For 17 years: the balloon...installment three

Not long after we met, I invited Lee to visit my church. He'd expressed some frustrations about where he was attending and since we had similar hearts in so many areas, I thought he'd like my church.

He did. In fact, on that first visit, the worship leader who was leading the following week needed a keyboard player and invited Lee to play. So his second visit had him playing keyboard on the worship team where, incidentally, he stayed for several years.

Before our break up, we had both signed up to attend a conference in late January out in Anaheim, CA with a group from our church. The conference fell just days after we "broke up."

This was both hard and good. Looking back, it was all good. God was working and moving in our hearts to unify them even more. And I felt a shift happening in Lee's heart, but I still didn't know if/when God was going to turn things around. The shared experience fortified our friendship even more, but, seriously, I was hoping for a husband. Not just another male friend.

Of course, God knew all that, and He gave me a tremendous amount of grace to just rest and trust. I remember clearly that season as being one of the most peaceful of my life. It felt like I was in a bubble which kept me buffered and yet allowed me to stay focused on the Lord.

The Sunday after we returned from Anaheim, several of us who had been on the trip served on the worship team. After the service, our associate pastor had a prophetic word for me out of 1 Peter 3 and called out the work the Lord revealed He was working in me.

Lee later told me that was the moment that clinched it for him. Unbeknownst to me, he said to himself: "I better not let this girl get away."

So, he set his sights to win me back. Not that he had to work very hard.

I was confused, though. We hadn't had a DTR in a while, not since our breakup, so I was unsure of what this pursuit really meant. I knew what I wanted: a husband. I wasn't sure that he was ready to commit to that. So, I kept my heart guarded.

The weekend of Valentine's Day, Lee volunteered at a Disciple Now at the church he grew up at as a kid. He kind of hinted around that he'd like me to attend the closing event with him, but I had already made plans and agreed to meet him at the house afterwards.

It was Valentine's Day and when I walked into the house, Lee handed me a card and a balloon. The balloon said "BE MINE." I did a double-take...was this really a message to me or had Lee blindly selected a Valentine balloon without paying any heed to what it said.

I tended to believe the latter. I just didn't want to get my hopes up.

Then I opened up the card and was equally confused by the message there, stating friendship and yet hinting at something more.

The confusion must have shown on my face because Lee put his arm around me and said something along the lines of: "I don't know where this is all headed or what this is going to look like, but I do know that I like us together and want to see where this all leads."

Swoon.

Well, not quite, but almost. I cautiously agreed to step back into a more-than-friendship relationship with him. And confidence grew each day as our strong friendship blossomed into a growing love and admiration for each other.

But could it really be true love?

Next: "April Fools"

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