My shoulder brushes his, and tingles tiptoe down my arm and into my fingertips.

His gentle handshake warms me like an old comfortable coat.

My head feels funny, and I have this sense that something is chasing me but I don't know what.

I do see the pockets of light.Then why do you insist on staying in the darkness?

Because in this moment, I'm not running or hiding from something I don't want to face. This time I'm walking forward, intentionally, purposefully.

It's an uncomfortable feeling when nothing matches the stereotype expected, and so far the people in this building haven't fit with any of the churchy clichés I was certain to find.

And there's nothing more painful than thinking you know someone, sharing your life with them, and then finding out it's a lie.

I'm not who they think I am, nor whom they need, but in this case I intend to pull a page from Doreen's handbook. If this is their God's plan, then I'm going to ride it as long as I can.

The two of us were never meant to be forever - just stepping-stones on the journey to something more.