All According To Plan (just not my plan) Part 2

So I had gone to Uganda instead of college to help bring 26 Ugandans across the ocean.

I was then touring with the Ugandan Kids Choir back in the United States. For eight weeks I advocated sponsorship. It was a special time. 

But something else was happening in my heart. It was very confusing. Cute-guy-from-AWANA was really getting my attention. One of my friends had knowingly told me months prior “within the year, you two will be together.” 

I disagreed with her, and I meant it. I was concerned.

I liked him, and he was starting to understand that fact. However, I knew two basic things: I couldn’t be with him, and I couldn’t hurt him. The former was making the latter hard not to accomplish. So I decided not to go to the young adults group, where I knew he would be. He was the kind of guy who wouldn’t put up with games, and I had learned enough of myself to know I needed to stop leading him on. 

I called my dad. I’ll never forget that phone call. Out of nowhere, my dad basically helped me understand cute-guy-from-AWANA was actually a "potential." I had no idea my dad approved of him (fun fact: months before my dad had told me there was only one guy he would approve for me, then never said a thing until that day. Of course it was him).

That was Monday. In the next couple of days, I would start talking about him, and I couldn’t stop saying good things about him. They just kept involuntarily coming out of my mouth. On Wednesday, while doing dishes (and probably while not doing dishes) I rehearsed what I’d say if he asked me out; something along the lines of “it’s such an honor that you would ask me. But I can’t date you.” 

I would turn him down. 

Again. 

(So apparently I forgot to mention he’d already implicated going out with me multiple times and I had oh so tactfully turned him down. Multiple times. I guess that's probably important. *facepalm*)

Wednesday night, we were hanging out with the kids, and he came over. “Can I talk to you after church?” 

I could.

Also, I had brought my second waitlist announcement from the college in Missouri where I had dearly wanted to go and that had been on my heart (life lesson: don't always trust feelings). I wanted to show it to cute-guy-from-AWANA. Clearly I liked adored him and was too blind to notice. (Or at least too committed to my plan that was clearly not working!)

Two hours later, he sat me down at a little table outside. I showed him the waitlist. 

“Speaking of future plans,” he began, “that’s a perfect transition to what I wanted to talk about.” 

Oh.

“Do you like me?”

The question was so abrupt I nearly had a conniption (not really).

“Because I like you,” he said, probably in response to my wide-open eyes questioning whether or not he had really just asked that so bluntly.

I immediately launched into a mulit-reason response. He stopped me. “I just want to know if you like me.” He was leaving for the Air Force in a few weeks. “Before I go, I just want to know if I have a chance.” He kept explaining to me.

Fine. I liked him.

I told him so.

He was no longer just cute-guy-from-AWANA. He was so very much more than that.

(Clearly I am not great at writing concisely or I have too many "essential" details involved here.

Stay tuned for Part 3.)

Sara