“Joey has bad teeth. He should really get braces.”
These were the first thoughts I remember having toward Joey. We were in fifth grade. We’d been at the same church since age three, but somehow my memories of him don’t begin until elementary school.
Oh yes. Elementary school. Good times. I went to a small private school where my best friend Katie and I used to spend every moment of the day being...well...elementary age girls. There's no other way to put it. We giggled a lot. We played games at recess. We took turns being captains of our tremendously uncoordinated cheerleading squad. We sat together at chapel. We had sleepovers. We shared secrets. We fought over whose Cabbage Patch doll was the best.
And... We talked about boys. I always liked to point out how they all stunk so bad after coming inside from outdoor recess. She always liked to point out who we should like. “I like J.D. You should like his best friend Chris,” she would say. “He has red hair and freckles sort of like you. Oh! And you should get braces like him because then if you kiss, your teeth will get stuck together!!”
I desperately wanted braces. Or a retainer. Or anything that would make me look “cool” and more grown up.
I was so not grown up. Physically, I was very much a late bloomer. Mentally...well, mentally I wasn’t the sharpest tack in the toolbox. (Or so I thought.) I got put in the “slow” reading group early on in elementary school so I grew up thinking I was dumb. Unbeknownst to me, I read just fine but my nerves and shyness prevented me from proving it when it came to reading out loud. Alas, I was in junior high before I realized I was actually somewhat intelligent. Go figure.
Spiritually, I might have shown a bit more maturity. My parents loved the Lord and took steps to ensure I did as well. We would have family devotions and read Bible stories together every night. We would also pray together. I remember my parents encouraging me, even as a little girl, to start praying for my future husband.
Back in those early days, my prayers for him mainly revolved around requesting that he be handsome and taller than me, that he would love God, and that he would maybe someday let me have a horse. (I may have had an obsession with horses in elementary school.) I guess, in reality, I was quite immature in this area as well.
But even if maturity alluded me, I was almost nearly 98% sure that maturity could be bought...in the form of braces. That way, I would at least look mature. And the whole idea of getting stuck in a kiss with a boy - THAT was fascinating!
And these were the thoughts swirling in my brain one Sunday when I showed up at church and noticed the tall, dark and handsome boy named Joey from across the room. At some point, he must have smiled at me.
“Joey has bad teeth. He should really get braces,” I thought.
No doubt, I went home again that night and prayed desperately to God that I could get braces too.
