our story... part one

In lieu of Valentine's Day, I thought I'd share a story with you.  It's about a girl who meets a boy and they fall in love.  Think you've heard it all before?  Well, take another look...

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Once upon a time there was a girl who lived in a cold and snowy tundra called Iowa.  She was a good girl.  Loved her mama, loved Jesus and America too.  (Name that song and win a prize my respect!  But she really did love those things... and her dad and brothers too, of course.)  She was your typical girl.  She had friends, but was by no means popular.  She dated some in high school, but wasn't asked out all that often.  She was just normal.

Then she went to college.  She started getting asked out a little more often and soon was dating quite regularly.  She started to really like having a boyfriend and when one relationship would end, she would seek out a new one.  In fact, it was so bad that once she even dated her ex-boyfriend's best friend just months after they had broken up.  Tacky, huh?  I know, I mean... she knows and she's sorry.  She felt secure with a boyfriend.  She didn't want to be alone.

She wasn't happy alone.

During her sophomore year of college she saw that a Christian camp she'd heard of up in Northern Michigan was looking for counselors.  "Wow," she thought, "an exotic place I can escape to for the summer and meet some hot boy counselors make a difference in kids' lives.  Sign me up!"

So her parents drove her the long 12-hour trip up and left her there.  Alone.  Well, kinda...  she was surrounded by trees.  And sand (seriously, I don't think they have dirt up there... trees actually grow out of sand).  And scary black squirrels that don't exist in Iowa.

Soon she made some very cool friends.  And got in good with the local police.

She was having fun... but something was missing.  She didn't have a boyfriend.  She was starting to get antsy.

But that first week of counselor training, something changed.  She stumbled across these verses:

"Whom have I in heaven but you?  And earth has nothing I desire besides you.  My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."  Psalm 73:25-26

Wow.  "So, I should be happy with God alone," she thought... "why hadn't I thought of that before?"  She had a good relationship with Christ.  She had known him for a long time and trusted him with her life.  But hadn't completely trusted him with her dating life.

So she decided right then and there that she was going to be happy with God.  Nothing else.  She wasn't going to pursue a relationship.  And when God felt she was ready, He would give her someone.  Or maybe He wouldn't.

And she was fine with that.