how dave and i became dave and i part 3

alright...the much anticipated...uhm, triquel? what comes after a sequel?...:-P

so 2007 has begun. God really began to move in my heart at the beginning of this year. i was definetly in a new season, and i really began to understand more of what God's love is, and decided to fully fully surrender this desire to be in a relationship to him. and it was such an amazing time. i've always been close to the Lord, i was saved at the age of 7 and God really gripped my heart at a young age and got me captivated with him early on, which is part of the reason for why i'm who i am today. God's grace has been and still is the most puzzling, incomprehensible, and magnificent thing to me...i can honestly say that i don't think i would be alive today if it weren't for Jesus Christ. my life was SO drastically different before God gripped me at a young age...hmm maybe i'll make that into a post, just sharing my testimony of how God has changed my life...how would you like that? praise God, sounds good...

anyhow...so i'm committed to Jesus, going to wait til he drops someone in my lap, not going to look around at all, etc. so spring break rolls around, and ENCM is going on a mission trip to help boost Georgia Tech's branch of ENCM. so instead of going to the beach, or just chillin at home, i gave into the "missional mode" of me and signed up. and it was AMAZING. the ride up with amber, torsha, ferrel, and kimberly i think it was, was so much fun. just being around other women is so much fun for me. i've been in a home with three other women and usually pets of the female persuasion my whole life, so i'm used to it being just girls, and i love it...so much fun. we listened to corey russell's "ancient paths" cd, and that was powerful. i was Messed Up. at some points during the drive i was tearing up in the backseat, my heart and spirit silently crying out to God for more of him...i was so desperate for God to fill my heart and take away the desires for a relationship...and he did.

that week was SO MUCH FUN! i already knew it was going to be a blast, mission trips ALWAYS are, and being around my friends and great people like our campus ministers was a sure win to a great week. we got alot done during that time, i got to lead worship on some of the mornings before we went to campus, and i really felt like i was coming out of my shell. as you'll find out when i blog about my testimony, my life before Jesus was very very fearful, and it's still something that comes back to haunt me every now and then. going on a mission trip where i'd have to spark up conversations with people was going to rock me for sure. but God moved! it was so great, i was like a new person. i met stephanie bent that week for the first time, and i told her that i'm actually a shy person. she said something like, "really? i can't see you being like that at all..." because God helped me come out of my shell and become more outgoing, and more like the woman he created me to be. susan and i even did role playing on the GA Tech bus...so funny. she pretended to be an athiest, and i was a christian friend she "met that day" and we started talking about ENCM, and got some other people involved in the conversation...fun fun.

and dave was there... :-) but don't worry, we were totally holy, just being friends. i hardly got to speak with him at all, and i wasn't thinking about him for the majority of that week. until the last day. he told me about this trip to israel he was thinking about...now you have to understand, i've ALWAYS wanted to go to israel, that's the #1 place i want to go to before i die. and to think that this amazing man of God wants to go to the same place i want to go...wow. i was pretty happy and excited to hear about that...

the day after i get back from the trip, renee hill and i decide to have some girl time, so we went to the beach, had some good talks, then came back to tallahassee for the special school of the prophetic they were putting on at the church. and that night i got a prophecy! it was great, a real blessing and confirmation of what God was doing in my heart. matt root was breaking off curses and demonic stongholds from the past, lots of people were prophesying other stuff and getting some sweet visions...lauren ayala had a vision of me on one side of a bridge. the side of the bridge i was standing on was nice, like my life was satisfactory at the moment, but that the other side was even better, and God was wanting me to trust him in crossing that bridge to get to the better side...little did i know that summer would be the bridge crossing, and the better side would be coming in the fall of 2007 and 2008!

after that we all went to campus harvest. it was amazing in 2007, i had a great time. CH just keeps getting better and better. while there dave and i and some other people went to a prayer meeting on saturday morning at some ungodly hour like 7 AM...he still wasn't really on my mind, i was praying about him though...we went to starbucks afterwards and he let me know that he was thinking about taking up guitar...and katie swoons...:-D

when i came back from CH, jim lafoon was in town! so i got another prophecy! wahoo! if you want to read the full prophecy, it's on my facebook, one of the first notes i've posted. the whole prophecy was really great, really encouraging. but something that really stuck out to me happened when jim said, "it's going to be a blessed man that marries you." right after he said that, i lifted my eyes and the first person i saw was dave. we just stared at each other for a moment, like a scene from a movie when the two long lost loves see each other for the first time, and then i blinked and looked away, hoping that he didn't think i was thinking something. :-)

after that everyone was mingling, and after several attempts to chat with me, dave asked me how i was doing and what my week ahead was looking like...hoping that he was wanting to talk more, i said, "oh actually this week is really open, my classes are pretty easy and i'm ahead on my work..." :-) it was true! someone else grabbed for my attention, or i had to go or something, so i said a quick goodbye and that was that...

until i got home! i got in the door and was chatting with my mom when my phone rang. i had never called dave before or anything, but i did have his number saved in my phone. :-) so when the caller id came up, i gasped, looked up at my mom with a surprised expression on my face and ran into my room to answer the call. it went something like this:

"hey katie this is dave hess how're you doing?"
"hey dave, i'm doing great, you?"
"doin' good, hey i was just calling to see if you would like to get coffee some time this week to talk some about your prophecy and missions."
"yeah, that'd be cool...(realizes she's talking to DAVE HESS, the man she's admired for so long and can't believe that he called her...)...actually, i think i have something going on during my free day, can i call you back?"
"ok sure"
"alright talk to you later"...

so i hang up the phone, stunned...now i wasn't weirded out at all at the fact that he called me, and he was so purehearted in his intentions, he really did just want to hang out and encourage me as a student from a campus minister's perspective to go for the mission field. but to me, this was Dave Hess....THE Dave Hess...the one man i've ever set as a genuine standard of what i wanted a future husband to be...the one man i've respected more than ANY other man i've ever met. the one man that i have ever had a crush on, i don't care how 4th grade that sounds...:-)

so i paused there on my bed, stunned and so elated...