When will it happen, baby? / It could be near, but then maybe it could be far / God will unlock the door you need to walk through - "Waiting Room", Sixpence None the Richer

So I got set up by my parents last week.

Actually, I suppose it was more like my extended family who had the idea... I got invited over to my aunt's place for dinner, thinking it would be another family gathering like we usually have on a regular basis. I got there late, and was promptly introduced to the family friends of my aunt's, including the young woman I was supposed to meet.

Keeping in mind that I'm not exactly the most socially graceful person around, dinner had its share of awkward moments, particularly after my bro excused himself early and went home, leaving her and me as the only people in our generation at the table. I did my best to keep up with the Mandarin portions of the conversation, while trying to be polite and making sure that I attempted to engage everyone in conversation without monopolizing the dinnertime talk. Overall, though, there was just this palpable weirdness - it was definitely not a very natural and comfortable environment to meet or get to know a person.

After dinner, the girl and I had a chance to have a more normal extended conversation about a variety of topics ranging from art (she's an art teacher in New York) to music to religion. Turns out that she used to be a member of the International Church of Christ, but eventually withdrew towards the end of college due to her uneasiness with the overall legalism that she observed. We talked a bit about the church, and I was able to share a little bit of my viewpoint on how the church should really be a community of people with their lives changed because of a great and just God rather than a standardized set of behaviors, and recommended that she visit Redeemer in Manhattan if she ever felt drawn back. We then wished each other well and took our parents home.

I don't know if I'm getting to that age where my family feels the need to get involved in this area of my life, but this first experience at least was a little odd. Maybe, hopefully, the short discussion we had about faith might touch this person and bring her into a true knowledge of Christ eventually. I suspect that all that my aunt knew was that she used to go to church, and thus assumed she'd be a good match for me.

My mom occasionally says, half-jokingly, that the first relationship never works out... so I should just go and get it out of the way. While I don't take her all that seriously, I'll admit that it is somewhat intimidating to consider that most people don't end up with their first significant other. Kinda depressing, isn't it, for zero-experience folks like me?

On the other hand, if God does plan for me to partner with someone for the rest of my life, I'll trust that it'll happen in His timing. As in the lyric snippet at the beginning of this post, it could be near, it could be far, could be my first relationship or several down the line, might not even happen at all, but I'll try to keep it simple - seek to grow more mature personally, to keep my eyes open to God's prompting, and to want the best for the other person whether it is my future spouse or not.

And maybe one day I'll be pleasantly surprised by what I find on the other side of the door I'll walk through.

* EDIT: Judging by some of the comments I'm getting, I think I need to clarify that I am not actually seeing the person mentioned at the beginning of this post...