Ladies and Siestas: May I Present to You Nate Griffin...

Shelly has given me (Mandy) the privilege and honor, as BFF extraordinaire, to write this most embarrassing post introducing her mysterious “friend” to y’all. And, this is an honor indeed!

WHAT IS HE LIKE?
He is tall.
He is dark.
He is handsome.
And (be not afraid!) he does not read this blog!

He’s a missionary’s kid – grew up on “the bush” of Papua, New Guinea (seen End of the Spear?)… He’s traveled all over the world and has landed in Nashville working in “the industry” with a heart for THE Church worldwide.

He also has a heart for Shelly (but that’s not so surprising, now is it?)! He’s charming. And he very much wants to lead this relationship in a godly and healthy way.

WHAT DOES HE DO?

He’s co-owner of a rather unconventional, but highly successful, business in “the industry”. “G.I. Inc.” is a production company that produces live multimedia events ranging from concerts to conferences to films (that’s “the industry”). At the heart of this company is a desire to influence the resounding voices of our culture and the world at large. He’s incredibly talented and passionate, and jumps at the opportunity to serve the Church with the revenue and resources of his company. Interspersed among business trips are mission trips, secret meetings with persecuted pastors of East Asian house churches, and trips to see Shelly.

Nate loves the Word of God, and gushes at the fact that Shelly is in Seminary. (this is important, since she’s headstrong about finishing!) And, as an eye-witness, I can attest to the fact that he is SMITTEN. As he stated, when he’s around her he feels like a 5^th grader who can’t find the right words to impress her. “She’s just amazing… amazing.”

[everyone say it with me: “awwwww… Bless his heart.”]

HOW’D THEY MEET?

Oh, y’all…. Oh, THIS is a story y’all are gonna die over!

They met in the Spring at a Beth Moore Conference. He’s on the production team for Beth’s events! (Many of you have already found him and introduced yourselves to him at the LPL events! Which - by the way - he’s amazed every time because y’all tell him you’re one of Shelly’s blog sisters…and that you’re blessed by this blog that he’s NOT allowed to read! LOL!)

Anyway, at a conference shortly after that, Shelly saw him and re-introduced herself to him… BUT, as Nate put it, he’d already seen this beautiful girl and wondered how-in-the-world he could find some way to strike up a conversation with her. Next thing he knows, she’s walking up to him saying “I know you.” From there, he devised a way to have her and her friend (Abby) eat lunch after the event. Then, he just needed to find a way to get her phone number… And after that, he found LOTS of excuses to do business in Atlanta over the next few months. Yes, he chased her hard – even driving 8 hours out of his way to be in St. Simons with her one weekend in early summer.

From there the relationship has consisted of a LOT of phone calls, emails, pictures, and laughs.

And a trip to Boston to see her:

At the harbor where the Boston Tea Party occurred

Christ Church in the city of Boston where Paul Revere signaled for the hanging of two lanterns (which was to inform that the British were arriving by land and not by sea).

Paul Revere's grave

Nate and Shelly

Paul Revere's house - built in 1680

The 'Old State House' - the oldest in the city, built to house the government offices of the MA Bay Colony

Ship in the Charlestown Navyard with the USS Constitution

USS Constitution

Nate and Shelly eating lunch in some extremely historical place that she has now forgotten the name of ... oopsies!

B/c she felt it only right to share the fact that he has to take pictures of her, with you...

It made them laugh!

A Ben Franklin statue is actually above their heads, but the man taking the photograph kind of missed that part! lol

In Manchester Bay...a beautiful bay town

Manchester Bay

WHAT DOES THE BFF THINK ABOUT ALL THIS?

I like him.

*Disclaimer: My dearest siestas, You should know that my face is terribly red upon reading this myself! So I had to include some pictures of our time in the city of Boston that weren't just Nate and I, but some of the things we really did enjoy. :) In case you could care less about the relationship of a 24 year old, you could always enjoy the tourist shout-out I'm giving to my new 'home.' :)