I literally turned into jello. Well, jello if jello could do cartwheels. I read that letter about a million times, give or take a few. Giddiness overtook me each time I read it. Still does.
Joey and I were like two young love birds who found each other. We were very happy just flittering around each other and enjoying life.
But a lion was getting ready to pounce.
Her name was Lisa. It was about a week into our youth drama tour. She played Joey’s love interest in the play. Due to her drop dead gorgeous-ish-ness, she easily turned heads and gained the attention of all males in her vicinity.
All males except one, that is. She may or may not have had a genuine interest in the affections of Joey, but she pulled out all her tricks to get his attention off the stage as well as on. One performance night, she told Joey backstage that his stage lipstick was too dark and she tried to get him to kiss her hand to get the lipstick off. He wouldn’t do it. Another time she parked herself in the seat next to him on the bus and wouldn’t let him move. He told her he really didn’t want to sit next to her. She said, “oh, don’t worry, Kelly knows how much you like her.” He responded by telling her that there was no way that I could know how much he liked me. This must have really boiled her blood because she doubled her efforts after that.
The next time she got on the bus, she traded seats with someone to sit next to Joey again. Then she instantly fell “asleep” and “accidentally” let her head fall onto his shoulder. It was getting ridiculous, but I could do nothing to stop it. Lisa had mastered the art of flirting. She was a pro at it. I, on the other hand, had never learned how to flirt. Based off of what I saw from her, I didn’t want to learn how to flirt. Not like that anyway.
Besides, we were on a ministry tour. We were doing our play, singing, going to youth rallies and doing inner city work. I tried to keep my mind focused on the ministry and what we were supposed to be doing on this trip, but her obnoxious and relentless attempts at flirting with my man started to get the best of me. Up until that point, I kept everything bottled up. But my bottles have a nasty habit of exploding if you shake them too hard at the wrong time of the month.
It was a rare night off when we didn’t have a performance. We spent much of the evening playing games and sitting around talking or being silly. Lisa ramped up her efforts all evening and I finally exploded.
I tried to keep it private, so I found an empty room and cried my eyes out. Literally. Okay, maybe not literally, but I did cry so hard I gave myself a rash. I questioned everything. I questioned myself and whether I was making all of this up in my mind. I questioned Joey, our relationship and what affect this could have on it. And most of all, I questioned this Lisa and why she was doing this to us.
Eventually, one of the adult leaders on our trip, Mrs. Biggs, found me. Every youth group needs a Mrs. Biggs. She had the uncanny ability to provide consoling comfort where needed but still supply a good solid kick in the pants when necessary. That is exactly what she did for me this night.
She talked to me a lot about trust and how necessary it was in any relationship. She talked to me about not letting girls like Lisa get to me. She knew that Joey and I had something special. She could tell we were unique. And not just because we abided by the “no public display of affection” rules of the trip, but because we showed maturity rare in other couples. Because of this, she revealed to me that Joey and I were viewed by the adult leaders of the trip as the “example couple.”
She affirmed to me that Lisa’s attempts at flirting were obvious but they were never reciprocated by Joey. Then she leaned forward and said, “Girl, that boy only has eyes for you and it’s obvious to everyone.” My whole body took a deep breath.
Joey found me the next morning and said a ridiculous number of sweet things. I cried again, but these were happy tears. Then he prayed. It was one of those prayers that I think I’d like to ask God to replay for me someday in heaven.
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