Boyfriend Syndrome

I know everyone is going to be tired of hearing about Donnie by the end of this, but I have to tell you all about what he did last night at Bethany's Church!

To begin with, Bethany's church is a Pentecostal/Apostolic church. For those of you who may have never been to a church like Bethany's I will explain.

Pentecostal/Apostolic do not believe in Women cutting their hair. They believe that when the Holy Ghost (Part of the "Trinity" which is Father, Son and Holy Ghost) enters you that you are given the ability to speak in tongues, dream dreams (have visions), cast out demons and heal the sick. (Bethany correct me if I'm wrong or feel free to add other information.) They do not believe in women wearing pants/slacks also. They believe that the Holy Ghost (or Holy Spirit) moves you to do many different things, if you feel led to run around the church you do, if you feel led to speak in tongues (to speak in foreign languages you are not fluent or prior knowledge of said language) you do, sometimes the Holy Spirit just moves you to move. I would encourage anyone to try going to a Pentecostal church at least once to get an understanding of what I'm saying.

Moving on. Bethany had asked if Donnie and I would come to church with her. And I actually enjoy going to church with Bethany because I love hanging out with her and sometimes church is the only time we get to hang out. So she and her parents picked us up from my mom's apartment yesterday. While we are helping out one of Bethany's neighbors, she tells me that Paul is going to be at church.

Paul, for those who don't know him (which would be no one besides Bethany, I believe), went to school with me for a while. He has always given me the creeps, but I have tried to be friends with him. I actually used to like him very much before he became a christian. About a year or so ago we had a falling out over some things (actually someone) that were going on in his church (Bethany's). We actually hadn't spoken since then really. Except for an occasional hello here and there. Since the falling out I have been very apprehensive about being around him. But then again, most men make me incredibly nervous to begin with.

We arrive at church and I have explained to Donnie about Paul. Turns out that Donnie is very protective of me (aws!). Then here comes Paul. I shake his hand, introduce him to Donnie and tell him about what is going on with me. I tell him about how my mom is getting divorced and we lost custody of Hannah, how I now live in Oklahoma. He flips out about my mom getting divorced and is generally shocked by all that I had to say. The entire time that we are talking Donnie has his arm around my shoulders and is shooting Paul evil looks. Paul walks away for a few minutes and talks to other people then comes up to us again and begins talking about stuff that I don't even remember now. I think he was asking about how long Donnie and I had been going out. Then he walks away again.

A little bit later, during a very chaotic part of the service (people are running around, jumping up and down, crying and speaking in tongues), Paul comes up to me and grabs me. He has hold of my elbow and is trying to force my arms into the air. He is in my face telling me that I need to surrender to God, that I need to lift my hands and genuinely worship Jesus Christ. That I need to tell Jesus that I love him out loud. He says that I'm full of hate and confusion and that Surrender is the only way to get rid of it. He then informs me that he isn't letting go of me until I surrender. I am trying to argue with him, saying that I'm okay and that I can't surrender if he has got hold of my arm. I have lifted my hands by now (I have been holding onto Donnie's hand this entire episode as well) trying to acquiesce to Paul's request. He keeps telling me that I have to close my eyes. So I close my eyes.

By now he has me in such a nervous state that I am apparently shaking and flinching away from Paul's touching me. I can feel Donnie getting angrier and angrier as he has started to shake, at one point he makes a move forward like he is going to punch Paul. I push him back and say I'm fine. Apparently while my eyes were closed he poked Paul and gave him a venomous look. Paul got up and left, but during the rest of the service he kept staring at me like he was going to come back over to us.

Then after church is over, Paul comes up to me again. He begins to apologize about his behaviour, saying that it wasn't the right time, that he shouldn't have been pushing me and all sorts of other things. I just stand there in shock for a second. I have known Paul for 5 or 6 years now and he has NEVER apologized for anything. Its just not something he does. After he walks away thats when Donnie tells me about poking him and giving him a death look.

Another incident was with another young gentleman who was at Bethany's church happened as well. His name is Isaac. Now, don't get me wrong, I like Isaac. He is a good guy. My main issue with him is that he doesn't know when to stop trying to force his views on you. He is very preachy, which isn't always a bad thing unless he is preaching AT you. I had warned Donnie about Isaac as well.

Isaac comes up and begins talking to us. He asks Donnie what church he goes to, to which Donnie says "I'm Agnostic". He asks what that means, Donnie explains and then Isaac starts gearing up and beginning to preach. I was so proud of Donnie at that moment because he was polite. He could've started cussing or gotten mad, but he was polite to Isaac. He simply said "Stop it." Isaac looked confused for a moment, and repeated "Stop it?". Donnie said, "Yes, stop it. I feel that it is very disrespectful to my beliefs that you are trying to force me to change them. I won't try to dissuade your beliefs so please extend me the same courtesy." (Not even kidding, those are his EXACT words!) Isaac looked stunned a moment than asked, "Well then, can you scooted over a little bit so I can pray over your girlfriend?" which Donnie acquiesced to.

A few minutes later (After Isaac prayed over me) Isaac comes back up to Donnie and says "You know, I feel like you are in bondage. I don't know what kind of bondage you are in, but I just want you to know that Christ Jesus can set you free." To which, Donnie replies (with a straight face) "Actually, I'm into bondage." Isaac blushed and then walked away. I was trying not to laugh, but I was. I just couldn't believe that he said that!

A few moments later, Isaac gives me a gesture saying "come here". I walk over to him and he says "I think your boyfriend is into some weird stuff."
I reply, "Yes, he is. But he is a good man."
Then Isaac tells me "I know that you believe in God with all your heart and that you try to follow Him. Don't you?" He knows my answer is yes, but he wants confirmation I guess. I nod. "Then why are you unequally yoked? He doesn't believe in your God and the bible says to not be unequally yoked with a non-believer." I look at him and tell him the truth. "He does worship my God, he just worships him in a different way than Me. And I don't feel unequally yolked." I told him that I had prayed about it and I knew that Donnie was the one I was supposed to be with, but that if he wanted to pray then he should. He said he would. Then he prayed with me for my family and we went home.

All in all, I just found out how much my boyfriend loved me. Admittedly, I was a little worried that he didn't really love me that much. But after he stood up for me against Paul, I knew. I have never had anyone stand up for me before. No one has been able to. But he did and he was protective of me, holding me when I was shaking so hard I thought I would fall down. I never knew there was a guy out there who was like that. I have only ever gotten the bad ones, but he is wonderful. I often said that I would believe it when one guy could prove to me that they are not all the same. And Donnie did that last night.

No matter what might happen with us in the future, we will always be friends because he was the first guy to stand up for me.