When we first laid eyes on each other

In February of 2010, I was attending my very first CEW (Christian Experience Weekend) in Guttenberg, Iowa. I was a sophomore in college at the time and my faith was very important to me. I was in a relationship at the time (nothing serious) and had been looking forward to this weekend for quite some time because I was looking for some answers. I was walking back upstairs to finish my lunch and as I did I ran into Nick. He caught my eye because I remembered him from high school. He attended the same high school as I did, Maquoketa Valley, and was just a grade above me. We never talked in high school because he was in the “popular crowd” and I was not but I always remembered him from a computer class we took together my freshman year. He had the tendency to stare at my friends and I from across the room in this computer class so we nick-named him “Googly Eyes” behind his back. I knew he was popular in school but I never really thought he was that cute. Seeing him at CEW though, made me see him differently. I had no idea why he was there but after he caught my eye, I waved and said, “Hello!” and made my way back upstairs to the “lunch room”.

           
Once lunch was officially over, all of the ladies were told to make their way back to the group room where we were going to be hearing another talk. As I slowly made my way back to the room I was stopped suddenly when I saw Nick again. This time I decided I should probably be polite and say more than just, “Hi”. I asked him how he had been and what he had been up to and why he was there, just made small talk. I then went back into the room informing my mom of who that was and realizing that his mother was attending the weekend as well. That was the first time I laid eyes on Nick and saw him as more than just a classmate or acquaintance. Even though I had a boyfriend at the time, seeing him there made me wonder if there was more to him than met the eye. It made me wonder if he was a Christian too, like me, and if maybe we would have more in common now than we would have in high school.

I didn’t let these thoughts consume me too much because I wanted to enjoy the weekend without thinking too much about boys. Before I knew it, though, the weekend was coming to a close and we were being lead to the closing ceremony of CEW. This being my first CEW I had no idea what to expect but since I had been through past ones, watching my mom attend, I did know that the closing ceremony meant lots of family/friends and also lots of emotions. As I walked into the room filled with family and friends I made my way to the seats they had laid out for us and once I eventually sat down I did a scan of the room to see who was all there in the audience. In the front row was Nick, obviously attending for his mom. For some reason, unknown to me at the time, this made me nervous. Many ladies decided to stand up and give their thoughts about the weekend, some were short and sweet, others were emotional and long, and I just remember sitting there thinking of what I should say. I wanted to come up with the perfect words and eventually I did; I continuously said these words over and over again in my  mind and then I knew it was time for me to give my two cents about the weekend in my point of view. I stood up, and as I did one of the ladies around me said, “Aren’t you gonna stand up?!” as a joke about how short I was so then to egg them on, I stood up onto my chair and said, “Is this better?” Everyone laughed in the crowd and once it got quiet I said something along the lines of this being my first ever CEW and how attending it with my mom made it amazing and I also remember saying, “I’m not 13, or 16, but 19!” and that also created lots of laughter in the room. I remember catching a glimpse of Nick even laughing (that made me feel good). After I gave my experience of the weekend in my own words, the rest of the closing ceremony went by pretty fast and then everyone sang a song and after that we all went out and hugged our family and friends that came and visited with everyone. I made sure to visit with those friends who were dear to me so that I wouldn’t have to confront Nick because I was too nervous to do that. As I was talking to some friends of ours I turned around and caught a glimpse of Nick standing behind me looking at me. I knew what I had to do so I went up to him and thanked him for coming and oddly enough he held out his arms to me and offered me a hug. That wasn’t really what I was expecting of him but I gave in, and gave him a hug and I remember thinking how nice that felt.

After lots of talking with lots of different people and saying goodbye to some of the great Christian friends I had made that weekend I helped mom pack up all of our stuff so we could load our car. Through this process I kept seeing Nick and kept seeing him smile at me. I remember thinking, “What is his deal?” but was sort of having fun seeing him pop up here and there. We loaded my mom’s car and then decided to go upstairs and help clean up everything from the weekend. And of course, Nick and his family were helping too. I don’t know if I mentioned this before but I was enjoying seeing him again and again. After Mom and I helped load up some of the remains of the weekend we decided to head back home. Before we left town, mom needed to stop at Casey’s General Store to get a soda for the drive home for us. Low and behold Nick and his little sister are at the store as well. I see him and wave and flash a smile before I get into the car for the drive home. And for some reason he was on my mind for much of the drive home.