I went to The Gathering tonight with Mallory after dinner. It was a great time-- just working on our homework and sipping on Mocha Frescantes.....yum.... (what a posh life we live!)

Well, there we were, plowing away, when this VERY VERY VERY talkative lawyer sits down at the next table. I mean, seriously, it was nuts how much he talked to us. It was also very unnerving, he asked us so much about ourselves, and joking about how we were flirting with an older man (which, btw, we WERE NOT...we were just making little comments on all he had to tell us...) But, I think we were unnerved by the simple reason that we are taught not to trust a soul in this society anymore. And, this suspicion of strangers isn't unfounded - one of my close girl friends was sexually harrassed by a stranger over spring break. But here we were, in the local coffee shop, with this guy named Brendan talking to us about his job, his girlfriend, and his faith. And as freaked out as we were at some points due to HOW MUCH he talked to us, it was really pretty sweet at the same time.


Sweet? Huh? Freaky dude in the coffee shop was SWEET!?! I'm sure you beg to differ from my opinion right now. But, dear friends, do let me explain. No, it wasn't "sweet" b/c he was hot, or anything like that. It was sweet b/c for most of the conversation, he was **GUSHING** about his girlfriend. And really, it was an amazing story. Here's how it went.


Oh, and to settle a question that may have arised in your brain...yes, he DOES have a girlfriend. He showed us many pictures of the two of them at the Rose Bowl... so, yeah, she's TAN-GI-BEEL!!!!!:) ;) (yeah, that's right. ;))

Ok, so he's 35 and she's 25. That still was kinda wierd. But just hold on.;)


When he was in college, he went to a basketball game of a friend who was playing for his college's team. He was sitting at the game with his very best guy friend, and saw a young girl around the age of 10 walk by. She was escorted by two older men - tall and strong, like magnificent pillars of protection. The scene really stood out in his mind, and he felt as though God whispered into his mind "that is the girl you will marry someday." The guy was very shocked by this feeling, and was so flabber-gasted that he told his best friend right then and there. He had no idea who the girl was, but as time passed and he had other girl friends, he was reminded of this mystery little girl. That was the beginning of this whole story.

A few months ago, sometime last year, his mother said to him, "Brendan, I have found the woman you are going to marry. Her name is Tory. You've got to meet her." She told him a little about where the girl was from, and how old she was. "Yeah, yeah," he thought, and put the thought aside. A little later, a good friend of his called him up, and this friend lived in the same area as the afore-mentioned Tory. "You've got to meet my next-door neighbor!" said the friend. "huh. that's weird. My mom just mentioned a girl from the same area, who she said would be the women I will marry. Her name is Tory, and she's 25." "NO WAY!" said the friend."That's my next-door neighbor."

So, the common friend exchanged their phone numbers for them, and Tory ended up calling Brendan. They talked for 5 hours straight, and talked three times on the phone without ever meeting. Their families randomly got picked from the RoseBowl ticket lottery, so they both ended up going and hanging out. They also managed, by a very strange sequence of events (which he explained, but I forget;)) to get all the tickets to California for free (they were orginally 1400 bucks each.!)

He kept on saying "oh, man. I just love her so much. I just want to marry that girl!! Who knew I'd fall in love with the most beautiful woman I've ever seen!!!" His exuberance in his love for her was so pure. It was beautiful.

So, they are still together. And you know what's the coolest? THey were talking about stuff one day about how when she was ten, she went to a certain basketball when she was ten years old, escorted by her father and uncle. By comparing other facts about what game it was, etc., they figured out that, AMAZINGLY, she WAS that 10 year old little girl whom he had seen 15 years before.





I think we ought to give God more credit in just how awesomely He works in our lives. And you know what's cool? This guy, Brendan, saw God's working in this situation. He gave HIM full credit. rad.




So, I thought that this was a interesting thought in comparison to my last post - this man has been searching for his wife for so long, and has had to wait until he was 35. But he's been preparing him since he was 20 to meet this woman, when she was still just a little girl.


I wonder what's in store for me?? There WAS that boy named Blake in preschool....he was cute....wonder where he is now.... ;);) hehe ....



just something to think about. :) <><