It's not you, it's me... and that other girl I really like instead.

In the summer of 2003 my church youth group took a trip down to Reynosa Mexico, to assist a growing church. We drove all the way down from Minnesota until we got to Mexico. Reynosa was just over the border. I was joined by my best friend Ella, Mr. First-Love, and a few other friends from our youth group. We were accompanied by a few other churches in the midwest area. 

Mexico is hot...really hot. If you choose to go to Mexico, please drink lots of water.

Do NOT get dehydrated in Mexico. I did, and it wasn't pleasant. Under nearly 100 degree weather on a daily basis, I became quite dehydrated and ill. I was rushed to the hospital by my youth pastor, who consequently spoke no Spanish. At the time, neither did I. So he had conceded on my behalf to let the doctor give me a shot. However, this wasn't a shot in the arm, but in the butt!! It was my first and last time to ever get a shot there, and it wasn't pleasant. And this was just the start of a pretty drama-filled week.

But first, on a pleasant note- I'll discuss the ministry in Mexico.

The church was beautiful, and the members love for God was convicting and astounding to us all. They didn't have a church building, but we were helping them build and prepare a building to become their new official home. For the time being, they all met under a huge pavillion outside. Every morning they met at 4:30AM for an hour of prayer and worship. They had multiple services during the week, and always seemed to be in very high spirits. This group of people did NOT have very much, materially-speaking. Many of them lived in small homes that resembled sheds, with multiple people sleeping in the same room. Reynosa was generally known for its poverty, and these people were not an exception. But their love for Christ, that was exceptional.

While I admired the passion and love these people exhibited for God and one-another, I was  bit distracted at the time. Mr. First-Love and I had not been getting along very well. He had just finished his senior year in high school, and summer was nearing its end. He had been accepted into the "Honor Academy" in Texas. This was a sort of discipleship school connected with the same organization that did the Acquire the Fire conferences. During his first year there, he would not be allowed to date. This was yet another obstacle in the road for us, and seemed to be the final one.

In MExico, Mr. First-Love was very distant from me. I had suspected that he was developing feelings for my best friend Ella, but she denied even the possibility. She, in fact, had begun to crush on another guy who came with us, from another church. Throughout the trip, Mr. First-Love continued to ignore me and pay great attention to Ella, which caused a lot of drama. At one point, I was alone with Ella and expressed to her how hurt I was that Mr. First-Love was blowing me off. She thought I was being silly, and I explained that it was pretty clear that Mr. First-Love was now interested in her instead of me. Upset by that notion, she proceeded to avoid me for a couple of days. (Oh the joys of high school drama).


We ended up making up, but I always suspected that Mr. First-Love liked Ella. He and I just became more and more distant, until he finally left for Texas at the end of the summer. After he left, I received a call from Ella. She asked me if we could meet and talk about something. When we met, Ella told me about a letter she had received, from Mr. First-Love. In this letter he expressed his strong feelings for her, coupled with his knowledge that they couldn't date since he was going to the honor academy (and thus, not allowed to do so). He didn't know what her plans for or where she would be in the next year, but if she was willing and interested, he would wait for her.

Well, she wasn't interested. And she didn't wait for him, but that did become the "nail in the coffin" for Mr. First-Love and I. It was clearly over before it had begun. Too add insult to injury, a job I was going to have starting during the next school year fell through. I had to quickly find another job (lest I drive myself crazy thinking only about Mr. First-Love every day after school. At this time, Mr. MN-Nice came to my rescue. Although our friendship was a bit strange (since he had only served as a third wheel for Mr. First-Love and I), he was a very loyal person, and helped me find a different job before school began.

Thus began the next chapter in my story... Third Wheel becomes the Second.

To read the next chapter, please contribute to the conversation in the previous entry :)