German Saga, Part 3

*this is a continuation of my real-life Dear John story.  Click here and there to read the first two parts*

I was so naive. Matthias returned the next day...and I recovered from my "sickness."

__________________________________________________________

Sunday afternoon at a local cafe. 

Monday morning approaches, and I'm beyond ready to see Matthias again. It had been less than 24 hours, but it felt like an eternity. I don't think my sleeping habits were improving, either. I wasn't resting well because of the butterflies that had taken a permanent residence in my stomach. I'm talking consistent-can't-get-them-to-go-away butterflies. I don't think I have experienced butterflies this intense ever again. It was becoming clearly evident to me that this was no normal "friendship." I know. I claimed I really didn't think it would get more than a friendship. After Sunday afternoon and evening, I knew better. When we arrived to the church that morning, Matthias wasn't there with the rest of the German students. My heart plummeted into my stomach.

Life goes on.

Eventually, he did show up. And my life was complete again, butterflies and all.

Because we spent so much time with the families that went to the different churches, we were given "host families". We didn't actually stay in these family's homes. Remember, we stayed at a hostel? [There should be a post on hostel stories...that was quite the experience!] Instead, these families invited small groups of us into their homes for dinner on the last Monday in the city. Matthias had personally invited me to visit his parent's home.

The first afternoon in Germany.  This was taken a few hours before I met Matthias.  I'm on the far right.

In an earlier post, I talked about my boy-crazy tendencies. Again, I admit, I was that girl. I couldn't live well without having a crush. In a strange way, God has used this issue in my life to bring me closer to Him and what He desires for my life. It's not something I can regret. The past is the past, and it's not going to change (unless you're a character in Lost and time travel, even though the present happened in the past and it was always the way things happened...but that's another post entirely). Whatever had happened with the previous boys in my life, nothing compared to what was going on with Matthias. When he asked me to personally travel to his parent's house, the ever-present butterflies tripled their fluttering. Was this really happening?!

In order to give an affirmative answer, I had to seek approval from the adults on our trip. Thinking back now, I can't believe that they actually granted permission. To travel on the autobahn to a small village an hour away with a guy that we met a week earlier was no small matter. As an adult, I would not have made that same decision. Isn't it funny how these things in life work out? As a result of receiving permission, there were several conditions to be carried out. First, my friend Michelle had to come along for the journey. I wasn't allowed to be alone with a German guy. That makes sense. Second, I wasn't allowed to ride in the front seat of the car on the trip to the village. This was to make sure that there are boundaries, and as the third party, Michelle was meant to keep the lines clear. Thirdly, I was allowed to ride in the front seat on the way back to Berlin if it didn't appear that Matthias and I needed to be separated. I agreed to the conditions because I could sense that the adults suspected something else was happening in my new friendship. No matter how right they were, I had to go to his parent's house. It wasn't even a question.

Later Monday afternoon, Michelle and I gather our things (everything but the flowers we had purchased for his mom) at the church and meet Matthias to begin our journey out of town. We had to leave quite a bit earlier than the other groups - so there was quite a bit of gossip occurring. I had been semi-aware of this situation happening over the past week, and it was becoming really apparent. The stares were occuring more often and lasting longer. Several of the guys from America asked if I needed to be chaperoned to his parent's house. They acted intimidated and threatened by Matthias' presence. I remember thinking I didn't need protection...how silly!

Michelle rode in the front seat on the first part of the journey. I would like to say that I stayed awake to witness my first trip on the autobahn, but because I was clearly sleep deprived (butterflies, be calm!), I promptly fell asleep...only to wake up with my mouth WIDE OPEN. Awesome. There's no use trying to recover from such an embarrassment. My only hope is that I didn't snore. The other two car dwellers never mentioned anything - so I'm definitely holding on to the chance that neither of them saw me.

The front of Matthias' parent's home.  This picture came out of my scrapbook, and is a picture of a picture.  Sorry about the quality...all I had on the trip were disposable cameras!

This is the back view of Matthias' home.  It's so quaint and perfect.

We eventually arrive to Matthias' parents house; the house that his father built with his own two hands. As we pull up, Matthias explains how his dad designed the house and built it by himself. I was in complete awe. Imagine a show on the travel channel about quaint European towns and the homes the people there would live in. This was it. It was absolutely adorable! Matthias gave us a tour of the village and showed us the field where he likes to play futbol. Then we got to meet his parents. His dad spoke no English, and I believe his mom was familiar with it, but they are absolutely the most adorable people I have ever seen. If you can picture a strong woman, that's his mom. His dad was kind and thoughtful. Even though I didn't really talk to him, I could tell how much he cared for his family. For dinner, we were joined by a few other guys. Matthias explained later that they were a father and son - and their wife/mom was out of town. Apparently they didn't know how to cook...and they didn't speak English either.

Our dinner party.  From the left: Matthias' father, random German man, me, Michelle, Matthias, and random German man's son.  Again, a picture of a picture; sorry about the quality!

This picture was taken the morning after we had dinner at Matthias' home.  From the left: Michelle, Matthias' mom holding the flowers we had forgotten the day before, a lady from the church, and me. 

Throughout dinner, Michelle and I sat and listened to nothing but German...and didn't add to the conversation. At one point, there was what Michelle and I thought an English word spoken. This word was completely inappropriate for dinner conversation - and my blog, for that matter. Both Michelle and I proceed to giggle, and then recieved many strange looks. Apparently it's wasn't what we thought it was. We were queit again after that. Dinner came to and end sometime later. We gave our good-byes and headed back to Berlin, arriving to the church later than everyone else.

Matthias saw us back to the hostel and we said our "guten nachts". Matthias headed back to the church to sleep.  Tomorrow would be our last day of ministry in the city.

to be continued...