In The Beginning…..

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Twenty years ago I was younger than I am now….Ok, that’s obvious and one of those dumb attempts to hide me age. I’m 49 as of this moment and I’ll let you do the easy math. I was single and active as a youth leader in my church’s youth group. I’d actually enjoyed those times regardless of the fact ninety percent of those kids weren’t the – dare I say it?- the typical goody two shoes church kids most people associate with kids who have parents who have taken them to church since the day they first drew breath. Most of these kids hadn’t heard of God’s love for them, and most of them really weren’t interested in learning about it. It was simply a place to hang out and we didn’t mind. We believe it you plant the seed God will send someone down the line to water it, and when the time is right someone else will be there to harvest the fruit of what had been planted in their hearts when they’d been with us.

Anyway, L O N G story short, after a few years I began to back away from things for personal reasons. You have to also understand that up until this point I’d never, let me capitalize that for you so you’ll know you read it right, NEVER had a date in my whole life. I’d sit in church and see these couples holding hands and wonder what it was about me that turned men off. Why was God punishing me? I bathed, used deodorant. Wasn’t there SOMEONE out there? - For me?

My Pastor would always tell me that marriage wouldn’t make me happy because it had its own problems and what did he know anyway? He was married. Had he forgotten what it was like to want a relationship with someone of the opposite sex?

So one evening I was at home watching TV—by the way, I still lived with my parents until the day I got married and there is no sin in that. My dad’s health was poor, I was the only kid left in the State and my parents liked having me around.

Anyway, as I was saying, that evening I was watching TV when the phone rang. I answered and since you’ll NEVER guess who it was I’ll have to tell you. It was the President of Fabio’s Fan Club.