Meeting "him"-Part 4 of my testimony

I felt like I was living on my own for the first time in my life. No longer was I in a dorm room, living with friends while doing internships for occupational therapy, or living with anyone. It was a strange mixture of feeling lonely and independent. So, I tried to keep busy.

I was attending a "cell group" from our church, which is like a Bible study with the added focus of fellowship and accountability. One evening in mid-December 1998, this guy came that was the brother of one of the cell group members. My eyes turned, but I made myself not think about it too much.

A couple weeks later I was on a cruise with my sisters and my dad. I found out later that Keith finally worked up the nerve to call and ask me if I wanted to go out on a date, but I was not there. After I returned, he called again and I said that I would like to go on a date. It was January 17, 1999, and he was going to come to my church for the service and then we would go out to eat after that. His brother had recommended a neat Italian restaurant, so that was the plan. Unfortunately, he didn't know that it wasn't open on Sunday noon. He was beginning to get nervous when he returned to the truck after checking the hours sign on the door. We decided on a different retaurant and drove there. This one was closed due to having an employee day to watch the Vikings play the NFC championship football game. By this time, he was really nervous and embarressed. We went to the Olive Garden after this. It was open and we had a splendid time. Yes, I was nervous and felt out-of-breath at times talking to him, yet in many ways I was very at ease. It seemed like we could talk about everything and there wasn't any uncomfortable silences. He brought me back to the church parking lot. He was going to give me a kiss on the cheek. I said no. The he said, "Can I give you a hug?" I agreed to a side hug. I will admit that I was a bit guarded about relationships and didn't want to mess this one up by starting off too quickly.

When I got home, I called the couple that had counseled me regarding past relationships and had walked me through the covenent of purity until marriage. I told them that I really needed to talk to them as I had met "this guy". They were able to meet with me soon. I poured out my excitement and reservations about myself being ready for a relationship. They counseled me to choose a couple from the church that we both respected to mentor us and for us to be accountable to. "If this guy is worth any consideration, he will think this is a good idea. If he isn't, he won't want anything to do with it."

The next Sunday, Keith came to church and briefly talked to me before I had to go up to start praise and worship. He asked me if I would want to go out on another date. I knew that I needed to talk to him about the advice that I was given to have a couple mentor us, but there wasn't time right then, so I said, "Well, I have to talk to you about something first." His face fell, but there was nothing I could do, they were waiting for me up front. Before the service was totally ended, he had left.