Monday, June 21, 2010

The First Time I Saw Him

Traci remembered the first time she met Luke – at a weekend ski retreat for the high school group from the church he attended. Traci, who went to a much smaller
church across town, signed up at the invitation of a friend who attended Luke’s church. Traci had noticed Luke as soon as she’d arrived at the church. He was a leader in the high school group, welcoming students and handing out bus and cabin assignments.
Luke was nice to everyone and working hard to get the retreat off to a positive start. And he was too cute for words!

Traci was quietly elated when Luke ended up on her bus, sitting only a couple
of rows away. During the three-hour drive up the mountain, Traci’s attention was
divided between chatting with her friends, and secretly watching Luke. Traci admired from a distance his wit and humor, and she was impressed with his respect for the adult leaders and his ability to help everyone have a good time. He also led their busload of students in prayer during the retreat. This was a quality Christian guy, Traci realized, and she wanted to get to know him better.

The weekend afforded so many “unplanned” opportunities to get acquainted
that Traci suspected Luke may have noticed her too. He and his friend showed up at her breakfast table Saturday morning. Luke asked a lot of questions: “How did you find out about our church and the retreat? What is your church like? How long have you been a Christian? How long have you been skiing? What do you plan to do after high school?”

He asked questions about her instead of bragging about himself or trying to impress her with his macho accomplishments. He was courteous, and he actually had table manners. Before that weekend, Traci had never before met an eighteen-year-old boy she considered a gentleman. She ate her breakfast slowly because she did not want their first conversation to end.

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