When Wisdom Gets Removed and the Thunder Rolls

My memory in the process of writing these blog posts was sadly lacking! I completely forgot to share our favorite memory from the beginning of our relationship!

If you'll bear with me, I will take you back to Tuesday, July 29, 2014 and Wednesday, July 30, 2014. 

David remembers Tuesday as a day of fear and anxiety, of not knowing if his wisdom tooth extractions were going to end up with him in the hospital due to his body's slow clotting abilities. In fact, it is David who reminded me of this day in our history because to him, this was the moment he knew he loved me. We had made a habit of texting around the clock and Tuesday was no different except I knew he had surgery and he was definitely nervous about bleeding out and not waking up. I don't know how it came down to music but I remember us sending each other country music clips from the 90s to help distract him. It seemed to work until the afternoon brought out more fears in David than I could calm down. This is the moment I mentioned a few posts back where I prayed for God to show me David's faith. It was around 3am and I didn't want David to be too tired right before the surgery so we ended our conversation. I prayed for about an hour, lifting up David's health and spiritual life, asking for quick healing and a clear view of his faith. 

We both only ended up waking up at 6am and soon after, my phone went off. David had sent me a verse without any knowledge of my burdened heart or prayers the night before. I was comforted and felt at peace about our progressing friendship and set out to help him maintain his nerves as he was taken to the dentist office. While he was in the waiting room, he mentioned that he really likes "Thunder Rolls" by Garth Brooks. I wasn't in a place to call him but I wanted to comfort him so I began typing out the lyrics to the song as a technologically advanced form of singing to him. Corny? Very much so. Did I care? Not one bit, I was falling for him. 

His surgery went very fast (I'm not jealous :P, his was merely 30min and mine was roughly 2 1/2 hours) and despite my initial push for him to nap, he said he was home alone for the weekend and wanted me to keep texting him so I would know if he ended up having a bad reaction to anything. It took all of my self-control to not hop over to make him jello and pudding and mashed potatoes and rice and ice cream and and and and. The best I could do was put a get-well kit together for him and deliver it to one of his friends so they could deliver it to him. I didn't know what he had or didn't have so there was an ice pack, two boxes of jello, two boxes of pudding, herbal tea to help stop the bleeding and sooth the gums, and gauze. 

To add to it all, his grandmother's (Mamos) health had taken a turn for the worse about a week before David's surgery. She was in a coma and his family had gone to see her in case God called her home. David has a very close connection with his Mamos and it broke his heart that he was not there to say good-bye but due to the surgery, he was in no place to make the eight hour trip to see her. Comforting him was very difficult from across town but it allowed an opportunity for him to share his favorite memories of his Mamos and Papos with me. 

We ended up talking all night long and though I wish I had encouraged him more forcefully to sleep, I look back and remember that being the night that I fell 100% in love with him and how much I wanted to be by his side forever. Tuesday July 29, 2014, David fell in love with me. Wednesday, July 30, 2014, I fell in love with David and allowed it to begin growing without limits. 

PS: Mamos ended up making an (almost) full recovery. She learned that she is diabetic and has slowly worked toward restoring her health. She still has a ways to go but we are all so happy to be blessed with another year with her. I have only been blessed to speak with her over the phone a few times and in person over the course of a family wedding but I love her dearly and can see why David holds her so close to his heart. She has both inspired and encouraged David, supported his dreams and ignited a fire to fight for his future. 

Heavenly Conviction, Oh How You Sting

A week after the wedding, I completed my Nutritional Counselling degree (WOOHOO!!!) and treated myself to the all distracting Facebook. I created a profile and added everyone I knew. One of the first people I looked for was the new bride! I knew she, and her guests, would have uploaded wedding photos and I was curious how they turned out. I found her no problem but when I went to add the groom, I was faced with an interesting dilemma. You see, the oldest's middle name is David, and the middle son's first name is David. I could not remember the groom's name for the life of me so I added them both. Then it dawned on me that I had added the middle son and I quickly cancelled that request.

As far as I can remember, David messaged me a day later saying "This might sound weird but did you add me and then cancel the friend request?" I turned red, my heart jumped out of my chest and took a lap around my house, and I again was left with this decision of being a friend or ignoring him. I chose to ignore him.

A few days later, I went to a Jonny Diaz concert where he performed They Need Love. Though I didn't see David as a man who had fallen from his faith, I was still convicted about every person's need for Christ's love in every stage of life. God spoke to me again that night but much more clearly. He wanted me to show grace to David and be a light in his life, show him what God's love looks like and the power His love has in our lives when we surrender to His will. I had no reason to be rude and cold to someone I didn't know and who was I to judge his character, especially based on someone else's opinion.



Don't read into my words like I did with other peoples'. David was saved by grace through faith just like me and just like every other Believer. But in the same breath, he was wandering just like many Christians today. He was trying to find God's will for his life and got stuck in a rut of living life without intention, which lead him to friendships that weren't pointing him to Christ. We ALL have wandered and we ALL have felt lukewarm in our faith.

He never walked away from his faith, he served in ministry religiously when his faith seemed weakest, when his Brothers and Sister's in Christ caused him the most pain. His heart never turned cold against children or the elderly. He just stopped seeing the love of Christ from his fellow believers.

It became all about pointing out his flaws rather than pointing him back to the One who died for his flaws.

So in faith I walked in what I believe was God's convictions on my heart and will for my future and I replied to David's message.

The following days were filled with outpouring of both of our hearts. I wanted him to see me not as another fellow Christian who holds a place of judgement in his life but as a Sister in Christ who has had a desire to see him turn back to the Father with a fervent love for His Savior. I am a sinner just as he is. I remember asking him "If we don't recognize our sin, how can we come to the point of realizing our need for a Savior?" His tone change in his messages. It was almost like with each day, each verse, each word of encouragement, his spirit was lifted. When his heart was burdened by questions and the inability to move on from his past, I would type out my prayers. He needed to know someone cared, he needed to feel God's loving arms wrap around him as he was lifted in prayer.

There came a day when I stopped replying and instead poured out my heart to the Lord. I needed to see Him in David's heart. I knew He was there but I needed to see David take his faith and run toward God, leaving the past hurt behind. God heard me and David sent me a message the next day. It wasn't small talk, it wasn't the normal "What's up? How are you?" It was "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." He then said that he was leaving the past behind and wanted to see life again in the way that I had been showing him. He was turning a new leaf.

There is nothing more beautiful than watching a child run back into the arms of a loving father. 

God met me where I needed Him. He gave me the peace I needed to keep walking in faith. I will never forget that feeling in that moment...because in that moment, with joyful tears running down my face, I knew, I loved David.