I've had a great weekend thus far & I have no doubt that tonight will also be great. Friday night I went out to dinner. It was supposed to be a party of 4 but only 2 of us actually made it and I was rather happy about that. The food was pretty terrible, but the conversation was memorable. The most memorable part was when he called me a "normal Christian." Now, each individual will give you a different definition of the word Christian so let's just focus on the other adjective. He said that I am normal. l am used to hearing adjectives like weird, different, crazy, and the positive side of that, unique. And he wonders why I like him. And since he thinks I'm normal I decided not to tell him about my life during the ages of 16- 26. Let's just leave out that entire mess of a decade, shall we? But this all got me thinking. How did I get here? I was a mess. I mean, I was a huge mess. I grew up in a pretty strict church that focused on condemnation rather than grace. I hated church until I was about 27 years old. Growing up the granddaughter of a Pastor & hating church is actually more common than you would think. But I can now see how God sent loving, gentle, graceful people in my life to help me return to the right path. And you know what, I think the hot guy I enjoyed dinner with on Friday night is one of those people. He brought up one of my least favorite topics, tithe, and I didn't feel accused or condemned. He shared his experience with it & I shared my experience with it. And I came home wondering, how do I get to where he is? Maybe God has been loosening my stronghold on money for this very purpose. Maybe God has led me to support troops in Iraq to show me that I really can let go of this hard earned cash. And maybe soon, I'll feel more confident writing a check to church for my tithe. I'm not quite there yet, but I foresee it happening. You know what I really enjoy the most about him? Not only is he this good Christian guy who wants to walk with God and serve in his church, but he also knows how to have fun. He's not judgmental of others. He's not out preaching and pointing fingers. He's just living his life as God leads and that is his witness- same as me. It's so hard to find that. He even likes to dance and encourages others to do so. now to see if he is reading my blog b/c i know that no one else is :) Shelly Coors- signing off