best to seek the will of the Lord, to put Him first in our lives, and to live our lives in His service.

Reverend Bill and Lori McKibben live in Richmond, California where he is the pastor of the [Trinity] Apostolic Faith Church.