My Real Life Love Story ~ Part 2 (Getting To Know One Another)

My real life love story continues with a post about how I got to know the man I would eventually marry.  You can read more about this story at the following links:  Inroduction ; Part 1 - How We Met

So if you’ve been following this love story, you now know how I met my husband.  Today I want to share with you how our relationship went from a professional relationship to a dating relationship.  Let’s see where to start.....well, I told you that there was an instant attraction for both of us when we officially met in April of 2008.  Matt and I were quickly on a first name basis, and I found myself using the bank’s drive thru very little, just so I could bump into the bank’s handsome branch manager once I was inside the building.  It turned out that there would be plenty of chances to go into the bank and deal with the manager, because Matt’s staff made a couple of accidental but significant banking errors with my account.  In hind side, those errors were a blessing, because through those errors I was able to get to know Matt a little bit better.  Our emails soon turned from professional to friendly, and when he learned that I was in the process of moving into a new apartment, he offered to help me move.  It was at that point that I officially thought this handsome branch manager just might be a little bit into me…..or he was just a guy who went over and beyond in the area of customer service ;)

I didn’t take him up on his offer to help me move, but that summer I did learn more about him.  I learned that he was from southern Indiana and went to an all-boys high school.  I learned where he went to college and what his major was.  I learned that he bought a house and fixed it up himself.  I learned that he was only twenty-six and had ambitious goals of working his way up in the banking industry.  I learned that his grandparents were missionaries and that his mom grew up on the mission field.  I also learned that he was looking for a church and had thought about going to my church many times, since it was less than five minutes from his house. 

Thinking that he was a Christian in need a church home, I invited him to my church several times that summer.   Once school started, the emails subsided, and I wasn’t able to go into the bank as much during his working hours.  I did continue to invite Matt to church when I saw him, but he always seemed to be busy on Sundays.  As my workload increased with the fall semester, the cute bank manager drifted to the back of my mind. 

One beautiful fall afternoon, Matt greeted me at the door of the bank as he always did when I walked into the branch to make a deposit.  It had been awhile since we last talked, and as usual I asked him when I was going to see him at church.  I even told him that I would sit with him if the idea of going to a new church made him uncomfortable.  This time Matt took me up on my offer, and the following Sunday I waited for him at the church doors.  After the service, we had lunch together.  Now, if you recall I had thought Matt was a Christian based upon previous conversations, but as I was sharing my faith with him over lunch, he seemed puzzled by some of my remarks.  I would later find out that Matt had never clearly heard the Gospel message until that Sunday morning at my church.  Let me just say that Matt was and is a stand-up guy.  He is a good and moral man ~ but good and moral people still need a Savior.  You see, Matt was learning that heart knowledge and head knowledge were two different things.  The following Sunday, Matt came back to church and accepted Christ as his Savior.      

By the time Matt started coming to church, we were already friends, but by the time Thanksgiving rolled around we moved our friendship up a notch and started dating.  We had dinner together nearly every night throughout that brisk November month.  After dinner we would stay up late into the night talking about our dreams, ambitions and goals in life.  Those hours of conversation quickly brought our relationship to a more serious level.  As the holidays approached we introduced one another to our families, and in our minds it was pretty much certain that this relationship was something special. 

By Christmas day, I knew that Matt was the one for me. Matt came over to my apartment early that morning in his flannel pajamas, and we made a big Christmas breakfast together.  We spent the morning talking and playing board games in our comfy pjs.  It was a super casual day, and I remember thinking that I wanted every Christmas to be like the one we shared that day.  When it was time to open presents, I couldn’t believe what he gave me.  That morning I opened up a rod iron coat rack......w.hat’s so special about that you ask?  Well, the first time we had lunch together, I told him that I saw one at Old Time Pottery, and I thought that it would look great in my apartment.  I made that comment in meaningless conversation and didn’t think anything of it at the time.  You see, it wasn’t the gift that I thought was so special; it was the fact that he listened to me talk to him, and he remembered me saying something so small and insignificant.  Not only did he hear me say it, but the guy drove all the way to Greenwood during the holidays to find the particular coat rack I was talking about!  Yep, that’s when I knew Matt was a keeper!  By January a wedding was in the works, and the rest of the story….well, the rest of the story will just have to wait for another day….