Friday, December 01, 2006

A Fantastic Change of Pace

Wednesday night and yesterday were such lovely days. It's nice how a change in your routine can make the work week fly by and be so much fun. Wednesday night Ozzy and I met up with two friends and Tim at an Irish pub for dinner. Tim was super nice, seemed smart, and is a good conversationalist. Unfortunately I felt no chemistry with Tim. Surprise, surprise. I rarely feel attracted to anyone. It's very annoying, especially when I otherwise like the guy. Note: the lack of attraction isn't because I don't think a guy is good looking or objectively attractive; I'm just not attracted to them. And oddly, I'm sometimes attracted to guys who I do not think are objectively that good looking. I wonder if it's pheremones or something. I have a serious affinity for Acqua Di Gio by Armani, so that always helps.

On another happy note, Tim is a perceptive man. He wrote Ozzy yesterday, saying that he thought I was cool and very pretty and would like to take me out sometime but that he got the impression I wasn't interested. Hip hip hooray. I finally effectively conveyed my feelings! Ozzy told him that he'd talk to me (i.e. forward the e-mail) and let him know what I thought. Maybe I'll meet some cool girl and set them up. I love setting people up.

The seminar I attended yesterday was great, and at the convention center, I ran into my high school trignometry/algebra teacher. That made me really happy. And so did my last speaker talking really fast to condense two hours of information into one hour (he had to catch a flight). I was done at 3:30 and had talked to my best friend, watched a little Oprah, ran 3 miles, did biceps/triceps, and started a load of laundry for Ozzy all by 5:00. That's the life. Then I played around on the internet and found a fun restaurant for us to try for dinner. If you live in Atlanta, check out Dish. It's in the Highlands and absolutely great.

We sat outside, and I had yummy lamb tenderloin. Oh, I saw a guy I would be attracted to (assuming he isn't a jerk) at the table across from me. We caught each others' eyes several times (or whatever you would call that). That sounds really gay on reread, but I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. The guy probably thought I was being a jerk though because it probably appeared that Ozzy and I were on a date. Anyway, the evening ended with Grey's Anatomy during which Ozzy asked me about 50 questions since he'd never seen it before.

p.s. Ozzy challenged me a lot about my faith and Christianity in general at our friend's house after dinner on Wednesday. I so wish I were more eloquent and better spoken on those topics. It's so hard to explain to someone who doesn't believe, so I'm prayerful that God will give me the right words because I'm clearly unable to be very articulate on my own.

8 comments:

Accidentally Me said...

Don't apologize for being picky!!! You do Ozzy's laundry? Are you sure that you aren't already dating and just don't know it yet?

Serous question...when you say you would only date a Christian, does that mean a Christian in name? Or do they have to be a pretty devoutly practicing Christian?

Ally said...

I've never done Ozzy's laundry before, but I'm not used to just sitting around in someone's house! So while I was on the phone I started a load (which included the towels I'd used and my running clothes). Ozzy always goes out of his way to be a great host, so it's the least I could do.

Up until about a year and a half ago, I would date guys who were just Christians in name and attended church sometimes. But over the last year, it's become increasingly important to me that whomever I date is a practicing Christian with a personal relationship with God (for lack of a better description and/or a long dissertation:) Good question--that's actually the number one requirement on my "picky" list!

Aaron said...

I'm torn between being pleased or troubled that you have fine-tuned your ability to 'drop a hint' on a guy that's interested.

Pleased because he at least got the point.

Troubled because I wonder if the last girl that shot me down later retold the story and seemed ecstatic about it. :(

Anyway -- I think Accidently Me has got a point. Seems like you're already dating Ozzy! :) I hope the context in which you used 'challenged' is in a good sense. When I called it quits with the X, she 'challenged' my faith by claiming the failure of our relationship was because I was a bad Christian.

Unknown said...

Often times we feel like we fail to present the Gospel in a clear way, especially to those that are actively opposed to it. I'm glad that you were challenged and that Ozzy was at least questioning you on the topic.

Let me just add that it is never just us that is presenting the Gospel message and by ourselves we will never bring someone to faith. It is always the work of the Holy Spirit in us, through us and in the heart of the one we talking to. May the Lord bless your efforts with your friend and may Ozzy's heart be opened to the compassion of Christ.

DCVita said...

I am like you with guys. I don't know what attracts me to a particular guy but it is never usually just looks. And most of the guys I dated were not "good-looking" in conventional terms. I can't explain it.

I totally agree with Jeff Price. I think it is awesome that he feels comfortable enough to even talk to you about religion at all. Most people are too uncomfortable to bring up questions especially when they don't know anything. Looks like God is already working through you. All you have to do is just be and He will take care of the rest! :)

Ally said...

Aaron: "Challenged" in a good sense. I appreciate people's questions about my faith, and one thing I really like about Ozzy is that he shares a different perspective with me, which helps me analyze and reevaluate my own beliefs.

Jeff: Thank you. It isn't a huge relief to know that we cannot bring someone to faith? Ozzy has a lot of the questions I had as a non-believer, and it's encouraging to see him at least thinking.

DCVita: He will take care of the rest, which is so reassuring to me! I need to remember that more often.

FC&F: You're going to enjoy Grey's. I kind of think that faith by its very definition is kind of tough to articulate. And when someone doesn't have it, it doesn't matter how logical of an answer you can provide; they aren't going to buy it. Or at least that's been my experience. As for the guy at the table, I imagine I'll never see him again. Regardless it always makes me happy when I see a guy I think is really cute as it's entirely too rare of an experience!

Anonymous said...

I also agree with Jeff. People often say you are 'trying to convert someone' when none of us have that power. We are called to share. That in itself expresses obedience. The rest is out of our hands.

I have a friend in seminary who had an assignment to share the Gospel without Christian-ese. It proved to be quite difficult. That's why testimony is so powerful.

I feel like there's a lot to say there for a comment. It's almost as if we need a coffee house discussion someday.

Ally said...

This would make for a nice coffee house discussion. I think how we share our faith with others is important (during college I was pushed away from Christianity by Christians), and a topic that is worthy of more than a comment. Of course, how we treat others is probably the most important "testimony" we give.