Long Distance
Let’s skip to the next day, Sunday. After church it was time to leave. My Megabus was on its way and Patrick was dropping me off. He handed me the journal he took from me after our date to A Thousand Villages and told me he wrote something in it and not to open it until I was on the bus. Patrick was still getting a bunch of points even though he didn’t need them anymore. I was won over.
I hopped on my bus and became really sad; I had such a great time and who knows when I would see Pat again. I couldn’t wait to read what he wrote inside of the journal.
It read:
"Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight."
1 Peter 3:4
LALA!
This passage reminds me of you all the way! I think this is why I ask you so many questions. I see the inner beauty in you like this scripture says, a gentle and quiet spirit. I am glad you came down and I am looking forward to continuing our friendship, getting to know you, and our next date.
Your BIC (Brother in Christ),
Hommie,
Pat
Another date, huh? Yes, and I can’t wait. As my bus pulled off and I looked out the window and saw Patrick walking away, I truly felt like I was leaving a part of myself. Cheesy I know, but I felt like my heart was in Maryland, and Patrick had it.
I got home after such a great weekend and all I could think about was Patrick. Before this point I would barely call him, but now I was calling him a little bit more. I still needed to guard my heart as Proverbs 4:23 says, or else I would have called a lot more than I did. Everything in me wanted to speak to him every waking moment, but I had to really trust God and not let my heart pull me into places that could possibly hurt me later. I had done that in the world; I would give my heart away just to feel loved and come up lonely and empty every time. God's way had proved to be better than mine every time I trusted in him, so I resolved to do this his way too.
Patrick was encouraged that I was calling him now. We began to talk about regular day-to-day stuff. My mom now began to hear his name more often and knew when I was talking to him on the phone. He and I would play this game called “the question game” in which we would think of random questions that we prepared before we got on the phone. That way it was easier to guard our hearts, because we would go into a conversation with specific things to talk about. We made our conversations purposeful and intentional. The question game was Patrick’s idea, and I thought it was brilliant.
One day Patrick called me at work to tell me that he and his best friend, Wes, wanted to come to New York City. He then said that he would like to meet my parents during the trip and asked that I dedicate some time for that. At that point I knew he was going to ask me to be his girlfriend, after only a month. He didn’t waste any time, but I didn’t want him to either.
Pat really hit it off with my father. My dad isn’t a Christian and as I grew up in the church, I’ve been praying to God since I was a toddler that he would become one. I went downstairs for something and I overheard Pat talking to my dad about God and the church. At that point I could have cried. This man was reaching out to my dad! I think I was in love with him at that point. Ok, maybe really seriously in like. I came back upstairs and my Dad, Patrick, Wes and I just sat in the living room watching football. It was the day after Thanksgiving, and we had a ton of food left over. My dad offered them something to eat and they threw down! Wes ate some sweet potato casserole that had peanuts in it. He is allergic to peanuts and hadn’t brought his EpiPen. Immediately our time was cut short. Patrick had to rush his friend to the hospital. Wes was fine, and because of the long wait in the emergency room they ended up leaving and getting Benadryl. It was just funny because Wes was so casual about his allergy. Patrick kept replaying the way he nonchalantly said he was allergic to peanuts.
As my dad and I were watching Patrick and Wes drive off to the ER, my dad said, “You know he asked me if he could ask you to be his girlfriend?” My dad totally spilled the beans and didn’t even know it. Inside, though, I was envisioning myself doing a cartwheel in the living room. I was elated. I knew he had come to New York to ask me.