how dave and i became dave and i.

i know i had a little rant in the previous blog, but...

patty marshall gave me the GREATEST idea for some major blog posts. i know most people don't know the FULL story of how dave and i became dave and i so that's going to be the topic for my next few blogs...we'll see how long it takes me to lay out all the amazing, sappy, God-orchestrated moments and milestones in our relationship. :-D marianne said that she wanted to hear the story and i told her i'd have to go to lunch AND dinner with her just to tell her part of it. so patty suggested that i blog about it so it'll be in writing! so here goes! thanks patty!

Ok let's start at the very beginning: the day we met. Thank you Lord for letting remember this day. what a wonderful day.

It was February 9th, or 16th of 2005. i can't remember exactly, but it was a wednesday night somewhere around valentine's day. every nation's youth group met that night, and because it was the month of february the topic was love and relationships (what church group doesn't touch on this subject in february?). dave and torsha were guest speakers, and i remember pastor jean giving the introduction for dave. he went on and on about how dave was a campus minister at FAMU the biggest HBCU, a white guy, and the campus ministry was blowing up in size and God was doing some amazing things. so i was hooked IMMEDIATELY. this guy was faithful, passionate, loves God, and he looked...very handsome. i'll just say that. :-)

so dave and torsha share a little bit about their lives, etc. and i come to find out that dave was a 25 year old virgin, staying holy for his wife. i was amazed. i remember that very night when i was listening to him i thought in my mind, "that is the kind of man i would want to marry. i know that he is too good for me, but he has all of my respect and that is going to be my standard for the man i want." i distinctly remember saying that, no joke.

after they finished sharing they allowed us to write in some anonymous questions about relationships for them to answer. so i sent in a question. at the time i was a junior in high school and there were these two young men who were just really being disrespectful to me at school, were hitting on me, and kept asking me out. and it was really getting to me! so i explained the situation on the notecard that we were given and i asked "what should i do? i don't have any strong Christian guy friends who respect me and will stand up for me." dave took on my question.

he said (and i remember this plain as day, and he'll testify as well), "well first of all, let me say those guys are jerks. For all I know my future wife could be in this room, so i treat women with respect at all times." i might be paraphrasing a little, but that phrase "for all i know my future wife could be in this room" DEFINITELY came out of his mouth. and i was astounded.

needless to say, that was a memorable night. and i "officially" met him after the meeting. he had heard of me at church through jean who told him that i was a single high school student, really passionate about God, wanting to go to the mission field after i get a degree in nursing. and being that he had a mission field calling on his life too, he was looking foreward to meeting another future international missionary :-)

ahh it was an amazing night. my heart flew and i had my first crush. i'm serious! i have NEVER EVER crushed on anyone before, not even celebrities. not even the guys i've dated in the past, not any musicians, nobody.

and i crushed on dave hess SO bad...it was terrible sometimes. like there was this one party on new year's eve that he was at that i went to...well, that's another story for another blog, but as you'll find out next time i post, i went home CRYING because i saw dave hanging out with some other people and i didn't get to talk to him...and in my mind, i was like "what the heck?! i hardly know this guy, he's an amazing campus minister, just so much better than me...why am i thinking the way i'm thinking about him?!"

to be continued...

Question: did you like this post? i know alot of people don't know the full story so i want to provide it to those of you that want to hear, but i don't want to be one of those obnoxious bloggers who goes on and on about the most monotonous things in life you know? so tell me if you're hooked on our story and i'll keep blogging! thanks! :-D