So it’s after midnight. Caffeine plus little physical activity = no sleepies. Not good. Fun day with the aunt, cousin and son in PA though.
Where to begin? That seems to be the problem each time.
Untrue rumor # 1: Dave came to church to date me. If anyone really knew Dave, they would know Dave is very thoughtful about 99% of his decisions and VERY analytical. He doesn’t do things to manipulate or he is not a salesman. Not his thing. He is very serious when it comes to things like this.
Untrue rumor # 2: I invited Dave to church to date him. If anyone really knew me, they would know I am much like Dave and take things like this very seriously and that’s not my thing.
Untrue rumor # 3: Dave was not a Christian when I met him. Not that this really matters now, but people who know me, know that I like a story to be told correctly to the last detail. I am annoying in my correction of added and false details. It just bugs me. So, Dave had already been a Christian for a few years (though never a church attendee – he did not know about this realm of life). He sometimes thinks he was a Christian from a very early age.
From all the untrue rumors, one might guess the direction of the story. I started working in Dave’s department. Being the equal opportunity evangelist that I am, I invited everyone who would listen to my church. I love my church, I love God and I want people to hear about the love of God. A few people over the years actually took me up on the invitation. One evening after work, Dave and I were having a quick chat in the parking lot. We might have been talking about God or church, I don’t remember. I invited him to church and he might have told me he wasn’t sure. I think I said just come, why not?, what’s the big deal?. For some reason my why not phrase stuck with him over the weekend. He showed up for church on Sunday. I didn’t seem him and I was looking for him as I did all the people I invited to church who might show up. So, I ran into him right after church. Literally ran into him. You have to understand we are talking about a church of over a thousand people. He instantly told me he loved it and wanted to know what he had to do to become a member. Wow!?! I really hadn’t ever had that reaction from anyone I ever invited from work and was rather shocked. I told him he could just keep coming.
He did keep coming and we talked more and more at work about church and God. It was actually kind of weird to be able to do that. His first church service was St. Patrick’s Day, 2002.
After a few weeks, it was hard to deny that both of us were attracted to each other and enjoyed spending time chatting. I started to get scared of the whole situation and remember asking my roommates to stay far away from him if they noticed where his truck was in the church parking lot when pulling in. My roommates and I also used to pray he would finally ask me out so I could tell him it was never going to work. Sometime in the beginning of April our work was giving out box seats to the baseball game. Both Dave and I got one and he offered to give me a ride. Perfect! Maybe it would be his big confession night. So, it rained that afternoon. I got a call from Dave saying maybe we could hang out since we were already planning on going to the game. It didn’t seem like an official date. He had me choose between Friendly’s and a seafood restaurant. If he was trying to impress me Friendly’s wasn’t doing the trick. We ended up going to the other place. He never brought up the subject of “us”, but I had to seize the opportunity anyway. I brought up many hypothetical situations and topics to do with my thoughts, ideas on marriage, faith, family, men, relationships etc. I was really trying to freak him out and holding nothing back. Since most people in our culture reject God’s viewpoint on many issues, I thought for sure he was history.
That night I ran into my house. I was so excited. Another one bit the dust. I was sure I scared him away and I was glad. There was no sense in wasting my time on someone who wasn’t after God. Even if I had developed feelings for him. I wanted God’s plan.
I skipped into work the next day half expecting to be ignored and rejected by Dave. I was ready and happy to meet the situation with a smile on my face. B U T!!! he seemed to like me even more. Come on! What was this guy’s problem? Didn’t he get the picture?
He came over to my desk and asked me out on our official first date. Some time in the middle of April. I told him we needed to talk.
He called me the afternoon of our date and asked me where I wanted to go. I told him he didn’t really get the picture. We weren’t going out. We needed to talk.
That evening I was greeted as I opened up the door of my house by a very well groomed and nicely dressed Dave. I asked him why he was dressed up because we weren’t going out any where. I was mean folks. I was mean. He told me he was on an interview and better dress for the occasion. He got points for that.
We got into his truck and headed to his place in Bel Air. That night I told him that I had paid a price and gone to Bible College and loved God and wasn’t going to mess my life up for him or any other guy. A relationship just wasn’t that important to me. He told me that everything in his life had prepared him for this point in his life. He knew when he came to church he was home. He also told me that everything in his life (he had been through a lot – he’s 12 years older) had prepared him to be a husband to me. He believed he was exactly where he was supposed to be. He told me he wasn’t going anywhere and would take all the time in the world to show me that.
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