Yesterday, I left my story where we were huddled on a bench just outside the reach of the pouring rain. I had failed to take enough water, a jacket, a light or a map. We were freezing, exhausted and I was sure that I had ruined this relationship for good.

As 5 am rolled around we got so excited. An employee of the golf course showed up but our hopes were dashed when she hurried inside and locked the door behind her. She looked like she had been spooked by two crazy people. Hmmm? Wonder what could have scared her…

When there was no hope of a bathroom break, my date purposefully walked out to a secluded place behind a large tree and did an emergency potty break. Finally a second employee arrived and he would at least talk to me. I convinced him we weren’t crazy and that we needed a ride. We brain stormed a little and he decided to call the park office and ask for a ranger.

A very understanding park employee came right away in his marked vehicle and took us right to my truck. It was about 200 yards away as the crow flies and about 1.5 miles by blacktop. I took her to Starbucks for breakfast and we laughed all the way.

All that night she never got upset. Instead she empathized with me by telling me stories of all the times she had gotten lost. I expected her to at least be angry or to demand I solve this problem immediately and take her home. She didn’t cry, get mad, call me names or despair! I knew that if our relationship could survive this that I was hanging on to her. I knew that God had created this beautiful women with an amazing ability to be long-suffering.

Now we were charged up on super strong coffee and I took her home. She still wanted to continue with our plans for the next night to work at our church with Can Do Ministries. We were to be buddies for an autistic child so his parents could go out for the evening. I couldn’t believe she was still talking to me. I couldn’t believe I was still awake. I drove an hour to my apartment, got ready and worked all day. With some kind of supernatural energy, I drove an hour to pick her up and we had a wonderful night being a friend to an amazing child.

The moral of this story is three fold: pray for amazing patience from your girl to her guy, secondly don’t underestimate the power of distraction when out with your girl and thirdly, don’t forget your training just because you are in the city on asphalt.

Find part one of this story at: Romantic Date Night Hike!