Author	Thread: The missionary dater...
sounddoctorin View Profile History	The missionary dater... Posted : 28 Feb, 2010 09:27 PM hehe... D.A.T.E. Divine appointment to edify. In 1982 I was finishing up college and working some camps and things and became kind of a free lance youth pastor of sorts. I built a 350 vega and was always on call to drive kids to some event.. I miss those years because 1) these are the most impressionable years in a person's life I believe 2) there's nothing like having a role model who loves Jesus and is standing up in situations where people are threatening to beat him up and stuff and saying 'Hey my Jesus died on the cross for me, what are a few people pounding on me in comparison?' or whatever. I had an attraction to a young lady at a picnic thing. I remember I was playing softball and she was watching and I swung a terrible swing where the ball went off the end of the bat. But I hit it so hard the ball kept spinning and it caused a succession of errors that led the hit to be a home run. I was so hard I could hardly stand up when I got home. Anyway I just remember seeing this girl talking to some friends and sensing something special about then. Weeks or months later...can't recall.. we were doing a trip with a bunch of kids to California from Oregon. And she was on it and I found out that she was a lot younger than I thought even amongst other things. But I prayed and kept sensing something special there like Maybe God had set this person apart for me. So now I have to endure years of praying and waiting to see if this is going to work out while trying to just treat her like the rest of the kids in my youth group. The Lord worked so many things through that group and I look back going 'wow...I wonder how many people have gotten to be instrumental in planting that many seeds in a bunch of kid's lives over the years?'. Just being like a peer but being able to take a stand in the important things and people to see the striking contrasts..not to mention the great times of sharing things from the scriptures! Anyway somewhere along the way dad who was a total sports addict wound up with her there a lot of times alone and when he was there wasn't much of a role model sadly. The girl began asking me 'is there anything wrong with Madonna' and stuff. She'd gotten into MTV while the folks weren't there. One night I was dropping her off and she was the last one on the route and she said "Do you want to come in?" and I said "Are your folks there?" She's like 'I don't think so'... And I said..'well..we've got the beach trip tomorrow and I'm going to be totally beat if I don't get home so..I'd better not.' Sometime after that we were at a thing where she started making some lewd gestures in the dark while watching a movie at this shelter home and I started just praying in my heart that the world wouldn't engulf her and...shortly after that she was going with a non-Christian who she wound up marrying. I've never wept so hard. Her father died right after that of a brain tumor. He wound up 'randomly' buried int he plot right next to my former best friend...my Father. So some of you might have seen me writing different things and you didn't know where I'm coming from. Maybe that'll help you understand more. I'm in a very sinful world with my own issues but the Lord has been faithful as I've called out on him to lead an unusual life you would certainly say. Free from drugs, booze, immoral relationships etc. I continued to have friendships that lasted a fairly short time usually with dozens of women over the years. And the lord planted seeds in so many of those. One other I'd mention... I saw a girl at a Crusade retreat. I sensed I was going to meet her again. Next day on the bus, one seat. (Well two days later I guess..Monday after the weekend retreat). Next to this girl. We talked a little and..picked it up the next day April 15 1988 I believe it was. I had just started a house project for Christian guys. She came over that night and I helped her with her taxes because her math skills were really..really bad :-) We had a fairly lengthy growing friendship for me...I wound up visiting her finally back east when she went to be a nanny in CT. We went to a Bash-n-the-code concert . hehe. Oakland, NJ. I drove her home and got a motel and we met the next day to run around NYC. I thought "Wow..a fairly normal friendship seems to be developing". She pointed "I'm going down that street". (With bunch of porn and stuff and I ..didn't feel led..) and I said "Well..I'm not". And she said "Well i am!" and I said "Well you'll have to go without me" and smiled. "Well I will!" and she wandered off for 20 seconds or so..as I stood there...then she came back and never talked to me again. God won't follow us into sin. I'm called to be an imitator of God. Somewhere out there is a woman who loves God enough to repent if she does start doing something like that. Not that it was sin to go down that street per sey..but the whole intent was obvious. She wasn't being respectful of my personal direction and it was PURELY a test to see if she could manipulate me. She lives there. If she wants to take a tour of that street she can do it any day. Why drag me into it? Anyway after dropping her off she wound up moving in with some guy I heard.... Anyway hope these stories have been edifying. I actually had a real sister in Christ who wanted to marry me about then but I didn't feel led. She had other priorities than I did in a lot of ways and she married a roommate and we're all still good friends. I like it when it at least ends up that way :-). So often though it's about pride. Self-exaltation. hehe..I remember one of the strangest encounters. I have one eye. Lost one when I was 2 years old but felt led not to have risky surgery on it just for cosmetic reasons. It's a testimony and I can explain that later...but anyway I'm at a party with some of the band guys at U of O and this girl comes in I've never seen with a glass eye who is...knock down gorgeous. She saw me and started acting kind of strange. She pulled a guy aside who managed that house (still a friend of mine..I should ask him what she said..hehe..I guess I never did) and started talking to him and I sensed it was something about me. She was usually..pretty strange towards me for a while. Finally I remember we were on this crusade retreat where she being the most athletic in the group arranged a bunch of rec games. Crab soccer. great idea. Here I am with my herking legs taking the ball from end to end with one of my roommates going insane and frantically kicking my leg trying to figure how to dislodge the ball! hhahaa! I was just busting up because the guy was like in a serious panic or something! She almost treated me human after that. Hehe. But..she went on to marry a guy who was..eh... I dunno. If we just follow the Lord he plants all kinds of seeds in people's hearts though. We often don't see the whole picture. My life is so unusual in so many ways...but i think I can safely say it's been worth all the rejection and stuff. Because I've seen deeper into what the heart of man is...and thus I've known more how deep God's grace is to us. -bob Post Reply
View Profile History	The missionary dater... Posted : 1 Mar, 2010 06:57 AM dear sound, welcome to the forums. ole cattle Post Reply
GraceMae View Profile History	The missionary dater... Posted : 1 Mar, 2010 08:14 PM sounddoctorin... a beautiful testimony! Thank you for sharing. You are supposed to be "salt" and "light". You made the right choices, rather followed God's leading. We can never go wrong, but only grow from it all as you seem to have. I praise God that He gave you courage and wisdom to know the difference as He uses you. Amen and thank you! ~ GraceMae Post Reply
sounddoctorin View Profile History	The missionary dater... Posted : 11 Mar, 2010 01:09 PM Thanks for the encouragement all. Post Reply