May 26, 2014
After hearing the teaching pastor at Faith Bible Church, Chris Mueller, teach on prayer on May 25th, Lauren was encouraged to give her desire for a relationship with Derek to the Lord in prayer. Chris had encouraged the congregation to pray for some crazy things and Lauren decided to do just that. Here is a portion of Lauren's entry in her prayer journal from May 26th:
Lord, finally I lift up my desire for marriage to you. I thank you for giving me what Elisabeth Elliott referred to as "material for sacrifice." Having an unmet desire is a bittersweet blessing because it causes me to draw near & depend on You daily. Jesus, I know my heart has been "boy crazy" in the past, yet I know You have been at work in me and have caused my heart to love you more than anything. I like Derek DuPrez and because of You in him, I'm not afraid of what may or may not happen. Many people have told me he likes me and he spent much of the Musia wedding talking just to me. It's crazy Lord, and weird (at least from my human perspective) . . . he doesn't back down when I put up walls. He doesn't flee the opposite direction instead he is kind and gentle and approaches me in a way that no one else (human wise) ever has. He is so somewhat naive about basic life things (some. . . maybe it's just church life) but he doesn't even care. I love his heart for you, Jesus! I like too that I like him in a way . . . that I'm not distracted or anxious about it. He's a great guy and while he's young spiritually, I'm encouraged by his growth. We can have real conversations without flirting but still enjoy them and enjoy each other's company. Lord I lift up this "like" to You - maybe it's too early to pray that I could be his wife. I like him as a person very much and as my brother in You and Lord I pray that if it's Your will, I would have the opportunity to get to know him better and to someday be his wife. Lord I pray that You would give me the grace to not be distracted by this but entrust it to You. . . "
June 1, 2014
Derek approached Lauren at church and asked her for her phone number. He said he wanted to hang out with her and Courtney over the summer to get to know people on the high school ministry staff. Lauren was REALLY excited but they both played it cool. She told Courtney that Derek wanted to hang out with them over the summer to which Courtney replied, "Lauren, really?!" Lauren still didn't know for sure what Derek's intentions were so she didn't believe that he was interested in her. Derek sent Lauren a text message that afternoon and they sent a few messages back and forth. That night Lauren attended the staff meeting for the high school ministry but Derek was unable to since he was working. After the meeting, the pastor's wife, Katie, asked Lauren if they could talk outside privately. Lauren grew concerned thinking that something was wrong with one of the girls in her Bible study group when Katie said, "So, can we talk about someone who's been giving you special attention?" Lauren replied, "Do you mean Derek? Oh, I don't think he's interested in me - just because a guy asks for your number doesn't mean he likes you." Katie said, "Actually he does like you, he even asked Josh (our youth pastor & Katie's husband) about pursuing you." To which Lauren replied, "YAY!"
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