tamara b

SUNDAY the 27th
Ya know, I’m writing this some time after getting back home and today there is so much more emotion that comes with the memories of these events. But, my point here is to share about my trip to CA not the events that occurred just days later.
Back in the day, when I lived in Kingsburg, Sundays were always an important day. Time to gather together and worship the Lord, time to sit at the table with family for a meal, it was and still is the Lord’s day. The last two years of college, summer Sundays meant we were out at the river. We’d go out to the Workman’s place that sat just below the wier on the lower Kings River. There was no public access below the wier which kept much of the traffic out. So, as were most Sunday afternoons, I went out to the Workman’s to hang out and visit. We did just that. Sat on the lawn in the shade of some old oak trees, ate junk food and hung out. It was good for me to see old friends and learn what they’d been up to in the last two years. I rode wave runners again, only this time it wasn’t such smooth sailing. I must have got something caught that wouldn’t allow me to accelerate beyond 5 mph. I was several miles down river and at this point Shanna, for the first time, took the lead. So, here I am putzing along passing people who were floating down river feeling like an absolute idiot. Finally Shanna realized that the wave runner behind her was not me and came back. I told her what I thought was wrong and she took off to find her dad (the owner of these expensive toys). I continued slow-poking along trying to pretend like I was enjoying the scenery. Finally Ronnie showed up to help. I pulled over in an open area, we turned the thing over, couldn’t see anything, Ronnie then jumped on to try it out. Of course it went perfectly down the river. I felt like a huge idiot, must have been God knowing that I need some humility at the point in time cause it worked. Ronnie tried to make me feel better by telling me that these things happen easily. I’m just thankful that I didn’t break anything! So, I headed back to the house and didn’t play around anymore on the river. About 5pm, I decided to go back to Dad’s and hang out with him for the evening.
I got to his house and he was gone. When I called his cell phone, it clicked with me that he had one more night of the Dr. Jekyl & Mr. Hyde musical. Dad answered the phone and asked me again if I wanted to see the musical. I had at first said no, then the second time I wanted to go but didn’t have anyone to go with. All of a sudden, I need to rearrange my plans so that I could hang out with Dad on Monday night instead. So, I called Mike Fagundes to reschedule with him. With only a little coaxing, I talked Mike into coming down to the play. By this time it was 545pm and the play started at 7pm. I called Dad back and asked him to get us some tickets, jumped in the shower and rushed to get ready. Of course, if I was going to be in public, I wanted to make sure that I looked good :) By 630, Mike had showered, eaten a few hot dogs and driven to Selma. I, to no surprise, was not ready. A few minutes later, we walked out the door and I was carrying some homemade tortillas (thanks to Grandma) and tea. I stuffed my face as we drove to the theatre. It was sold out but thankfully Dad had already reserved the tickets for us.
We got inside the theatre and there were two empty seats next to us. They must have been running late since it was sold out. About 5 or 10 minutes into the musical, the couple walks into the now dark theatre. Much to my surprise it was Aaron Colby and his girlfriend. (Aaron is a childhood friend. He and my brother were buddies and I always referred to him as “my little boyfriend”. Even when he was half a foot taller than me and no longer little, he still had the same title. He’s always been a fun guy.) As he walked past me in the row, I smacked him half way on the rear and half way on the hip. Aaron’s eyes had yet to adjust to the dark and he had no clue who just smacked him. He looked at me and said “don’t hit me”. It was later in the play that he saw who was sitting next to him. Intermission came and we all got up for a quick break. First, we chatted with Aaron and laughed at the fact that he had no clue who was harassing him. As we all 4 walked out together, I saw Joe and Lisa Babtista. (Joe and Lisa are also good friends of mine. And Aaron grew up in church with them. Joe and Lisa’s daughter, Nikki, was in my wedding. The Babtistas are dear friends of mine. Mike went to elementary school with the Babtista kids and also knows their family. All that said, here’s the story:) I hugged the Babtistas and said hello. Joe, who has yet to meet Ryan, turns towards Mike and asks “so, is this the special one?” (or something real similar). I turned to Joe and said “no, this is Mike. He was special 6 years ago.” Joe was so embarrassed and I thought it was hilarious. Joe was just trying to be nice and introduce himself, thinking it was Ryan, since I didn’t bother to introduce them. But I didn’t feel the need to introduce him to Mike, someone he knew. But Joe didn’t recognize Mike, in fact, its been several years since he’d seen him and Mike no longer wears glasses. It was a good laugh for all of us.
We eventually sat back down and enjoyed the rest of the play/musical. After that we went to Denny’s for a late supper, since I was still HUNGRY! After Dad finished cleaning up some lighting and sound stuff, he met as Denny’s. During the time in between, I used that opportunity to ask Mike about his faith, where he is at and where he’s going. Following the food, we went back to the house and I continued to ask Mike questions. I just know that someday he’s going to call me and tell me that for the first time in his life he’s experiencing the true love of Christ and has a joy in his heart. In the meantime, I’ll continue to pray and hope that the Holy Spirit doesn’t wear out his knuckles knocking.
It was an interesting few hours. Although I dated Mike in the past, there’s no akwardness being around him. Praise God that in His time, he restored that friendship; one that I greatly value. Going to bed that night I missed Ryan so much more. I was so thankful that I have a husband who loves the Lord and desires to lead me in such a direction.