Who’s Darren????

Yes, inquiring minds have been wanting to know, especially because he seemed to pop up out of nowhere. Well, that’s not really the case, of course, as we decided not to post anything publicly, ie. on facebook/blogger/twitter, until we were sure of the direction we were going. Anyhoo, let’s go to the lists of fun facts, shall we?

He plays bass and drums–but not at the same time–on the worship band at his church. Which, if you read the last post you already know, is SIX hours away.

Coaches softball.

Bowls. And a little birdie told me his game has improved since he’s met me. Must be the extra spring in his step.

Fishes. I’m not a huge fan because no matter how long I dangle that string in the water, I’ve yet to catch a thing in my life, but my kids and grandfather LOVE to fish.

We connected on facebook in a similiar fashion to the way I did with my other almost 1100 other friends, but something felt different right away. When I first read his info listing of, “Just a Christian guy who enjoys life, friends and family and does it to the fullest,” my heart skipped a beat. Our first phone conversation lasted 2 hours and 45 minutes. For the last couple of months, we’ve talked about that much each day.

He’s only visited twice, but the time together has been wonderful, and I’m due to his neck of the woods near the end of the month.

“WHAT’S THIS?” you’re exclaiming. “Christina, you met a man on the internet, have only known him for a short time, saw him in person fairly quickly, and invest that much time in conversation with him? Didn’t your parents teach you any internet safety??”

Well, no. There really wasn’t any internet safety to teach back then, so we can’t blame my parents.

I guess I should clarify that we actually re-met on facebook. We knew each other fifteen years ago! We lived in Pendleton (OR) then, and he was brought in to be my ex’s boss when Ex had to step down from his managerial position to concentrate more on college. Yes, I’m dating my ex’s boss.

But it gets crazier!

He came to our wedding. He gave us cash. Now, I’ve not seen this in any etiquette book, but it seems to me that if a marriage between Man K and Woman C unfortunately and tragically [one word seems to minimize, the next to dramatize, so I figured that put together they form a pretty good description] ends in divorce, and Man D starts to date Woman C, that he should get a full refund of his wedding gift to K & C. With inflation.

And now for the especially God-ordained part … Man K and I used to invite Darren to church with us when we were engaged. He accepted a few times. Which means a decade and a half ago, Darren listened to my dad’s sermons and came over afterward to partake of my mother’s delicious cooking. A few years ago, Darren heard a voice asking him if he wanted more than the empty life he was living. He DID and he knew he would find it by turning to God, in part because of the time he spent with us at church.

Tingles anyone? There are many more things like that we’re discovering as we really get to know each other, but that will do for now.

And our relationship? Only officially became an exclusive dating one in the first hour of 2010. Driving home from a church friend’s party, the kids kept urging me to say I’d be his girlfriend, so he asked and I said yes, and the backseat erupted in cheers!

Would it be awful to have posted all this and then have our relationship turn sour quickly? Of course! But we’re both seeking God’s will and feeling that we have His approval in this romance, and will trust Him to guide it where it should go. Pray for us to do things wisely, to listen closely to what the Lord says. Also, pray for Darren’s family as they’ve just experienced a close relative dying.

Oh, I’m a neat freak and he’s a packrat. Sounds like a perfect match to me!