So, friends, I have some news to share with you all. And it seems odd to share this all in a blog. It is not the way most people would do it, but to be honest, I want to tell this to all of you in my own way (without rumors and questions floating around), and let’s face it…I’m not anything like most people. (;
So let me present it to you up front and then circle back to give you some background. I am now in a relationship with this guy:
There are so many ideas as to what different relationship labels mean and which ones should be used, but let me just put it this way: we have openly shared our feelings for one another with each other and, after lots of thought and prayer, have decided to pursue a deeper relationship with the end goal being marriage, God willing. Call it what you would like. I’ll call it dating.
So I introduce you to Edin Joel Caal Rax. You can call him Joel. (Pronounced “hoh-EHL”, but he also often goes by the English “Joel” for you North Americans.) ;) Where did this fella come from? Good question. Let me answer that for you! To be entirely honest with you, I just met him since coming back to San Pablo after New Years with my family. He was living with my pastor’s family, and I happened to meet him on the roof of the church when I went to greet the pastor. At the time, I happened to be with both of my parents, my aunt, Jaylene, and my friend, Andi Brubaker. The meeting was brief and I did not think a lot of it (except to keep my distance from the guy who was eager to speak English with me), but little did I know that he would become a wonderful friend and encouragement in the days to follow.
For those who are curious, Joel is Guatemalan, but is from Cobán (a different part of Guatemala), and he spent the last three years in Texas studying at Christ for the Nations; therefore, he is now not only bilingual, but also bicultural. (: All kinds of obvious benefits there! He was here volunteering his time, services, and construction skills for the pastor’s family’s ministry, but he just returned to Cobán. If you do the math, you will see that one month is the amount of time that I have known this guy. I recognize that this is a very short amount of time. And yet, this is what this one month has held, first only as friends and somewhere along the way (I really couldn’t tell you when) as something more:
-A first time friend outing to San Pedro
-Shared testimonies
-Daily Facebook messages (some silly, some serious; all building friendship)
-Long talks about challenges of adjusting to the culture of this beautiful but complicated little town
-Movie nights on a computer in the kitchen (Gravity: so intense! Frozen: Never gets old.) (;
-Growing friendship with Neha (our other friend who is also foreigner to San Pablo and is fantastic, by the way! She is staying in town for two years as part of the peace corps!)
-Cooking lessons (from him to me)
-Fun day trip to Santiago via lancha (boat)
-Final indoor house painting
-Lots of laughs
-Individual ups and downs, in which the other was always able to encourage
-Talks about what God is teaching us
Pictures will do the best to help you far away friends to have a peek in, so here are a lot! I recognize that most of these photos are from just a few days, but I didn’t think to have my camera out most days during the casual day-to-day visits.
This one month of friendship with Joel has been such an encouragement to me as I have come back from holidays at home and started into my ministry in this new school year. He has had a way of encouraging me in the way that I most need, reminding me to take a deep breath and relax and enjoy the life God is giving me instead of getting caught up in the stress of details and planning. He has helped me to laugh when I might otherwise cry, and he has been a friend that I can lean on in the midst of times of loneliness. He has been able to help me understand some of the cultural differences when I just get stuck, and he has challenged and pushed me to take real steps to overcome the cultural boundaries that I seem to have accepted and settled behind. (This is not a conclusive list of all the ways he has encouraged me, but you get the idea.)
And these are the things that I have learned about him as a result of my time with him:
He demonstrates godly leadership in conversation, action, and relationships. He demonstrates continued readiness to step up to the plate whenever the situation calls for it. He continues to spend daily time with God and is always learning something new from his Bible and book reading. He enjoys life and puts his best into everything that he does, whether it be physical labor or ministry with people. He knows how to laugh regularly and help others to do so, as well. He is honest and willing to share both the good and the bad of his past. He knows how to cook, and he’s not too bad looking. (; But most importantly, He loves God and has a continuing desire to seek Him and do His work.
The heart on this guy…it’s just fantastic. And he makes me smile daily.
Now, what is next? He is now back in his home in Coban, and I am here in San Pablo. There are hours of travel time separating us. Right now, we do not know quite what the future will hold. But what we do know is that right now, we are both experiencing a tremendous amount of peace. Last week, we talked through our thoughts and feelings; he asked me for the opportunity to get to know me more and begin pursuing me, and after a few days of thinking, praying, and talking with my parents and friends, I eagerly accepted. Now we find ourselves hours apart but both quite relaxed and content knowing that God is in control and we just need to wait on Him. We are talking about and praying through possible options for the future, but much of it involves waiting right now. So we talk, pray, and wait!
In the meantime, I would like to ask you, my Christ-following friends and family, to join us in praying. We want to glorify God with our relationship, so if for any reason this is not from God, we want to know that. On the other hand, if this is from God (as it seems that it may be thus far), we want to handle it in the way that most glorifies Him. We want to end up in the place and doing the work that most glorifies Him, following the individual passions and call that God has given each us even while doing ministry together. So join us in prayer?
As I mentioned, silliness and laughing is key here:
Note to add: Joel has now met my whole family [apart from my three sisters who are in the states] and has been able to talk with my parents, who have been supportive and are joining us in praying for God’s will in this situation. I just wanted all of you concerned friends and family to know this. I actually was talking to my parents through the whole thing, as their advice and support was and is extremely important to me.
Thank you for letting me share a little of my personal life with you all! And thank you for allowing me to break common expectations for blog updates and first time announcements of relationships. ;)
