The next class was held in a different classroom. The set up was different. Instead of a room of desks facing forward to the teacher, it was smaller. Desks set in a U to face each other with the teacher at the front middle. It made a more intimate setting, one more for discussion than teacher lecturing.

I walked in and set up my caffeination. 3 Jolts all lined up in a row in front of me. It was a night class after a full day’s work.

That guy walked in with an older man. He set up his caffeination. 3 Mountain Dews all lined up in a row in front of him. If you ask him, that’s when he noticed me. Our eyes met in mutual understanding of exhaustion.

In that class, for about a month, we talked. We talked only as it pertained to class and group discussions. No personal stuff. The older man he came with was his dad.

We talked once in a break. He went outside to stand on the balcony. I went to the restroom, and then hung back watching him. I wanted to talk to him, but I didn’t have the courage. He did.

Move on to Part V
Start from the Beginning

I decided to take some Bible college classes through my church. All the classes I registered for, however, got canceled.

I’m sure it was just coincidence. *snort*

As a result, I ended up in another whole set of classes, but thought it would be fine. Not the content I was thinking I would learn, but so be it.

I showed up to class on the first night, and I was running a little late. By this time, I was working in a local drug store (oh, the irony) and had run straight from work. Literally. I had to walk everywhere. I was a smidge late, so I took a chair in the back. And lo and behold… I could tell by the back of the head. THAT GUY was in my class. I stared at the back of his head the whole time.

I asked that guy later if he remembered me from that class that night. The answer was no. He actually had his eye on another chick. Another chick who never came back to class.

Another coincidence? Yeah. Sure.

Move on to Part IV
Start from the Beginning

Thanksgiving came around. One thing that the pastor liked to do was have anyone who wanted to say something they were thankful for stand up and say anything. Open Mic Night at the church, so to speak.

I was alone. I was always alone. I didn’t make many friends up north. I was dealing with so much baggage, it probably hung around me like a fog. A warning beacon for people not to get too close to me. I was new in my faith, though, so I tried to make every church service there was in order to learn.

And sure enough. There he was. The guy from the bookstore.

He stood up to say that he was thankful for his parents. Thankful for their help and their standing by him in his recent troubles.

Again, I thought, “I’m going to marry that man.”

And then I decided to take some Bible classes. God had begun a journey in me.

Move on to Part III
Start from the Beginning

Through a series of life choices and unfortunate circumstances, I ended up in northern California penniless and drug addicted. Through connections I made there, I became drug free, got a job, and had a roof over my head. Calvary Chapel was instrumental in all of that. This was in 1997.

I volunteered in the church book store. One evening, I was sitting on the floor behind the counter entertaining the baby of the bookstore manager. She was manning the register. The guy came up to the counter to purchase a commentary on Acts. I heard a transaction taking place, and I looked up. As I looked up, he looked down. We made eye contact. Something happened. I don’t know what. A zap. A feeling. A physical oomf! I don’t remember what he looked like at that moment, I only remember those big blue blue blue eyes. He nodded at me slightly. I nodded back. He completed his transaction and left.

I told the manager, “I’m going to marry him.” She thought I was crazy.

Move on to Part II