First off, it was a pleasant surprise that this event has gotten as much buzz. It's nice to know that I am liked or at least am a source of curiosity. There have been a few requests from friends for more details, and I was thinking about emailing all of you and giving you said details. Then this morning when Nadya asked me for the rest of the story, I thought that there must be a way to tell multiple people at the same time. Then I remembered that I have this blog, and decided to put it to use to accomplish this goal.
As always, the best place to begin is, well, the beginning. Not too long ago I got a friend request on Facebook from someone I didn't recognize. Not a totally unusual occurrence, and as my general policy about such things is, I accepted (I figure that if someone wants to be my friend, I'll let them because I like making new friends). I noticed that this woman went to the same school I went to for my undergraduate degree, Southwestern Adventist University (
SWAU), so that meant that at least she had good decision-making skills when it came to choosing schools. However, I didn't give her too much thought after that.
Some time later, I noticed that she said that she was going to drive from Southwestern to Loma Linda, CA. I'm not a big fan of moving or driving long distances, so I wrote her that I wished that I could be of some assistance. I didn't do this as a means of gaining favor. I just wanted to be helpful. She then responded, stating her appreciation for the thought. We corresponded a little bit, then I did something that I don't usually do, I wrote back and said that once she gets settled in Loma Linda, if it would be OK to call her. She said it was OK, gave me her contact info., and I waited. I wasn't anxious as though I was expecting something great to happen. I simply felt good that I was making a new friend.
A few days passed, and I notice that she posted something regarding her being in Loma Linda, and shortly thereafter, I called her. Turns out that she thought I was somebody else when she put in the friend request. There was another Brent that went to Brazil (where she's from) on a recruiting trip for SWAU. She didn't remember exactly what he looked liked, and thought I was that guy. I guess that sometimes our "mistakes" are in fact, God's leading.
We had a good rapport on the phone, and bemoaned the fact that we lived so far apart because we thought it would be nice to hang out sometime. The phone calls continued, and the friendship deepened. Then we discovered that we both had Windows Messenger and webcams, so we thought that it would be fun to actually see each other while we talked on the phone. This was helpful because now there wasn't just a disembodied voice on the phone, there was an image on the screen that corresponded to said voice.
Things progressed nicely because we found out that we have a lot of things in common, not just interests, but also personalities. We understand each other, where we're coming from, where we want to go. I was more reluctant than her to publicly declare our relationship. I'm not exactly sure why, but most likely because I had been burned in the past (not something I want to get into). However, the other night I came to the conclusion that I was just fooling myself, and soon afterward I told her that I was totally committed to making the relationship work. Without skipping a beat, she asked if we should change our status. It was late, so I said that we should do it in the morning, and that was on the top of my list of things to do that day. I must say that I feel better now that it is changed. It's not an ecstatic feeling, just the feeling you get when you do the right thing.
So, I'm asking, and I'm sure she would ask the same, that you keep us in your prayers. We want to do things according to God's will and we want things to work out so that we can be together for an extended period of time, as in, forever.
