Part 1 - Life Before Love
Part 2 - When Thomas Met Genevieve
Part 3 - Thomas Falls in Love
Part 4 - God makes Genevieve Some Promises
Part 5 - Two Years Pass
Part 6 - Time for a Change
Part 2 - When Thomas Met Genevieve
Part 3 - Thomas Falls in Love
Part 4 - God makes Genevieve Some Promises
Part 5 - Two Years Pass
Part 6 - Time for a Change
Part 7 - The Pre-Date Date
Part 8 - The First Date
Genevieve went back to get ready alone. As she dressed, she began to think “Whoa, that was really intense. I bet Thomas is going to take me somewhere really intense where we will sit and talk all night. I need to look up things to do.” In her past relationships, Genevieve was usually the one who planned the dates. So she got out her phone and started looking up ‘Fun things to do in Lafayette in the wintertime’. The results started coming in, when she stopped herself.
“Genevieve, if you do this, then you’re taking him on a date. He needs to take you on a date. And you know what? If it’s intense and it sucks, then it’s intense and it sucks, and that’s him. But you cannot take over.”
So she stopped and continued getting ready. Dressing for the date was tricky because she didn’t know what they would be doing. I thought “I can’t wear a skirt, because what if there’s some activity we’re going on?” She settled on jeans and a cute black top which she borrowed from another volunteer without telling her why she needed it.
Thomas picked her up at 6.45 pm in the Ford Taurus. He had a surprise planned. He had printed out directions, but cut out the name of the place they were going. He handed them to her and asked her to guide them with the edited directions. As they got in the car, he told her, “You pick three songs and I’ll pick three songs, and we’ll keep rotating who picks songs.” She was impressed with his directness and decisiveness when he directed their music selection plan.
But the cut-up directions made Genevieve a little nervous. They were labelled ‘dinner’ and ‘fun’. He asked her “Fun first or dinner?” Genevieve responded, “I want to EAT!”
But as they were driving, he pulled into their organization’s convent turned retreat centre, where one of the volunteer families lived.
Genevieve’s heart sank. “Oh my gosh, this is ridiculous, he’s taking me to a convent for DINNER. It’s probably some other volunteer cooking and this is going to be so awkward.”
But they pulled in and he said, “Just wait a second.” And he came back out and said, “We’re taking the white truck.” The volunteer family had a big truck that someone had donated. Genevieve was blown away because she liked new cars, and a week earlier she had been with a group of people and seen the truck and said, “Whose truck is that? I want to drive that truck!” She realized that Thomas had listened to that and arranged to use it for their date.
They drove off, following the instructions, and pulled into a quaint French café. They had a great dinner. It felt like friends, talking and sharing easily. At one point Thomas tried to make it date-ish by asking her questions like, ‘What’s your favourite color?’, but Genevieve wouldn’t have it. “Forget those! We talk so naturally, we don’t need those questions!” she thought, and redirected the conversation back to the easy, informal way they usually talked.
Genevieve went to the bathroom and thought, “This doesn’t feel like a date. It just feels like friends.” So she thought “Let’s make this a little awkward.” So as they were walking to the car after dinner, she said, “So, what do you talk about on dates?” She wanted to point out that they were on a date, and it didn’t feel like they were. So he just laughed and said “I don’t know.”
They got into the truck and then Genevieve asked, “So why did you decide to ask me on a date?” She wasn’t sure if asking this was a good idea, but she just wanted to know where the heck it was coming from, so she decided to take a chance and ask.
He said, “Huh. I was wondering how I was going to tell you this, but you’re so direct that you just asked me. Well, first of all, why? Because I’m attracted to you, I feel like we have a connection, and I want to see if God has something more for us there. Secondly, I have seen you continually say yes to the Lord, and I want you to know that you are pursuable, worthy to be pursued by a good man.”
Then he told her a story of a time when they had been in the Philippines eating with friends, and one of their friends was upset about something. He saw how she handled the situation, directly talking to their friend, and asking what was going on. They talked it out right there. Thomas shared that he was impressed with how direct she was, and told her how attractive it was to him.
Genevieve was touched by the fact that he asked her out and had a reason for why he asked her out. He was being so intentional. She had never really experienced that in the past. She was taken aback, and had no response. She hadn’t even expected him to have an answer. They left the parking lot, and went to the next surprise location which was a bowling alley. Genevieve was a little worried because usually she got pretty aggressively competitive and angry when she bowled, but thankfully that didn’t happen at the date.
The whole time they were there, she kept looking at him and thinking, “Could I date you? Do I like you? Are you more than a friend?” They were both scoping each other out. When they left, Thomas asked her, “Do you want to drive the truck now?” She didn’t want the night to end so she said “Could we go get milkshakes?” She drove them to Wendy’s drive-through and they got Frosties. They left and had to return for something, and instead of going back on the highway, Genevieve drove the truck over the grass divide. Thomas was really uncomfortable because he usually followed rules to a T. He got a glimpse of the more free-spirited Genevieve for whom rules were more often seen as suggestions. “We’re in truck. Why not? This is what they are made for!” Thomas once again noticed how different they were. They sat in the parking lot for a while catching up, and before they knew it, it was 11 pm. “We have to get back!”
They drove back, and Thomas was a little nervous that he wouldn’t get her back before midnight (her sister Teresa lived at the base too). When she realized what he was worried about, she told him, “I’m a grown-ass woman!” The look that he gave her at those words was priceless!
Part 8 - The First Date
Genevieve went back to get ready alone. As she dressed, she began to think “Whoa, that was really intense. I bet Thomas is going to take me somewhere really intense where we will sit and talk all night. I need to look up things to do.” In her past relationships, Genevieve was usually the one who planned the dates. So she got out her phone and started looking up ‘Fun things to do in Lafayette in the wintertime’. The results started coming in, when she stopped herself.
“Genevieve, if you do this, then you’re taking him on a date. He needs to take you on a date. And you know what? If it’s intense and it sucks, then it’s intense and it sucks, and that’s him. But you cannot take over.”
So she stopped and continued getting ready. Dressing for the date was tricky because she didn’t know what they would be doing. I thought “I can’t wear a skirt, because what if there’s some activity we’re going on?” She settled on jeans and a cute black top which she borrowed from another volunteer without telling her why she needed it.
Thomas picked her up at 6.45 pm in the Ford Taurus. He had a surprise planned. He had printed out directions, but cut out the name of the place they were going. He handed them to her and asked her to guide them with the edited directions. As they got in the car, he told her, “You pick three songs and I’ll pick three songs, and we’ll keep rotating who picks songs.” She was impressed with his directness and decisiveness when he directed their music selection plan.
But the cut-up directions made Genevieve a little nervous. They were labelled ‘dinner’ and ‘fun’. He asked her “Fun first or dinner?” Genevieve responded, “I want to EAT!”
But as they were driving, he pulled into their organization’s convent turned retreat centre, where one of the volunteer families lived.
Genevieve’s heart sank. “Oh my gosh, this is ridiculous, he’s taking me to a convent for DINNER. It’s probably some other volunteer cooking and this is going to be so awkward.”
But they pulled in and he said, “Just wait a second.” And he came back out and said, “We’re taking the white truck.” The volunteer family had a big truck that someone had donated. Genevieve was blown away because she liked new cars, and a week earlier she had been with a group of people and seen the truck and said, “Whose truck is that? I want to drive that truck!” She realized that Thomas had listened to that and arranged to use it for their date.
They drove off, following the instructions, and pulled into a quaint French café. They had a great dinner. It felt like friends, talking and sharing easily. At one point Thomas tried to make it date-ish by asking her questions like, ‘What’s your favourite color?’, but Genevieve wouldn’t have it. “Forget those! We talk so naturally, we don’t need those questions!” she thought, and redirected the conversation back to the easy, informal way they usually talked.
Genevieve went to the bathroom and thought, “This doesn’t feel like a date. It just feels like friends.” So she thought “Let’s make this a little awkward.” So as they were walking to the car after dinner, she said, “So, what do you talk about on dates?” She wanted to point out that they were on a date, and it didn’t feel like they were. So he just laughed and said “I don’t know.”
They got into the truck and then Genevieve asked, “So why did you decide to ask me on a date?” She wasn’t sure if asking this was a good idea, but she just wanted to know where the heck it was coming from, so she decided to take a chance and ask.
He said, “Huh. I was wondering how I was going to tell you this, but you’re so direct that you just asked me. Well, first of all, why? Because I’m attracted to you, I feel like we have a connection, and I want to see if God has something more for us there. Secondly, I have seen you continually say yes to the Lord, and I want you to know that you are pursuable, worthy to be pursued by a good man.”
Then he told her a story of a time when they had been in the Philippines eating with friends, and one of their friends was upset about something. He saw how she handled the situation, directly talking to their friend, and asking what was going on. They talked it out right there. Thomas shared that he was impressed with how direct she was, and told her how attractive it was to him.
Genevieve was touched by the fact that he asked her out and had a reason for why he asked her out. He was being so intentional. She had never really experienced that in the past. She was taken aback, and had no response. She hadn’t even expected him to have an answer. They left the parking lot, and went to the next surprise location which was a bowling alley. Genevieve was a little worried because usually she got pretty aggressively competitive and angry when she bowled, but thankfully that didn’t happen at the date.
The whole time they were there, she kept looking at him and thinking, “Could I date you? Do I like you? Are you more than a friend?” They were both scoping each other out. When they left, Thomas asked her, “Do you want to drive the truck now?” She didn’t want the night to end so she said “Could we go get milkshakes?” She drove them to Wendy’s drive-through and they got Frosties. They left and had to return for something, and instead of going back on the highway, Genevieve drove the truck over the grass divide. Thomas was really uncomfortable because he usually followed rules to a T. He got a glimpse of the more free-spirited Genevieve for whom rules were more often seen as suggestions. “We’re in truck. Why not? This is what they are made for!” Thomas once again noticed how different they were. They sat in the parking lot for a while catching up, and before they knew it, it was 11 pm. “We have to get back!”
They drove back, and Thomas was a little nervous that he wouldn’t get her back before midnight (her sister Teresa lived at the base too). When she realized what he was worried about, she told him, “I’m a grown-ass woman!” The look that he gave her at those words was priceless!
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