how dave and i became dave and i part 4

wow. i'm glad you all are anticipating my blog posts so much! :-)
how do you like the new layout? nice eh? :-)

alright where were we...oh right, he just called me and my heart is racing a million miles an hour...ok.

so, here comes the relatively emo freakout. i ran and told my mom everything that was said in the phone conversation, and tried to grasp for reasons why he would want to hang out with me...still unsatisfied, i called one of my girlfriends and kinda flipped out...well, i was a little tempered, but still, i had no idea! i mean, i knew that i had told him that my schedule was wide open that week, but that worked?! no way...after some calming words, my mind was put to ease, and it was decided that dave just wanted to hang out and talk about missions...like he said.

so we met up later that week after my classes at the starbucks on tennessee...it was wednesday i think. haha, side note: i wore his now favorite outfit that day. ladies, if your man tells you he likes one of your outfits, wear it! he'll feel extra special :-) ok, end side note. i remember some stuff from that day...i got there early, but i was feeling really sick, up until the point when he got there...i ordered a frappuccino, and he ordered some coffee cake. i remember him praying and thanking God for his coffee cake right in front of me, after i had sipped down half of my drink without praying...a little convicted, but aww that was so sweet! he prays over his coffee cake! :-D and so we talked about israel, and china, and europe, etc. and that was that! it was a pretty short time, nothin major. just a campus minister hangin out with a student, encouraging them to go to the mission field...and letting me know that he wants to do that someday too...

it was either the next night or the thursday following, i was at ENCM. i had seen the announcement on the screen about the need for an au pair for the tweedy's in budapest, but i hadn't given it much thought until then. i went home, emailed addison, and asked my parents what they thought about me going to europe. addison wanted me there for the WHOLE summer, and my mom said "no" to more than 2 or 3 weeks. but she eventually changed her mind, and about a week after than encm meeting, i bought my tickets. i had a month to raise almost $3000 to cover the trip, but God met all of my needs, and more! during that time, dave was also raising support, for his trip to israel. haha, funny, i cut him a check to help him get there, then he sent me a check that was three times that amount. way to one up me dave! haha, no it was great. fun memory. :-)

pretty soon after dave found out that i was going to budapest, i heard from him that he was going to be "stopping by" there on his way home from israel. he'd be spending about 4 days in budapest in july, pretty close to the end of my stay there. yeah, that's what i thought! "was that on purpose?" later on i found out, it kindof was. it was a strategic move to "scout out the land" to see if ENCM could send a team there the following spring break, which we did! addison tweedy took that excuse, but he had a little hunch about dave's side-trek too...

oh here's a funny story: later that week or so, dave organized a group of people to go out to eat and then to ihop to pray for a bit. i still have the text message he sent me, it reads: "From: Dave am getting a group together to hand gout tonight, probably get something to eat or a smoothie and then go to the house of prayer. Wanna come?" little did i know that he pretty much organized that outing because he wanted me to come...but i didn't know that at the time, so i declined, making up the excuse that my family wanted to have dinner together, which they did, but i could have bailed...but i did tell him i'd be at ihop later...and i was. but once he came in, i couldn't concentrate...AT ALL. this had happened a few times previously. a couple times when i was on the team playing on the stage, and i couldn't go anywhere! but that night, when i saw dave come in, i took off. i left almost immediately. i didn't mean to be rude, later i found out that he was pretty bewildered when i left. but i couldn't just stay there and see that amazing man praying and encouraging the group that he was leading. it was just too much. so i left...

then about 2 weeks before i was supposed to leave for budapest, i was in jacksonville taking care of my aunt who had just come out of a major surgery. the sunday before i left was the last time i thought i'd see dave...it was kinda hard to say goodbye, i still didn't really know that much about him, but i was still crazy about him. i really felt at peace about everything, and i gave God complete control of the situation, so i wasn't worried, or thinking about him that much.

one of the reasons i chose to go to budapest was because of dave actually. in a way i wanted to see if i could go a whole summer without seeing him...then he decided to come to budapest for a few days...so i guess i'll never know...but from now on, the answer is no! i cannot go another summer without dave!...my dave. :-)

anyhow, i'm in jacksonville, and i sent him a text message on may 10th, wishing him a happy birthday. then he called me! we talked about a bunch of random things. it was one of those conversations where both of us wanted to keep talking and talking, but we were trying to keep from being awkward the whole time, so there was alot of, "do you have to go? we can talk some more later if you do..." but neither of us had to go, and neither of us wanted to go, but neither of us knew that neither of us wanted to go!!

crazy? ridiculous? you're telling me! i was going insane with excitement and happiness! :-D

anyhow, it was fine, i left for budapest, but not before texting him a final farewell and see you soon. :-)

and my time in budapest was so great. i learned so much. i helped out alot with the worship team in the church there, and helped out with the outreaches, and took care of the tweedy boys. and i read alot of addison's books. alot on relationships actually. :-) and i was praying alot. not just about dave, but about where God was taking me, what the fall was going to look like, what i needed to prepare for. little did i know that all the talks with addison and lisa about relationships and marriage, and all the reading i did on relationships, marriage, parenting, etc. that was all preparation for the next season i was being led into...

but i was kinda in the dark as for what the next season was to be like. God didn't give me some amazing dream about dave sweeping me off my feet, etc. so i just served where i could, prayed alot, read alot, worshipped God alot...and silently counted down the days until dave would come to budapest.

and he finally did. i had to stay home with the boys while addison and lisa picked him up from the airport. i was listening to a sermon series on the song of solomon (that dave and i are going through right now!) when he walked through the door, completely loaded with bags. we exchanged hello's and an awkward side hug, and then he got settled into his room where i had folded his towels perfectly and orderly...i don't think he noticed that, but that's ok! he was there! :sigh: happiness...

the rest of that week was alot of fun, alot of things running through my mind, and alot of memories...that will be shared on my next post!

still hooked?