Day Twenty-Two: Our Story Part 2

**Here is the continuation of yesterday's story**

I quickly told my roommates my suspicions and told them that Louie was on his way over right then. We (all seven of us at this point) stopped and prayed that Jesus would give me the words to say to Louie if he did ask me to back out of the commitment. When Louie arrived they all waited in another room praying for me and our conversation...

Louie was definitely nervous. He was sweating and his voice was shaky. We sat down and he began to ask me questions about our commitment. He asked me if any other men had asked me out during this year. I had to admit that yes there were a couple of guys hanging around in the fringes. (I am rather embarrassed to write that...it's not like what it sounds like. I was just so full of following Jesus and I think it was truly attractive to some guys.) Anyway...He then wiped his palms on his legs and said, "Twyla, would you go out with me..." Now, I must tell you that my heart dropped. I was disappointed in Louie and I prayed for wisdom.

But Louie wasn't finished, "...in seven months." Wait. What? Could you repeat that? "Twyla, would you go out with me...in seven months?" He shared with me that he had been praying and waiting to tell me about his feelings until after our commitment, but he had noticed that there were other guys waiting also. He wanted, if I was agreeable, to give the other guys the message to back off. He wanted them to know that I was spoken for.

Swoon! Are you kidding me?! Are you for real?! My heart had just been through the ringer. I had moved from disappointment to absolute head over heels in love. Of course I told him that I would date him in seven months and that yes I was agreeable to getting the message out to the other guys to back off. :)

Last night I asked Louie about this conversation again. I wanted to get the facts straight. He told me that  he had been praying for his wife. And as he and I learned more and more about each other, he hoped Jesus was allowing him to become best friends with his future wife. He wanted to be married and have children and our commitment had allowed him to see the real me, not the "dating" me. And remember, he had not been discipled in the "wait and see" teaching of the single guys at church. He had been discipled in the "hard knocks" of real life and he was ready to get on with the life Jesus had for him. He was ready to step out in faith.

We decided that we would not go out alone together and we would immediately tell our friends about this new development. My roommates were still waiting and praying for us in the next room. When Louie left and I told them all about our conversation they were asking if Louie had any single brothers. :) Louie was being discipled by one of our closet friends. We decided to tell him and our pastor (my mentor). But soon our entire fellowship knew about "Louie and Twyla." One of my roommates said, "I want to NOT date someone. It looks like a lot of fun." :) It WAS a lot of fun.

One of my worries throughout this time was how young Louie was in Jesus. I had not thought of Louie initially as being "open" for dating after our commitment was over because of his newness in Jesus. I approached my mentor/pastor about it. I will never forget his answer. He shared with me that it's not how long someone has known Jesus that matters, it's how they follow Him, how they love His Word and how they obey Him. He said, "There are many, many men out there that have known Jesus a long time, but they are not passionate about Him or follow Him with everything they are. Louie is the type of man I would want you to marry. Do not marry a man who has known Jesus for a long time, but does not obey Him."

Of course, I was thrilled with that advice and it continues to be a theme in my life. I long for single women who love Jesus never to settle for a man that just "knows" Jesus. Wait for the man that passionately loves and follows Him. The man that pursues Jesus will pursue you. And if for some reason all the men around you are disobeying Jesus, it is much better to chase Jesus alone than to try and drag along someone else.

Ok, enough preaching...

Our first date was on September 17, 1994. It was pretty funny. It seemed like our entire fellowship knew we were going out alone for our official first date that day. Of course we were nervous, but it was perfect. We talked about all kinds of things we had not allowed ourselves to say in the past seven months. We knew we loved each other and actually began planning our wedding that day. :) It was a very easy transition from best friends to being in love. Looking back I wish we had married right away. When you find your life, you want it to begin at once. :) We married on December 15, 1995.

So what do you think? Pretty romantic, huh? As I've stated before we all have these types of stories. I'm just getting to write mine down.  I am grateful to be able to write out these Team Castro tales. They are memories that we hold dear around here and until this month I had never thought about writing them down. It's actually quite fun. I don't want to forget what Jesus has done and most of all I don't want my children to forget. I want them to remember Jesus can redeem any story. He can make any story a romance because He is the great Lover. We've all had crazy beginnings and shaky midlife stories but if we belong to Him and passionately follow Him, He will give each and everyone of us a happy ending because He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. (Heb 13:6).

Love from the islands,
Twyla