Match Made in VBS Heaven

Funny moment, Week 2

Again, I can’t guarantee the humor of these entries, but I loved this one:

After working construction on the church all day long, the team from Rock Springs UMC in Georgia would travel to small churches to have Vacation Bible School for the kiddos. In this particular instance, I made friends with another PK (preacher’s kid) named David. He’s 14.

David and I were talking for a little bit, and then he pointed to one of the girls from Georgia and asked me her name (in order to protect the identity of the innocent, I’ll use the name June throughout this blog). I told him her name was June, and he told me that she was pretty. I said, “The prettiest of all the girls here?” He responded with a quick, “Sí.”

“Why don’t you go talk to her?” I questioned.

“No, no, I can’t,” he answered with a sheepish grin.

“Yes you can, she’s only 15, you're 14.”

“Seriously?”

“Oh yeah, man, you can do it.”

“No, no, I can’t.”

David is an incredibly bashful kid, and it was fun to give him a hard time about talking to June. After talking to David some more, I found out that he can play the drums, the guitar, the keys, and he can sing; therefore, he loves leading praise services for his church. He’s just an overall great kid.

One of the members from the Georgia team (Brad) had a guitar, and David asked if he could play. Brad was happy to oblige, and David started strumming. This guitar was a 12-string, not like your typical 6-string guitar, but David mastered it quickly and started singing in Spanish. At that point, he had June right where he wanted her.

June came over to David with this big smile on her face and sat down right in front of him, bobbing her head to the music. Luckily for me, I knew she didn’t speak Spanish. So I started talking to David,

“Look, you’ve got her!”

David’s looking at me while he's playing and singing, but he's acting like he doesn’t hear me. “Seriously, you’ve got her in the palm of your hand!” I was really egging him on at this point, and his mother knew it (but she was in on the plan, so she was egging him on too). I was loving every second of it, watching June sway her body back and forth, listening to David sing, totally oblivious of her surroundings.

David finished his first song, and I said, “Now’s your chance, sing a song just for her!” He looks at his mom, she gives him a confirming smile, and he says to me, “Okay, this one is a romantic.” Sweet!

I look at June, “Hey June, you should listen closely to this one, it’s a good one.”

“Why? Do I know it?” With such innocence in her voice, I almost felt bad for egging David on.

“Just listen, it’s a good one.”

So June scoots a little closer, turns her ear toward David, and sits there listening intently as David starts to sing. I’m loving every minute of it, and so is David’s mom, judging by the huge smirk on her face.

However, David keeps looking at me while he’s singing. “David, don’t look at me, you have to look at her! Look into her eyes!” I don't want him to beat around the bush at this point.

So, David starts taking half-second glances in June’s direction, not quite getting the job done, but being brave and courageous for a 14-year-old who doesn’t speak his crush’s language. And still, June is completely oblivious.

After the song, June looks at him with a genuine, beaming smile, and starts to clap. “Will, tell him he’s amazing!”

I look at David, “Dude, she thinks you’re amazing, talk to her!” David bashfully laughs, shakes his head, and says, “No, I can’t do it.”

“What’d you say to him, Will?”

“Oh nothing, June.”

It was time for us to leave, and everyone started filing out of the church. But June stayed back. She looked at David, looked at me, and said, “Will, is he going to be at the VBS tomorrow?”

“David, she wants to know if you’re going to be at tomorrow’s VBS, you’ve got her, man!”

Again, David, in his ever-increasing bashfulness, says that he probably won’t, because tomorrow’s church was really far away. I was disappointed, but certain that David could have charmed June while blindfolded.

I can’t believe my grin didn’t give my intentions away, but June still had no idea what was going on between David and her (or, at least, what I was hoping would go on). But then, since I’m not one to keep funny moments to myself, I decided to tell Brad, the man with the guitar, about how his guitar had just been used to serenade young Ms. June.

“Are you serious? Dude, that’s awesome!” Brad and I are now cracking up overtly, and Brad is overcome by the moment. “I had no idea you were playing matchmaker, that’s sweet!”

We got in the bus and June finally realized that I might have been talking about her, “Will, what did you say to David? Are y’all laughing about me?”

And then, due to my inability to lie, I had to tell June the whole story--but not before the entire Georgia team was able to enjoy a nice little chuckle about what had been going on right under her nose (well, in Brad’s case and my case, it was much more than a chuckle).

June’s mom was also on the trip, but she didn’t find out until the next day. Lovingly she asks, “Will, what’s this I hear about you using my daughter for your entertainment yesterday?” Yes! Total sweetness.