I was raised in a fairly conservative Christian home. I’m actually a PK (pastor’s kid) and did all the things a good girl should do, not that I’m perfect. Believe me I’ve made plenty of mistakes. My analytical, serious, always count the cost personality played a role even in dating which was fairly limited since I met my husband at sixteen and a half.
Completing high school half way through my junior year left me feeling a little lost. My friends were still in school, my dad was in between pastoring positions, and I was lonely.
Enough of the background, lets get to the good stuff.
My church used to hold a monthly roller-skating night. Don’t judge me, I know this dates me. I walk in behind my future husband and his younger brother. My first thoughts were, ‘Nice hair, nice buns, and his pants are too short.’ Hey, I was standing behind him, I hadn’t even seen his face. When they got to the counter to pay, the gal suspiciously looked at them, “Are you with this group?”
I thought, ‘No way, I know everyone.’ I watched as they look at each other but they were able to come up with the church name. So, we all walk in. I thought he was cute but he had a ring on his finger and kept carrying around a toddler, which turned out to be his nephew. Their old brother tricked them into coming, not telling them it was a church function, knowing they probably wouldn’t have come.
Jer and I eventually meet, I gave him my phone number, and we planned our first date. He’s four years older than me and had his own apartment. After dinner we stopped by to pick something up. I was totally naïve and sat down at his bar and jokingly asked for a drink. He headed into the kitchen mumbling something about only having beer. You probably guessed Jer grew up very differently than me. While he’s away, I looked up and saw a long shelf displaying all kinds of empty liquor bottles. My heart sunk, ‘Lord Jesus, what have I gotten myself into?’
He returned with a beer, something I’d never tasted. I took one sip and asked for some gum. Yuck! I still hate the taste of alcohol. It was time for an inquisition. For the next three hours I fired questions at him about his faith, his past relationships…basically a full intake of his past, present and future. Jer had no idea what he was in for with this PK. My dad would not have approved of me being alone in a man’s apartment, we were supposed to be at a movie but by the time we were done talking, we knew where we stood on a lot of things.
I had actually prayed I would meet someone special that night at the roller-skating rink, I just didn’t realize it would be someone so significant in my life. Funny thing is I found out from my sister that my parents had called her after meeting Jer, the night of our first date, giggling. They told her they thought they had just meant my future husband.
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