February 5, 2014
The school I worked for was celebrating Spirit Week and the theme for this day was country western. I showed up to serve at youth group that night dressed in a flannel shirt, boots, and jeans. While I was talking with my group of sophomore girls after the message, Derek came up to me out of nowhere and said, “Lauren, I just want to compliment you on that really great shirt!” I thought he was a little forward and that he was possibly hitting on me. His comment seemed odd to me since we only had one brief conversation before. I figured maybe Derek didn’t know how to approach women but I wanted to be gracious and answered all the questions he asked me. I was still overly cautious so I gave him one-word responses and didn’t ask him anything in return. I had been in a few bad relationships a few years prior and always had my guard up to ensure I would not get hurt again.
February 6, 2014
On this night I attended the Bible study that my friend Amber and I led for our group of high school girls. That night, she told me that Derek liked me but I refused to believe it. As a single woman, I was tired of hearing about all the great guys at our church because, while I knew they were there, they knew I was available and weren’t pursuing me (and I definitely wasn’t going to pursue them!). Amber told me that she had spoken with the youth pastor and he said it was okay for staff members to date. I replied, “Amber, I’m not even asking that!” Our girls thought it was hilarious to watch my face turn as red as a tomato and asked if they could be on the guest list for my wedding. I said, “If it’s in God’s will for my life for me to be married, then yes, you will be on the list.”
February 12, 2014
I remember Derek and I talked briefly after youth group. One of the questions he asked me was what I was doing for Valentine’s Day. I kind of freaked out on the inside thinking that he was going to ask me out so I made myself sound as busy as possible by letting him know that I would be working and then going to the college group after. He didn’t ask me out after all even though I was secretly kinda hoping he would.
Spring 2014
Derek consistently found opportunities to talk to me after youth group each week. I couldn’t figure out why and out of fear of being hurt again, I put up walls and tried different things to keep him away. One night when getting ready for youth group, I intentionally picked out an outfit that I thought wasn’t very cute, didn’t straighten my hair and put my glasses on. I went to youth group like that thinking that he would leave me alone. At this point, I had started to like Derek a little but was frustrated because, while he seemed interested, he hadn’t asked me out. My plan to dress not cute backfired and had the opposite effect. Derek still came right up to me after youth group. I didn’t know what I was doing wrong and figured I would have to get more creative.
Read Part Three Here
