Cheesy Jazz Numbers

In my previous blog about relationships, I came as one who was skeptical about them. Skeptical as to whether I was ever going to be in one, skeptical as to if girls could like a guy like me, skeptical as to whether I was ready for one or not, and skeptical as to whether I was even the kind of person who could be in one in the first place.

This time I come as one who is in one. Big difference it is.

For those who don't know, I recently began a relationship with Sarrah. Yeah, the same Sarrah who comments my blog stuffs. Shortly after this, I started searching for any and all forms of advice I could get. Not from worldly people or sources, mind you, but from the Christian perspective. Having never actually been in a real relationship, I was and still am clueless. I have friends who just seem to be doing it right. What exactly is that thing, that big mystery of a concept? There's only one real thing I can figure, based on everything I've seen and heard so far. God has to be involved. He absolutely has to be involved for a real, loving, Godly relationship to not only work, but to result from a pursuit.

Joey gave me the advice of living out Ephesians 5:25.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. (NIV)

Which means that, just as Jesus sacrificed Himself for the church, men, too, are called to sacrifice for their wives. It's big, and so very true.

I also got a text from my best friend, Nicole, about it.

You may already know this but God has to be the center of your relationship, having Bible studies and praying and with every decision you two make consult Him first and every decision you make involving her (like if you were to buy her something or whatnot) you must involve Him. This relationship has to glorify God and that's the only way it will work. :) have faith!!

Not only this, but I've seen the strangest things going on that I'm pretty sure were God things, which only convinces me more that He has to be involved in a relationship somehow.

This whole thing started with a poem. As cheesy as that sounds, it did. Sarrah wrote this poem that she had written about a night we hung out before her goodbye party. She told me she heard this little voice one night telling her to send it to me. So she did, not really expecting anything to happen other than for me to say it was an awesome poem. It wasn't sappy or anything really. It was more just her thoughts about the night. But I, misreading it entirely, took it as an "I like you" confession and replied with my own hastily thrown together attempt at an excuse for a poem before directly telling her I liked her.

The next day after work and school my Mom tells me something. My sister's piano teacher's daughter had recently broken up with her boyfriend. Her mom sent my Mom an e-mail asking about me, saying that I seemed like the kind of guy who would be willing to swoop in and save the day. I think our mothers' ultimate goal was to get me to be her prom date. Had the events of the previous night not ensued, I may have said yes...maybe. I am generally not inclined to go on blind dates. I told my Mom about what happened the night before at that moment because if I simply said no, she would have tried to convince me otherwise. No one had any way of knowing what had happened the night before.

Another time, a month later, the most interesting thing happened. I was sitting in the living room alone and I was hit with the sudden urge to pray. So I did. I prayed about what was on my heart, saying that it was all in God's hands. I even said to Him that I was afraid of the result and asked for the courage to accept whatever happened.

Two minutes later I got a call. And I knew who it was before I even answered: Andrew. My friend, Sarrah's ex, and the one person who I was worried about in this whole thing. So I told him, simply wanting him to hear it from me. And he told me not to worry about it. This was only two minutes after that prayer.

I realized right then and there that God absolutely and totally HAS to be involved in a relationship for it to work. And I mean really, truly work, not the excuse for working that the world gives us.

What's also interesting about the whole thing is that, when I first got this poem, I wasn't even thinking about relationships, or being in one really. I did like Sarrah, but we hadn't talked in ages and I think I had convinced myself it could never happen and just gone on with my life. Not only that, I didn't think I was ready. Now here I am, a month later, in a relationship. Do I feel ready? Sort of, but at the same time sort of not. Does that necessarily mean I'm not? No it doesn't. If God knows I can do it, He's gonna put me there and prove to me that I can. With His help, obviously.

Am I jumping ahead of myself? Not at all. I know full well that I've only been in a relationship for a week and that I have no idea if it's going to work or not at this point. Nor do I claim to suddenly have become an expert on relationships because I am the absolute farthest thing from that. That is not what this blog is about. It's about my conviction and realization that God has to be involved in such things. I guess it's sort of an update from my last post about relationships. You'd think I would have known this and I did, but it really processed in my mind over the past month. And maybe the fact that I've realized that, combined with a willingness to give it to God, means I am ready.