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Her Story:
Oh boy. Hold on to your hat for this one!
Charge and I met at a Northwest Bible Church Singles' Retreat neither of us really wanted to attend. I went because they needed small group leaders. Charge went because he wanted to meet like-minded guys to hang out with. OK, so we're at camp in East Texas, and both of us have sworn off the opposite sex, vowing never to date again. You get the idea.
On Friday evening after that evening's planned events, it's basically a free-for-all, grown-up recess period. I drove down in a frenzy - late, imagine that - and never unpacked my car. I had parked outside the camp's gym and decided to peek in and say hi to any of my ultimate frisbee playing pals. Sure enough, there they were playing pick-up basketball. And they needed one more warm body to make even teams. I got drafted despite being 5'1" and having the most pathetic vertical you have ever seen. My friend Brad picked me to be on his team - not even last - and Charge. So the three of us played against three other guys. Of course I get to guard the tallest guy on the entire court. That was fair! Anyway, we played about 700 games until 3a.m. (Not the most brilliant thing to do when you have a meeting at 7:30 the next morning.)
Anyway, Charge said something about teaching 8th graders, and I asked him if he was crazy. I was a youth intern one summer and loved it, but I didn't have to make them learn algebraic expressions! He said, "I'd like to take them home most of the time. They are great kids!" And that's a response you sure don't hear every day.
Then he asked me how old I was - 24 - and he said he was 23. I was thinking, "You are my little brother's age!" You can tell a good deal about a person after playing basketball with them for 4 hours.
So Charge helped me carry my stuff to my cabin and off he went.
Then he just kept popping up everywhere. We sat at the same table one meal - and I think this is what did it. I was talking with one of the girls in my Bible study about a backpacking trip we were taking as a kind of real-life gut check just a couple chapters into Romans. (Strategic humbling. When you don't have your microwave or a shower, or anything except whatever you carry on your own back, you tend to learn your weaknesses.) Anyway, Charge's mountainman radar went off, and he said, "Camping?" So then we got into that whole conversation. We needed extra males to make sure we didn't all get eaten by wolves or mosquitos, the Arkansas state bird. We had my brother and 5 girls at that point. Not great odds we'd make it out without broken fingernails. So Charge agreed to go with us. (He just liked my backpack!)
But I think it's important to mention that up to this point I was thinking that he was a nice guy, period. It wasn't until I heard the way he talked about his relationship with God that I thought he was a really incredible guy. (Pardon while I wax philosophical.) I guess it's just not every day that I run into someone who is willing to be who they are. I know that sounds like every three-chord band song, but the Dallas mentality dictates a kind of mandatory flippant air that I personally can't stand. Charge instantly seemed like a real person to me. He was interesting and honest, humble and unpretentious. And with a name like Charge he was anything but boring.
So we planned gear and camping trip itinerary weeks ahead of time. And just after his birthday, he invited me over for dinner. (He burned the bread!) Then I cooked dinner for him, and I managed to flip a muffin pan in such a way that it landed face-down on the floor! I think since then we have seen each other every day unless one of us has been out of town. It's a weird thing. While it really wasn't all that long ago, it seems like years.
What a man! Charge is so much fun! He's gracious, protective, sweet, thoughtful, and he's my best friend. He makes everything fun because he's a nut! And I wouldn't have him be any other way. What a sweet, sweet man! I always tell him he must have had a really good mommy. (He does!) I am so blessed! What a guy.
His Story:
Melissa and I met at a church retreat for Northwest Bible
Church. What was interesting is that neither one of us really wanted to go
on this singles retreat. We both lamented the week before about going
because singles retreats are usually meat markets and we did not want to get
into that. We both relented in the end, deciding that God had to have some
purpose for us going. After the first nights bible lesson, all the singles
split up to go do the meat market thing. Well I decided to go down to the
Sky Ranch gym to shoot the basketball a bit, I had a teacher Vs student game
the following Monday and didn't want to embarrass myself, so I was going to
practice. It was well past midnight and I was in my fifth pick up game and
we needed another person. So along comes this cute little thing holding her
bible and asking us if we needed another player. She was all of five feet
tall so I kind of figured she would last 10 seconds. Two hours later she was
still playing, not backing down and playing hard. I ended up walking her
back to her cabin at 4 am and I was hooked. Seven days later, on May 24th we
had our first date, and a day hasn't passed by since where we haven't seen
each other unless one of us was out of town. There's so much more to the
story, but that is the start of a beautiful friendship.
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