The Valentines Banquet

Julie did say yes to Mike's invitation.

It is so funny to think about how things have happened since Mike first asked Julie to the Valentine Banquet.  This is the point in the story that begins for me.  There was a young a man attending our church and Bible College that had asked me out.  I was a little hesitant for the sole reason that he was a bit younger than me.  After pondering for a while, I did agree to go out with him, after all, he is a good guy and who knows what could happen?  His name is Matt McKendree.

After the delightful night, a new Java Script was written.  So here it is detailing our evening together:

Three people of the Exclusive Coffee Group were spotted out and about with another gentleman, decked to the nines for what looked like an evening of fun-filled adventure (and maybe a little romance mixed in as well).

Yes, it must be said for our group that adventure may be too mild of a word.  The evening began harmless enough as we arrived at the WHBC Cafeteria and found our seats.  "A Moment in Time" was the quixotic theme of the banquet this year.

The lights were low, and romantic music played softly in the background as the whole gang spoke in low tones while the banquet was getting under way.  There were two in the group that were causing quite a stir as they were getting pictures taken.  The cooks in the cafeteria could be heard loudly whispering to one another, "Could this be?"  "Why, yes!"  "It must be true.",  were just a few of the phrases that could be over heard from that general direction.

After feasting on the scrumptious fair, the gang all took a few more pictures and headed out to what would soon be a great adventure.

They all arrived at what looked to be an upstanding coffee house.  From the outside looking in, one word would come to most people's mind - cozy.  Looks, that night, were slightly deceiving.  As the group entered the establishment, a loud racket coming from the restaurant next door could be heard.   A wild party was going on next door - and even though Mike was tempted to join them, one look at the lovely lady that he was escorting changed his mind. 

After listening to the drunk people rotating in out of the party we decided to take our group some where a little more quiet.  Mike had heard about another coffee shop from his pal Robert, on 31st on May.  That turned out to be a pool hall - it made this little foursome wonder how much time our Chief Percolator-N-Grinder has spent in there.  (Confessions anyone?)

At the request of the lovely lady with Mike, we drove around the Chesapeake campus - Mike showing us his work place proudly.  It wasn't until we entered the third parking lot that the trouble began.  Mike in the middle of his explanation about how his company had just bought the property on our left - noticed some flashing lights behind him.  As he fumbled for his Chesapeake ID Card a serious police officer approached our vehicle and threatened to haul all of us to the slammer for trespassing!  After a tense few moments, Mike successfully found his ID card - and we were free to go.  Whew!

After much discussion on what our options were, we decided to go to a quiet Starbucks.  As we kept driving, and driving, and driving, I finally asked, "Where are we going?"  As it turns out, Mike has a favorite Starbucks on 50th and Western.  We arrived safely at the Starbucks in Timbuktu and settled down for a nice bit of quiet conversation before our evening ended.

None of the events above been exaggerated (too much).

Debby Clark

Coffee Correspondant

The Beginning of the End

The blustery cold air in January has a bight to it like none other.  It seems like in Oklahoma it is colder in January than in December.  The January of 2006 was  no different...but the cold air didn't stop our little group from hanging out and my friend Julie was about to celebrate her 35th birthday.  It's hard to believe but Julie and I have known each other since we were in high school.  It was about to mark our 20 years as friends and we wanted to do something special for her birthday.

Jules picked the place we were going to eat at to celebrate this special day.  We all met at the Olive Garden (her favorite place at that point) with gifts in hand.  Little did we know that Robert had a serious conversation with Mike prior to us meeting there.  It went something like this:

"Mike, are you sure that you want to give her that for her birthday.  Once you do, there is no turning back."

Mike didn't even hesitate when he confirmed that he was prepared for whatever may happen.

When we were seated at our table there was much discussion about whether to open presents now or later.  We opted for later and we all ordered our food.  It was so much fun.  Great food (especially the bread sticks - who doesn't like Olive Garden's bread sticks?), great company, and great conversation.  Could we ask for anything more?  More was about to happen. 

Julie excitedly began to open her presents.  Oooing and Awwing over the things her friends had given her.  Then she came to a little bag that had a little box in it.  It was the gift from Mike.  She carefully opened the box and there was the most exquisite necklace - an Opal Star of David in a silver setting and a silver chain. Mike had liked Julie from the beginning of our group and he had purchased the necklace six months prior while on a missions trip to Jerusalem.

Julie gulped, unsure what to do.  She loved the necklace, but she also knew there was more meaning behind it than just a pretty piece of jewelry.

She graciously thanked everyone and her party was over, but she had much to ponder.

A few weeks went by and it was a Sunday night.  Jules, Sandra and I were standing around talking when Mike approached Julie.  He whipped out the February calendar and pointed to a Friday and said to her, "See that date right there?"  Julie smiled and nodded at him.  "I believe there's a Valentine Banquet going on, would you do me the honor of attending with me?"

It's hard to imagine now, but Jules was very nervous.  I need to back up a little bit.  Jules had gone to talk to our pastor about Mike a few weeks prior.  She knew of his feelings for her and the necklace had confirmed it. You see, she had always felt that she would eventually serve the Lord as a missionary in full time service and she knew that Mike was not called to such a thing.  So, when she talked to Preacher she was expecting him to advise her against dating him.  Much to her surprise he told her quite the contrary.  "Mike is a good man, and you'd be a fool not to date him."

So here she was faced with having to make the decision, should she say yes and take the plunge into the scary unknown or stay "safe" and say no...