The next morning I awoke still feeling quite sad. It was a brand new day, but my heart and my attitude did not feel brand new. I still felt sad, and tired, and lonely. The only plan I had ever made for my life was to be a wife and then one day a mother. Nothing else interested me. Nothing else mattered. I did not want a career. The scary part was that my dream had to involve a man picking me, choosing me over anyone else, and that was completely out of my control. I desperately wanted God's peace about the situation. I was just afraid that I would not like His final answer.
I seriously contemplated not attending worship services that morning. To be honest, I was kind of grumpy with God. I was not in the mood to plaster on a fake smile and pretend to be a carefree college girl. And besides, my "friend" was not going to be there, because he was still camping (little did I know, that was all part of God's plan). I stayed in bed for a few more minutes, wrestling with my heart about what I should do. In the end, I decided to get up and get going. I knew if I didn't show up I would have half the group of college kids from church pounding at my door after services to see why I was not there or if I needed something (they were all pretty great like that).
Since it was the Sunday before Valentines day, I remember that I dressed in a little black and red skirt (little in size, not length, because I was in fact little back then. I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank my three children, Coke-a-Cola Classic, and those beautiful golden arches for making me the
Once I got to the Hilton, my attitude did begin to lift a tiny bit. There was just something special about the people that gathered in that tiny little conference room, and as depressed as I was, I could not be anything but happy to be seeing all of those people soon. And besides, my mom's words from the night before were still ringing in my ears, you never know who will walk through that door. Since I was running a bit late (you know, because of the very important pity party I was having earlier in my bed) service had already started, so I slid quietly into a chair next to my friend Jeana. I began looking around the room at all of the faces gathered there. All of the usuals were accounted for. Some very dear people to me. And while I could not deny that I had been hoping that my mom would have been right, that we might have had some visitors that day, oddly I was at peace, and I began to focus on the words to the song that we were singing. And that's when I heard the doors to the little conference room open behind me.
I am pretty sure that the entire room of people turned around to see who was entering the room (again, we did not get many new faces and all of the usuals were accounted for), but I am probably the only one who remembers that particular day or the visitors we had. For that was the very first time that I laid eyes on Boss. And he took my breath away. Three men (yes, they were men not boys. I noticed that right away. I would later find out that Boss was five and a half years older than I was) walked into the conference room that Sunday morning, but I only had eyes for one. Good thing, too, because I would later notice that the other two men were sporting wedding rings :).
By this time the service had picked right back up, and Boss had slid into the chair directly in front of me. I noticed that he was wearing a plaid button down shirt, green cargo pants, and Doc Martins. And I noticed that he smelled good. And that he had a lot of tiny freckles covering the back of his neck. They were very nice freckles. And then I decided that I had better get my mind focused on the service once again, though I might have stolen another peek or two at his adorable freckles.
After service ended, I learned that the guy with the freckles had a name. It was a very nice name, that just happened to sound good combined with mine, if I did say so myself. And I learned that out of the three men, Boss was the only one who lived in College Station. Thank goodness for me! The other two men were his brother and his mentor/friend, and they were visiting from Ohio. (Later on I would learn that during this time, Boss was going through quite a dark period in his life, and his brother and friend were there to encourage him and to get him back on track with God. It was his friend who suggested they attend the little church that met in the Hilton that morning. So very glad that he did!) Lastly, I learned that Boss was not a student, but he was instead working in the area as a Manager for Champs Sports. An older, working man. I liked that.
Some of the college kids asked if the three visitors wanted to join us for lunch at Fajita Rita's (a Mexican joint), and they accepted. I wound up getting to sit right next to Boss throughout the entire meal. (See? Part of God's plan. Had my "friend" been in town, I would have sat right next to him, and Boss would have assumed we were a couple, as that is what everyone always assumed.Our relationship was not easily explained.) We didn't talk much, even though there were definite sparks, but I noticed everything that he said and did. He ordered Root Beer to drink. He had kind, shy eyes. He paid for the entire tables meals. He said that he would be back that night. Needless to say, I went home a very happy girl. Well, I went home a happy girl after I went to the mall and bought a new shirt to wear to service that night. And then I called my mom to tell her the good news, that we had visitors that morning, and that one of the visitors was cute. And she was nice enough not to say, I told you so. Boss did come back to services that night. And he told me that he liked my shirt :). See dad? That money I spent was totally worth it.
Over the next three months Boss would sporadically show up at services. He would be there several weeks in a row, and then he would disappear for awhile. Occasionally I would go and stalk him at his store in the mall. He was always polite when we would talk, always remembering my name, but always keeping his distance. During this time I was on again with my "friend", but Boss was never far from my mind. I would think about him, my special visitor that I believed God had sent just for me to remind me to keep my hope alive. I did not really think that Boss was my Mr. Right. In fact, one time I caught him looking at a picture of another girl that he carried in his Bible, and I assumed his heart belonged to someone else. But to me, he represented hope. Hope that you never knew who was going to walk right through a door and into your life. Hope that the Master Weaver was still up there at work, weaving people in and out of our lives, and you would never know when He was going to weave in the "one". Yes, Boss was my message of hope. My very cute, very studly, message of hope.
To Be Continued.
