during one of our soul sistah friday nights, my best friend convinced me to sign up for an online dating app. she had been on there for a few days and raved about how cool it was. although a little (okay, a lot) skeptical, i signed up, but told myself i'd give it two weeks and if nothing came from it, i'd delete it.
four days later, i received a new message from a cute guy named jared. he simply said, "99% match is pretty good." we talked back and forth on the app for a little over a day when jared asked me for my phone number. we texted all day on that wednesday. the next day, jared wanted to talk to me on the phone. you guys - i was a nervous wreck. when the phone rang, i jumped and had a split-second freak out session. we ended up talking on the phone for two and a half hours about life and Jesus and our childhoods and all the in-betweens. when we hung up, i was giddy.
we made plans to have dinner that saturday night. oh mylanta. i was SO nervous! what if he didn't like me? what if he didn't look like his picture? what if he was a creeper who just wanted to murder me and wear my skin? all these thoughts raced in my mind. when i came around the corner and saw him sitting there, all those concerns vanished. yes, i was still little nervous, but the conversation flowed like we were old friends. [if you ask him, he'd tell you i didn't make eye contact with him until we sat down at our table.]
we made our way to my favorite coffee shop and sipped lattes and shared stories and lots of laughs for hours. he still had a two hour drive back to wichita, so we called it a night around 9. the next weekend, he came back down with his friends. we all went to dinner and a movie. it was fun and i hoped i made a good impression.
the following weekend was valentine's day. ohhhh boy. i didn't want him to think we had to do anything, but without missing a beat, he asked if i wanted to come up to wichita. of course i said yes, and made my way up there on a saturday morning. he showed me all his favorite spots in wichita and took me out to a really fancy dinner. we were driving when all of a sudden, he asked if i'd be his girlfriend. without hesitation, i said yes.
the following weekends were spent driving back and forth from oklahoma to kansas. we ate so much good food and desserts and coffee. we watched movies and i met a lot of his family and friends. it was getting harder and harder to leave on those dreaded sunday nights.
on a random friday, the weather was getting bad. jared was headed back to wichita that morning, so we had breakfast before he left. in the parking lot of the sunnyside cafe in my hometown, jared told me he loved me. my head was spinning and my heart was beating fast. just that weekend before, i got a terrible migraine. instead of leaving me be, jared took care of me and made sure i had whatever i needed. it was in those moments that i knew i loved him. so when he told me he loved me, i replied without hesitation: i love you, too.
this is part one of our love story.
part two: engagement
part three will be our elopement.
0 Comments