2
HOW IT ALL BEGAN: OUR STORY
God, he can’t be the one for me; he probably doesn’t even like Country music.”
Heather and I met almost six years ago at a church in Nashville, Tennessee. I was the assistant Pastor and Heather had just moved to town from Phoenix, Arizona. I had noticed her during our church services, but didn’t want to walk up to her directly and ask her out. That would be awkward for both of us. I was hoping that sooner or later, some type of conversation between us would just magically happen.
When I started a golf life group at church, I was super excited to find out that she liked to play golf! I invited her to be a part of the life group and I would email her to let her know when and where the group was meeting, but she always had an excuse for why she couldn’t make it. I wondered if she suspected my intentions.
Still, I was no quitter, and one day she showed up at the driving range. I was with about five guys from the church, hitting from the artificial turf mats. Then, all of a sudden, I looked up and saw this beautiful blonde walking in our direction. It was her, and boy did my heart start pounding.
She looked like a professional golfer—even her outfit color coordinated with her golf bag. The closer she got to us, the more my heart raced. I didn’t know what to say and I didn’t want the guys to know that I liked her. So, when she got to where we were, I went into “Pastoral” mode.
The first thing I said to her was, “Praise the Lord, my sister! It’s so good to see you here today.”
Then she looked at where we were hitting and said, “I don’t like to hit off the artificial mats so I’m going to walk way over there (pointing to the opposite end of the driving range) and hit from the grass.”
I panicked because I thought I wasn’t going to get to talk to her. I tried to convince her, in my “Pastoral” language, that it was important for us to stay as a group since this was our life group. She insisted that she was going to walk over to the grass area, and off she went. I made one of the best decisions of my life right then and there. I looked at the guys and said, “Grab your clubs, boys. We’re going to the grass.”
Best Topics of Conversation on a First Date
Let’s use wisdom here, gentlemen. If you love sports and she’s not into sports, then it’s probably not a great conversation topic. Ladies, if you love designer clothes and baking, and he’s not into designer clothes or baking, then it’s probably not a great conversation topic. Ask questions to find out what you have in common, such as:
•Hobbies/Interests
•Travels
•Family
•Movies
•Food
I tried to keep it as inconspicuous as I could, but didn’t want that to be the last time we hung out together. So I said, “Hey, I noticed you have a good golf swing and you might just need a few pointers. I’d be more than happy to help you with that.” She accepted the invitation and we met again at the driving range that weekend to work on her swing.
After our session, we went to a local restaurant to grab a bite to eat and that’s when the conversation turned to mus
