Last week I went to lunch with some
co-workers at Siam
Square.
(Check it out if you like Thai food.)
We sat upstairs and chatted after placing our orders. Nancy, one of the ladies at our table, said,
“I thought I saw our waitress come in with our drinks.” Seeing as we had no drinks, the waitress had
not. After a minute, the waitress did
indeed walk through the door with our drinks.
I told Nancy, “You can see the future!” and we all laughed. I then told her to imagine a tall and handsome
man walking through the door.
Midway through our meal I looked up
to see a tall man walk through the doorway (6’3”), followed by a taller man
(6’5”)! I looked at Nancy and said,
“Nancy! You did it!” Of course, both men were married. Even if they weren’t, I don’t know that I
would have walked over there and told them my friend had predicted they would
walk in the room. We did get another big
laugh out of it though.
This story reminds me that I need
to be more specific when I ask for things.
A tall man did walk through
the door, but I didn’t actually say he needed to be single. It also reminds me of a similar situation
that happened to me in 1997. I was
playing in the American Basketball League in Seattle and was going into my
second season. My dad and I drove to
Seattle so I would have my car, and he flew back home. I had a lot of time to think on the three-day
drive. I was 28 and still single. I thought about how I had usually prayed to
meet the right guy. I would ask that he
be at least 6’4” (my minimum) and he didn’t have to be really attractive, just
attractive to me, and so on. It dawned
on me that I wasn’t putting my full trust in God. I wasn’t asking him for His best for me. I needed to start asking for the best because
I deserved His best. Right then I prayed
to meet a guy who was 6’10” and really attractive and nice. And a Christian of course. Then I forgot about my prayer.
Pre-season began and we were
working hard at Sound Mind And Body (now closed) in Fremont. Our trainer, Peter Shmock, told me he wanted
me to meet someone. He was working with
a men’s basketball player from the University of Puget Sound who was recovering
from planter fasciitis surgery. Peter
wanted me to work on post moves anyway, and thought it would be a good idea to
have Bryan Vukelich, who was 6’10”, and me work out together. I agreed to meet him, but to myself thought,
“He’s going to be a big nerd.” (Which is
a terrible thing to think, but that’s what popped into my head. And these days, I like nerds.)
I learned Bryan was working out in
the gym the day Peter mentioned him and I was upstairs near the window that
looked down on the basketball court. I
snuck a peek at him and was pleasantly surprised that he was really cute. After we were both finished working out Peter
introduced us. Oh. My. And
not only was he really cute and tall, he was one of the nicest guys I’d ever
met. After our initial meeting it hit me
– I had prayed for him! I asked
specifically for 6’10”, really cute, really nice, Christian (Puget Sound was
founded as a Methodist University but I didn’t know his religious
beliefs). And there he was!
Bryan and I met up a few times to
work on post moves – for him to help ease him back into playing with his sore
foot. For me, to help me play against
someone taller and stronger (he took it easy on me – there is no way I could
push a 200 lb + guy around). He was a
redshirt senior and Peter told me he was 22.
Hmmm…still in college and living in Tacoma. I still had a huge crush on him.
Peter came up with a contest for
Bryan and me to see who could gain the highest percent body weight by November. We started in late August. I weighed in at 165 and Bryan at 235 ½. I started taking creatine and drinking
protein shakes twice a day. I have never
felt so bloated in my life. Creatine is
supposed to help you make more muscle and also to recover faster after
competition. I didn’t feel a big
difference in my recovery but it did help me gain weight. I was also lifting heavily during the preseason,
so I may have added extra muscle, but I think most of the extra weight was
water, as creatine also makes you retain water.
Regardless, I proceeded to top out at 174 lbs and win the contest.
My college playing weight was 165
lbs and I would always lose 5 lbs in the offseason. For me to go over 170 lbs was a big
deal. I was used to people telling me
how skinny I was and now people were telling me I looked lean and strong.
The contest terms were that the
loser had to treat the winner to drinks and appetizers. Peter went too and we all had a good
time. There were times when I wondered
if Bryan was interested, but nothing ever came of it and that was it.
When I prayed, I prayed to meet a tall, handsome guy. I didn’t specify that I wanted to date
him. Picky, picky. So, the next time you ask for something, be very specific. I should have learned my lesson the first
time!
