The Divine Orchestration!
By October 2012, the ministers of the region I was from had relocated to be part of the leadership team in the church in Baltimore. Patrick was a part of the Baltimore church, so you can probably see where this is going. I gave the women’s ministry leader, Dionne, a call after they moved, to try and visit Baltimore. She suggested that I come down to visit, get to know the teen ministry and spend time with Patrick as well. She came up with the idea of me going to the teen Halloween party with him to get to know him a little more. Patrick was a teen-worker in the Teen Ministry at the time. When she said that, I was a little taken aback because I wasn’t interested in Patrick like that—or was I?
My trip turned into an epic weekend-long date with Patrick. Someone apparently expressed to Patrick that he should take me out on a date and show me a good time while I was visiting. I called him to let him know that I had decided to go to Baltimore, and soon after he emailed me an itinerary for the weekend. I was floored by this itinerary; it was super detailed and even included the weather. That was a great move, and God was truly on his side. Once I arrived in Baltimore, I showed Dionne the email and all we both could do was smile. I really felt cared for and catered to.
October 24th, 2012
Hey LALA!
So below is your travel itinerary lol. I just put this together to make sure you would have a good time and have a lot of fun while you are here. Please let me know if you want to change any of this or have anything you would like to do in particular, this is not set in stone.
Have great day at the new job!
Friday:
11:50 Pick up and drop off at Davis’s (20 min drive to Davis’)
Saturday:
Weather: 72 Degrees
Attire: Casual chill gear
10am pick up at Davis’ and drive to Fells (30 min drive)
Date in Baltimore, Fells Point
10:45–12:30
—Brunch at Blue Moon Cafe—
12:30–2:00
—Walk around Fells, hit up coffee shop and hang by harbor—
3:00pm–5:00pm Family group leader meeting (20 min drive)
5:00pm–8:00pm Set up for costume party (until party is well under way)
7:00pm–11:00pm Costume party
11:00pm Give you a ride back to the Davis’ (24 min drive)
Sunday:
7:30am pick up from the Davis’
8:00am–9:30am Breakfast (if you’re up for it :)
10:00am–12:00pm Church
Leave church at 12:00pm to arrive at Megabus comfortably
Saturday morning he arrived at the door to pick me up for the date. Wait, rewind! On Friday Patrick picked me up from the Megabus station in this navy blue, Chevy Silverado. I can’t lie; I loved his truck, and I was impressed. I felt super special as if I was being picked up in a limousine or something. Okay, fast-forward to the morning of the date. Patrick arrived early, another point for him. We went to Fells Point overlooking the Baltimore harbor, which was first on the itinerary. I had a wonderful time; the harbor was beautiful. We stopped at this store called A Thousand Villages and he bought me a journal. By the end of the date he took the journal from me and said he would give it back to me before I left the next day. I thought that was strange but I went along with it.
That night the teens were having their Halloween party, and I dressed up like a mime. Patrick went out to order some pizza for the party, and I remember feeling a little insecure because I didn’t know anyone besides him. Patrick dressed up as a construction worker, meaning his costume wasn’t really a costume because he worked for the Department of Labor Licensing and Regulation at the time. At the party I sat down next to some sisters in the church and just watched the teens do their thing. Then Pat approached me, pulled up a chair and sat down. Immediately, I was happy. Finally, here is the person that I just came from a date with and now maybe we can get some time to talk. He sat near me for a while and then asked me if I wanted to go to the room next door to talk. Seriously, by this point Patrick was playing all his cards right. Of course I wanted to go to another room so we could talk. And so it began.
The conversation went something like this: “So, La Micia, tell me about yourself; what are you studying in your time with God? Are you having quiet time with God? What do you like to do?” Patrick had twenty questions as usual, but for some reason, this time I was intimidated, really intimidated. I just couldn’t open up and even think of any answers or questions to ask him. I felt like I was not a spiritual person because I couldn’t tell him what I was studying out. Oh my goodness, it was humiliating; I totally blanked on what I had been studying. I wanted out of that conversation as quickly as possible. At that point if there was any chance I had had of dating Pat, it was gone. Finally after maybe an hour I was able to tell him about the books I was reading for my quiet times with God and why I was reading them. I eventually just confessed to him that he was intimidating me, and he was shocked. He asked me what I thought was intimidating about him and again, asking that question intimidated me. His facial expressions and the way he seemed to pierce my soul was intense. But all in all, by the end of that conversation, I had begun to unfold my arms from the front of me and loosen up. I was acting as if I hadn’t spoken to him before, or any guy for that matter. Now as I think about it, I might have been nervous and weird because I had started to like him.
The up-side of the time talking with him was that I could really see who Patrick was before God. I could see that he truly had a relationship with God. Not just that he was a disciple but that he had a love for God I had never seen before.
We drove out to pick up some pizza for the party, and during the ride in the car all he talked about was the radical things he wanted to do for God. God dripped off his very being. I just listened to him talk. I had some of the same radical ideas he had; I just never had, or even desired to have, someone who could push me to do them. I can just remember turning my head towards him, watching the lights from the street reflect from his face and thinking, I’m feeling this brother spiritually. If he was to love a woman half as much as he loved God, that woman would still be very loved. Maybe I was that woman.
We got to the pizza place, picked up the pizza and Patrick opened the truck door for me. As he walked around the front to get into his side, I watched him and said out loud, “I think I like this guy.” He opened the car door, sat down, and all I could do was look at him and smile.
God is amazing—once I started to really get to know Patrick that was the moment that I found him attractive physically. All of a sudden, like all of a sudden, it was as if a veil was lifted from my eyes and the next minute I was attracted to him physically. You see, Patrick had always looked the way he looked, but the way I saw him changed. God knew that once I started finding someone attractive that I would start to act weird and even more shy; but because I wasn’t attracted to Pat before that point, it made it easier to be myself because I didn’t care if he liked me or not. But now I cared; now I cared a lot.