"Talking to J.T"

Monday, January 18, 2010

Permission was given for me to blog about this from my daughter.

Rachael has a new interest in life. Its talking to J.T. For months now, when we ask Rachael what she is doing, her response seems to be the same each time, "talking to J.T." After many months of being asked from others at our church, "who is J.T." or "is it "J.T.Wilt", I have been requested to introduce Johnathan T. McNeely.

(Johnathan is the one in the middle surrounded by all the girls..lol)

Rachael met Johnathan at Word Of Life Camp in July of 2009. He is from Lake Wales, Florida and is a member of Trinity Baptist Church in Lake Wales, Florida. Johnathan is 16 years of age and a junior in high school. He became a close friend to my daughter during her week at camp. After returning home, he became friends with Rachael on our face book page. This was the beginning of the end for me and Jimmy accessing face book very much.

Rachael and JT (as she calls him) began chatting on FB every night. They rarely missed talking with each other and our house was filled with random laughter each evening coming from our daughter. We never knew what was being said but it sure did make our daughter smile:)

(Rachael, JT and Leann at WOL 2009)

As parents, we became interested very quickly in who our daughter was talking with and not long after the conversations began on FB, we were introduced to Johnathan over the phone. He seemed to be very respectful, nice, and somewhat shy. More importantly, he was saved and his family saved and attending an Independent Baptist Church. Soon, Johnathan and Rachael started discussing our upcoming trip to Disney World in Florida (which I just recently posted about) and they began to discuss a way of seeing each other again. Johnathan's mother soon called and invited us to spend a day with them at Universal Studios while we were in Florida. So the arrangements were made and Rachael began anticipating the day she would see JT again.

I had asked Rachael several times after being introduced to JT by phone if she liked him in a "boy-friend way" and she always gave the same patent answer. "Mom, I do not know him that well and we are just friends."

We were to meet JT and his family on the last day of our Disney trip. Unfortunately, Jimmy became ill and was unable to go, so Tyler Odell stepped in and took his place. We met JT, his mom (Sheri), dad (Glenn), big brother (Cody), little sister (Courtney), and best friend (Eric) at Universal and enjoyed the day with them at Halloween Horror Nights. We had a very good time and enjoyed talking with their family. We got along great and at the end of the day shared hugs and said good-bye.

(heading back to our cars after a long day at Universal)

left to right: Eric, JT, Tyler and Rachael

After arriving back in North Carolina, the chatting on FB sooned turned to talking on the phone. They have not missed a day since we returned home from Disney and on Rachael's 15th Birthday at midnight, Johnathan asked her to be his "official" girlfriend. He sent Rachael a diamond cross necklace and pair of earrings for Christmas and continues to talk with me and Jimmy about any plans he tries to make for them to see each other.

Recently, his family has invited our family to spend time with them in June while they are camping in the North Carolina mountains so we are making arrangements to meet with them. Rachael has also agreed to attend the Wilds Teen Camp with his youth group in July and then they both will attend WOL camp again this summer.

Some may ask, "do you really expect this long distance relationship to work?" or "is it smart to encourage your daughter in this relationship?" Jimmy and I have discussed this many times and we both have come to the same conclusion. She is 15 and boys are going to be part of her life. We would rather her get to know the heart of a boy rather than it solely be based upon a physical attraction. We feel that this is what the long distance relationship is doing. They are learning about each other's hearts without seeing one another daily. Some say, it is her first real crush and "summer love" and maybe they are right. I don't question it anymore, we just monitor it and do what we think is right as parents.

Jimmy and I are sure of one thing. The Lord brought JT McNeely and his family into our lives for a reason. It might be for spiritual growth, new Christian friendships, trials, or lessons to be learned but we are trusting the Lord in all of it.

We pray every night that the Lord is preparing a Godly husband for our daughter, whomever it might be. We are NOT rushing this and know that Rachael still has years of undecided plans. That is why we cling to Isaiah 55:8-9.

In the mean time, we'll just continue to hear, "talking to JT."