// Click here if you missed Part 1 of this series.

He picked me up around 5:00pm sharp to take me to dinner before the football game. I remember walking out of my dorm building and seeing him leaning on the drivers side door of his light blue toyota camry. (I drove a toyota corolla. We were kindred spirits right away) Tall, dark and handsome. With the most perfect smile I had ever seen. As soon as I made my way over to his car, he had already walked around to the passenger side to open the door. I remember mentally taking note of this sweet act of chivalry (it didn't come too often those days!)

Once we were on the road, he made me feel comfortable right away. He asked me to call up one of his friends and leave a funny voice mail. Seriously? Yes. That is what he wanted me to do. So here I am, with Josh, on our first date and acting ridiculous on a voice mail to one of his buddies. I don't even remember what I said. But I remember thinking it wasn't very funny and I hope I didn't fail some sort of "test." But he laughed hysterically at me and I immediately relaxed knowing I had earned his approval. :)

The conversation flowed so easily from the drive to dinner. I wish I could remember all that we talked about, or what we ate (this is when Instagram would have come in handy!) but it's true that people won't always remember what you said or what you did, but they will remember how you made them feel. And I remember quite vividly how he made me feel that night. I felt at home.

We had a two hour drive to the football game after dinner. But it felt like 30 minutes. We talked the whole way. Josh even came up with the "question game" where we went back and forth asking a question that both of us had to answer. It was fun and we learned so much about each other on that short long drive.

I'd been around quite a few guys with wrong motives by this point in my life. And I could immediately tell two things about Josh - 1) He was completely sincere in wanting to get to know me for me and 2) I was pretty sure he didn't do this all the time.

And by this, I mean take girls out.

There was such a genuineness about him. That is probably my favorite thing about our first date. I felt like I was special, and not just another girl in a line of others he had wooed with his charm.

My second favorite thing about our date was how excited he was to see his students at the football game! And even greater, the fact that most of them were in the band. Ha! Not what I was expecting. But awesome, nonetheless!

It was at this football game that I realized he wasn't going into the ministry as a career. He was doing ministry with his life.

"Student pastor" may have been his title, but he was way more than that. He was their friend, he made them feel important. And he made me feel blessed just being there with him (things haven't changed much, let me tell you!)

After the game was over and we were walking back to his car, a funny thing happened. The temperature had dropped quite a bit, so I crossed my arms and rubbed them while mindlessly saying, "Ooh, it's cold." This was not intentional. I was not fishing for anything. But, oh dear, Josh totally thought I was. Yes he did. And he was going to do something about it. Next thing I know, I have his arm straight across my shoulders, while we are walking. The timing was just all off, so he kept banging his arm into my head. And I couldn't handle it. I just started cracking up. It was literally one of the most awkward moments ever (and we still laugh about it today!).

But apparently it wasn't awkward enough to keep us from going out on another date. And then another. And then before we knew it, we had spent nearly every day of the next two semesters together.

And then came time for Josh to graduate. 

(to be continued...)