Love Story: Part 2
When we left off last time, my Dad told me that he thought I should marry a farmer. I respectfully disagreed and thought I was finished addressing the subject. Little did I know I was only two weeks away from Joel asking me out on a date. But first, let’s back up because, in actuality, Joel and I had already met. So why wasn’t he on my radar? Honestly, I don’t really know! He was the nice, new guy attending my young adult bible study and I liked talking to him. It just goes to show that something (or someone) really good can be staring you in the face, quite literally, and you don’t realize it. That was me at this point. Joel, on the other hand, was quietly biding his time to take the leap out of the dreaded “friend zone.” According to Joel, guys loathe getting placed and/or stuck in this zone.
This is also the point in our story where Joel likes to point out that it gets rather tricky for guys because their actions will seem either romantic or creepy based solely on what the girl thinks of him. Let’s review Joel’s actions leading up to this point with both possibilities in mind:
Chelsea’s car breaks down on the way to bible study. Chelsea calls friend at bible study to let them know. Chelsea hangs up. Said friend shares with the rest of the group Chelsea’s predicament. Another group member (male and married) asks if Chelsea needs help and asks friend for Chelsea’s phone number. Chelsea’s friend shares number in front of group. Joel listens and memorizes phone number. Romantic or creepy?
Joel wants to friend Chelsea on Facebook. Joel sends friend invite to Chelsea but also “friends” all of the group members to hide his motives. Joel doesn’t want to raise any suspicions. Joel is in stealth mode. Romantic or creepy? (To be fair, upon receiving the friend invite, the first thing I checked was to see if he sent friend requests to the other girls in the group. It’s like he knew I would do that!)
Joel wants to get to know Chelsea better. Joel doesn’t want to be too obvious. Joel invites the entire group to his farm for a sledding day. Joel is able to hang with Chelsea and show her his farm site (which is very important for a farmer). Joel remains in stealth mode. Romantic or creepy?
Looking back on all these events, and knowing Joel as I do now, I think these gestures are absolutely romantic and cute. But you must admit, they could be seen as rather stalker-ish if taken the wrong way. *wink.
The sledding party is where I will pick up on the story. It took place after the conversation with my Dad and before Joel asked me out. He specifically waited until after Valentine’s Day to ask me out. Joel told me later on that he didn’t want the added pressure of VALENTINE’S DAY on a first date. Understandable. But that didn’t stop him from planning a fun sledding party in the meantime! Can you tell he’s very patient? I call it infuriatingly calculated.
The sledding party was a hit and everyone had a great time. Everything was going smoothly until… he kicked snow in my face! I was so mad. Picture me whizzing down the hill where a couple people were starting to climb back up (Joel being one of them), and once I get to the bottom, Joel kicks snow in my face!!! I thought to myself, “What is wrong with this guy? What a jerk move. Hmph!” What I didn’t know was taking place was a classic school yard scenario. It goes something like this: boy likes girl. Boy wants to get girl’s attention. Boy doesn’t know exactly how to do this. Boy kicks snow in girl’s face. Cute? I certainly didn’t think so. At least not at the time. Joel explained his motives for kicking snow in my face many months later. It seems he had to explain a lot of things to me later on. I’m not sure if that was because I was a little slow to recognize the cues or he needed some practice on his delivery. Probably both.
I forgave him (kind of) and we all enjoyed the rest of the day which turned into a pizza and game night. It really was a fun hang out! I left the party thinking that Joel was a nice guy, but kind of quirky. Before you chuckle too much at my perception, I was humbled a few months later when a friend told me that she thought we were perfect for each other because we were both kind of quirky. Why does God have to listen to our innermost thoughts and then tease us with them later on?!
Now we are just a few days away from Joel asking me out with a Facebook message that involves the word “caustic”. ;) To be continued…