From God, With Love

Ok, so that just happened

After the impromptu tour of Frank's neighborhood, he invited me to a movie-on-the-yard event. It happened to be the same day that we decorated the church for Thanksgiving, so we essentially spent that whole day together. I found out then that he was a closet nerd that loved sci-fi movies almost as much as I do.

Since then, we've been spending time with each other very frequently. Mostly at church and community events but nonetheless, we had been hanging out with each other since late September early November. It's nearly Christmas now but we haven't really talked about what we were to each other, other than good friends. I know we'll eventually need to have the conversation, but I am not sure if I really want to acknowledge my feelings for him when I don't know his for me.

At church last Sunday, Frank asked me to lunch on the following weekend and plan on doing something afterwards. We had agreed to meet at a coffee shop close to his house that I was familiar with. The day arrives and we show up at the same time. He opens the door for me, and I step through. He glances over at me as I search for a place for us to sit. "You know, I never figured you for a coffee-with-the-heart-shaped foam person."

I giggle and respond, "You figured right. This place actually has the best herbal tea I've ever had, and their pastries are baked fresh every morning." I love this place because it's the perfect environment to just be. Large sun-catching windows, lounge seating, and a small room that has a bookshelf for guest's reading pleasure. Our server comes to the table and hands us our menus. After about a minute, Frank breaks the silence.

"You've been here plenty of times, you probably don't even need the menu."

"No, but I do look at it just in case I feel adventurous."

"So, then what would you recommend?"

"Well, I'm going to try one of their cranberry-raspberry muffins this time. I think it's one of the few pastries left for me to try. You should try one of their salads."

"Salad, really?"

"Yeah. They can pretty much take any sandwich on the menu and make it a salad."

He takes a few moments then orders an Italian BMT salad with a coke and I ordered my muffin with a three-fennel tea and honey in a separate dish. Our orders arrive shortly after and we begin to eat. I dunk my spoon in the honey then into my tea. I notice Frank staring.

"What?" I ask

"It's funny. How you put your honey in your tea."

"Oh, I'm weird. Dunking my whole spoon into the honey instead of scooping it is actually a great because the honey infuses just the right amount into the tea and the spoon being metal helps absorb the heat so it cools off quicker."

He laughs and say, "That was a fun little tidbit of information."

I shrug. "What can I say? I'm quirky."

He smiles at me with his gorgeous pearly whites, "I love it."

I smile back and blush a little. We chit-chat for a bit more, finish our lunch and leave. We get to our cars and Frank gives me a thoughtful look.

"Hey, why don't we take one car to the zoo today. We can go back to my house and leave your car there. We can ride together."

"Oh. We're going to the zoo?" I was wondering what we were going to do after lunch. "That would be nice."

I am really starting to fall for this with this man. He's generous, thoughtful, very intentional, and genuinely kind. He also loves God, and that is amazing, but I still want to take it slow and trust that the Lord is somehow leading this.