Life’s a Surprise: The Wedding countdown! pt. 4

16 Days to Wedding Bells

Emotions are an amusing entity. Yes, I called emotions an entity; but think about it, they show up either in small doses, or they take over your thoughts and body, leaving you incapacitated. One moment you’re just fine, and the next, your heart is beating a thousand times a minute while a vise-grip clamps around your chest. Your palms are clammy, mouth dry and you begin combing through a predetermined conversation in your head; playing it out scene by scene, hoping it goes the way you plan. It’s like the emotion is a pesky diminutive alien wreaking havoc in your mind, and you can’t stop it.

This is how I felt while pacing about my bedroom that Superbowl Sunday. The night before, at my sister’s apartment, I sent a text to Kari asking her if she’d like joining us for the big game. Her response came back, ‘Sure, sounds like fun.’ At first I was over excited, until reality set in the next morning at church.

As I was about to leave to head home and change, Mom comes up to me and says, “I’ll see you in a little while.”

See you in a little while? Oh that’s not good. I want to say, if you’re just starting out in a relationship, don’t invite your new date to meet the parents unless you’re confident that it’ll be okay. Let me put this in perspective. Kari and I had only been on two dates. Two dates. You don’t ask her to meet the folks after two dates, maybe after a couple of months, but not two dates.

I began to panic, and it wasn’t attractive. If I could have died at that instant, I would be okay with that. Now, I have to call Kari and forewarn her that my folks will be at the game. I knew I had to call—you can’t text something like this, or even plainly ignore either. I could just imagine what it would have looked like if I simply ignored.

“Hi Kari, thanks for coming. Oh and by the way, this is my mom and dad.” Who does that?

There I stood, in my bedroom, phone in hand, heart beating a million miles a second and I couldn’t dial her number. Cell phones are great and evil all at the same time, especially in cases like this one. With the old push button phones or rotary phones, one could simply dial a few numbers, get nervous and hang up just to try it all over again. Not today, our numbers are no longer on a ledger or memorized, they are simply locked into the phone. You choose the name, click and the phone dials. Oh how I miss having to simply push-dial a number.

I stood in the doorway to my room staring at Kari’s number. My thumb hovered like a plane ready to drop its payload. After mustering enough courage,I pressed the screen and the phone dialed Kari.

“Hello.” Came the soft voice on the other end.

Heart beating. Slow down, slow down. Think. It will be okay. These and other thoughts were coursing through my mind at hurried rapidity. What do I say? I don’t know…. Hi. That’s always good to start with.

“Hi.” My shaking voice said. “I’m calling to give you directions to my sister’s apartment.” Yeah, totally ignored the topic for a moment. I couldn’t bring myself to say my parents were going to be there. Once I gave her the directions, I knew I had to out myself.

“Kari, the other reason for my call was, and I would totally understand if you didn’t want to… but unbeknownst to me, I learned today that my parents will be at the game. So, if that’s freaky, then I understand.” Okay, now it was in the open. Wait. Time to pay the waiting game.

“Oh, okay. I can still come. I’ll see you at 5.” There it was. Kari, we weren’t even official yet, met my parents on our third date.

After the, what I call, success of our third date, I couldn’t wait to go out with her again. So, we made plans for the following Saturday. When February 12 came around the corner, I couldn’t wait to see Kari. We planned to meet around 10 in the morning and my goal, take her to Como Park. It turned out to be a fairly warm day. We walked around the park, and decided to head for lunch.

The funny part about this particular date was… I still didn’t know her last name. Now, guys pay attention for this is important, don’t pretend that you know something about the person you’re dating. If you don’t know something, ask. This is where too many people get into problems, they assume—and we all know what happens when someone assumes.

Life is an exceptional creature, it deals your cards and you’re left to figure out what to do next. Yet, nothing happens by accident, everything is ordained by God. God desires us to trust Him in every area of our lives, even if we’re still trying to shape out what that life entails. Remember in a previous post I said, “Trust in the Lord with your whole heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

King Solomon understood that for us to lead a happy and successful life, we have to in-turn trust the Creator. With Kari, I feel like a little kid again. I feel alive! If we as humans learn to trust in God for everything, it will go well for us, not only that, but “It will be health to your flesh, and strength to your bones.” (Prov. 3:3-12).

Little did I know at that moment, walking around Como Park, that God had placed in my life a woman who would be with me during a  year that I would need her to be my strength and guide.

TO BE CONTINUED