A Special Weekend

April 18-26.

This was a special weekend-week-weekend, and I'm going to tell you about it from my perspective--because that's how I remember it best, of course.  :)

Unbeknownst to me, Jake has spent the past several months paying attention to a lovely young lady.  Month after month, our family (or just Jake) would travel to Grace Church (friends' church about an hour west of home) for their monthly dinner and hymn sing.  It was a great time to keep special friendships connected and flourishing, plus meet new people and, of course, sing.  This young lady is our friends' daughter, and she also attended the hymn sings.

I had noticed the close conversation one month, and was hopeful that something might happen in the future; little did I know things had been moving along for quite some time!

This past Sunday (April 12) had been a hymn sing, and Fernando mentioned to me that after he observed Jake and Allie sitting and talking together, he caught Allie's dad's eye and they each gave each other a thumbs-up sign.  Ooh, positive!  That was exciting.

On Monday, I received an email from Pamela, my friend whose family hosts the hymn sings (and who live at Grace Church--a church-turned-home-and-church!).  It was rather cryptic, but I read it as pertaining to me, about how certain young people lit up when I (or I thought she said "I") came to visit.  How sweet, I thought, that she would think to encourage me that way!  I replied to her email, to which she replied, asking if I was being deliberately coy or did she need to be direct with me?  I responded with a "Direct, of course!" email.  Her subsequent reply laid out the fact that Allie just lit up when Jake was around, and her family would all be so pleased if something were to happen with these two young folks.

I thought--Her family??  They know?  Did I miss something??  Allie likes Jake?  Wow.  I was woefully uninformed, to put it mildly.

Wednesday, while Jake was sitting on the couch, I walked right up to him, looked down at him, and when he looked up, I asked, quite directly, "Jake, do you like Allie?"  A slow grin spread across his face and he replied, "Yes."  I then suggested, also quite directly, that he should consider either moving forward in his intentions toward Allie, or that he should be very, very careful with her heart.

Jake asked me, "How do you know?"

I responded, "Everyone knows."  (Well, except me up until that time, but that's beside the point.)  Then I walked away.  Jake would have to make the next move.

Friday, while Fernando and I were on a date at The Morton Arborteum, Fernando commented that Jake was frustrated because he didn't have Allie's dad's phone number (ooh!!!  Excitement!!!).  I told Fernando to text it to Jake, but Fernando replied, "I don't have his number."

"You don't have his number??  I have his number!  How do you not have his number??"  I immediately texted Kevin's number to Fernando, who at some point would forward it to Jake.

On Saturday, Allie's mom Becki and I were messaging back and forth on Facebook, and Becki typed that they were very happy about this turn of events.  I am just so clueless--how long have they known that something was going on?  (I'm actually glad I was clueless; I would've driven myself nuts or interfered...)

At one point in Becki's and my conversation, Jake came into the room, agitated and acting super nutty.  "Mom, you gotta help me.  I'm going crazy.  What should I do?  Help me out, Mom!"  Huh?!  Then, all of a sudden, he took off running up the stairs and into his bedroom.

Becki messaged me that Jake had just messaged Allie on Facebook.  My thought--"How sweet to start a conversation with her!"  I'm so dense, as I said earlier...

A little later, Jake came racing down the stairs in a panic:  "My computer crashed!  Where's Danny?  He has to fix my computer!  I don't know what's wrong!!"

Becki and I ended our conversation, and the day continued.  Later that afternoon, I came into the family room where Jake and Fernando were sitting, leaning on each other.  They looked smug, and they had a secret.

Fernando asked Jake, "You going to tell her?"

"Tell me what????"

I sat down next to Jake, and he showed me the messaged conversation between him and Allie.  He messaged her his intentions to her, told her that he had received her dad's approval, and then said, May I court you?

Her response was simple and beautiful:  YES!!!!!!!!  (I may have missed a few exclamation points...)

I figured out later that his computer crashed right after he received her response.  LOL!

Two observations:

Jake didn't have her phone number, and the only way to communicate with Allie was through messaging via Facebook.  So, Jake being Jake, that's what he did.

Allie isn't comfortable on the phone (and Jake is not eloquent).  So it worked out beautifully that she could respond exuberantly to his question!

That was the start of Jake's and Allie's courtship.  On Sunday--and that brings us to today in this post--we traveled out to Peru to see Allie (and friends) in her last IVYSO (Illinois Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra) concert.

Here she is, during an awards presentation.

It ended up being a whirlwind weekend, and we didn't get a "first picture" of Jake and Allie.  We did, however, get to travel back out west the next weekend (April 26) for Allie's last recital with her piano teacher.

After Allie's recital, we went back to the H. family's home to pray together, and talk to Jake and Allie together.  To sum things up, everyone was in agreement and support of their relationship, and we were all praising the Lord for the unity of His Spirit among the three couples.  And Becki and I took the first pictures of Jake and Allie together.

Allie and Jake, with Kevin (Allie's dad) goofing off behind them.

Sweet, a little nervous, but really sweet.

Only the Lord knows where he will lead Jake and Allie, but we all know for sure that He will be their guide throughout their relationship together, wherever it leads.  I'm so thankful for Jake's and Allie's desire to be open and transparent to both sets of parents as they embark on their journey together.  It is an amazing and wonderful blessing.


Back to life,
Christine

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