Our Story Part Four: Twin Time

      Now that Serve is over and Raymond is back in Edmonton, let's get back to Jacob and I. All of a sudden, our time together was over. We still had our Friday night youth group together, but we no longer had to spend almost every free moment together.

     That did not, however, stop us from hanging out and getting even closer. Because after Serve came a time we now call Twin Time.

     On a Monday evening shortly after Serve, Jacob and I got together to plan for a final service for our worship team. We somehow had it all planned and ready in twenty minutes -which, trust me, is not the norm!- and then he turned to me and said "So.... want to talk?"

     He started. He talked about how he really really liked our friend, mutual Young Adults leader (oh yeah, did I mention that Jacob, Victoria, and our friend Ericka had started a young adults group, and Jacob and I thus had that together, as well), Ericka. The thing was, the past May, Jacob had made a promise to God that he would not date for one year. Now, though, he was at the point where he liked Ericka so very much, and it was getting harder and harder not to say anything.

     Then it was my turn. I talked about how drawn I was to Raymond, and how I so enjoyed talking to him and I definitely liked him. And this happened to be during "Ghost Week" (I'll talk more about that later, but basically I was currently on day 3 of not communicating with Raymond for a week), so I also talked about how hard it was to not message Raymond, and how I was constantly wanting to tell him things, but how weird it was because we had JUST MET! 

     This conversation was the launch pad for Twin Time. For the next month and a half, both Jacob and I experienced deep, hardcore lessons from God, and delightfully, God was teaching us the same things. Probably weekly, Jacob and I would get together just to talk about all that God was doing in our lives, and through that He taught us even more. It got to the point where we would be listening to a lesson at youth group, or just sitting in church listening to a sermon when we would hear something, look at each other, and start laughing because of what was said -something that inevitably related to the lessons we were personally learning. I remember one specific time, we had a weekend young adult retreat at a cottage up north. On the last morning, I pulled out my Jesus Storybook Bible and started reading to everyone, out loud, from the beginning. I started the story of Abraham and Isaac, when God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac on an alter, and there was a line about trusting God (very much a theme for both Jacob and I during this time- and, I mean, always, but especially then!). Jacob was in the kitchen, washing the dishes (with Ericka, surprise surprise, she clearly liked him, too), and I read the line, looked towards him, and we both laughed uncontrollably while everyone else looked on in confusion. Jacob and I, by this point, could read each other's minds. 

     I know this is the story of me and Raymond, but during this really key point in my life, God really provided an important friend in Jacob. Because we were experiencing similar life experiences -liking someone, and not being able to act on it- and God lessons, it was a blessing to have him to talk to and trust with some of my deepest thoughts and emotions. This might sound like a strange kind of cousin relationship, but Jacob has always been more of a brother to me, and we were both incredibly blessed by each other during this time. Enough that I felt the need to write a whole post about it!

     As a quick side note, this was not the only time that Jacob, Ericka, Raymond, and I relationships were parallel. Jacob and Ericka started dating in June of that year (Raymond and I in July, spoilers), and got engaged this past March (a few months after Raymond and I did), after being in a long-distance relationship from September on. And to wrap it up, on August 8, three weeks before us, Jacob and Ericka got married, followed by a move across the country (to Nova Scotia, sadly, not Alberta like we did). So it's been pretty cool. We like to joke that we alternate in our life events- they started dating first, we got engaged first, and they got married first. So that means that Raymes and I have to have a baby first, to stick with the pattern (but that's actually probably likely, since Jacob is in his second year of law school). Jacob and Raymond also have a bro-mance that makes Ericka and I laugh and facepalm at the same time. 

     Blessings,

          Katie

Our Story Part Three: SERVE

      Serve was quite the week. For the longest time, Jacob and I referred to it as "Last week". I'm so glad that it was not just last week, though, because that would mean I would still be in this place of limbo and confusion and honestly a really good place. It just is now in the past and I can't be mad about that!

     Even though I was on the Serve Host Team, I still had to work that week. Every day, I would get up at 6am as usually, and head to work. I'd spend my day working at my physical labour job in the greenhouse. By lunchtime, Jacob would have sent me his ideas for that night's worship session, which I would read and then spend the afternoon thinking about and praying over as I worked. After work, I would run out the back door to my boss's parent's house, where I would shower before dashing to my car and driving straight to church. Once at church, Jacob and I would meet in the sanctuary where his youngest sister, Arabella, would bring me a much-needed coffee. Jacob and I would talk and pray about the session that night, and make our final plans on the songs, readings, and such. My job after this was always to write out and photocopy the order of worship for each member of our team, so I would head down to the office.

     Monday was the Serve team's first day of working, and they all started to trickle back as I was photocopying the order of worship. The door they entered was right by the office, so I greeted them as they entered. Just as I finished, Raymond and his van-full of students arrived back, and I stopped to chat with some of the girls about their day. Raymond was there, as well, and we ended up chatting for awhile before I went back upstairs. 

     We ate dinner shortly afterwards, followed of course by the second worship session. The official evening ended with the worship team gathering as our small group to debrief and pray together. We did this every night, and it was such a precious time during the week. It's still a cherished memory of the Serve week!

     After small group, a few of us inevitably ended up gathered in the fellowship hall, chatting. And Raymond came upstairs. That first evening of talking, there was a group of us. Me, Jacob, a few members of the worship team, and a couple other members of the host team. We all talked and laughed and finally split to go home and to bed.

     And that became the routine of the week. Work, planning, talking to Raymond as he arrived back at church. Dinner, worship, and small group. And then, after the official part of the day was over, talking with Raymond, Jacob, and occasionally one or two others. It seemed that every evening, it was one less person and we talked longer and longer, until Thursday night it was just Jacob, Raymond and I talking. until one in the morning. Jacob fell asleep at one point, and when we woke him up to tell him to go to bed (he was sleeping at church all week), he insisted that we all head downstairs. Little did I know that all week, Jacob could sense a spark between the two of us, and he was intentionally chaperoning us. 

     Until Friday night.

     Friday was the last night of Serve. The Edmonton team was leaving for the airport at 3:30 in the morning. So after one final evening of worship, the whole worship team was invited to stay and play games and hang out with the Edmonton team. None of them were planning on going to bed that night, so it was an all-nighter of fun. 

     I'm not a game person. So although I participated in the first one, when everyone went upstairs to play "Battleship" in the sanctuary, I dipped out, heading to the prayer chairs, located in a dim corner of the fellowship hall. I walked, hoping that Raymond would follow so we could talk, and he did not disappoint. 

     We spent the rest of the night upstairs, talking. About everything and everything. Until 3 in the morning, when he had to go and pack up, we talked. Long after everyone else went back downstairs to play other games, we talked. Alone for the first time.

     At one point, Raymond asked me for my number, and he texted me so we could stay in contact. At the end of the night, he asked if we could hug. And we did, my head fitting perfectly under his chin. We went downstairs, had an awkward public goodbye with everyone, and we all went outside to our cars. Raymond and the rest of the Edmonton team piled into their vans and drove away.

     And just like that, the longest, most exhausting, thrilling, and amazing week of my life was over. And Raymond, the most intriguing, kind, sensitive guy I'd ever met, the man I was drawn to the entire week, was gone.

     Blessings,

          Katie