joined the missions team at my church because it was led at the time by someone I was interested in (shush, you know you would do it too lol),
Oh, no judging. I can totally see myself doing that, too.
When you said that, it reminded me of a time in college when the girl I loved had invited me to join the same student organization as she had long been a part of, the Association of Baptist Students. (We were not exclusive by denomination though despite the name, mind you
) One year I had been inspired by my friends at the ABS and their amiable attitudes as Christians that i secoded to take that next step in maturing my faith by joining one of their ministry teams. The one that one of our adult leaders suggested to me according to my personality was one that she was also a part of, and I did not know until after accepting the proposal to join the team. I knew my heart was in the right place this time despite my love for her, but, admittedly I was worried she would think crossly of me over this, that she would think thus was just some cheap attempt on my part to "get closer" to her in ways, even though I myself was confident - despite my love-struckness (is that a word?) over her for years - that this was not my reason for wanting to join the ministry team and do more specific services to our college community as a believer for a change. .... Now that I remember, it turns out I had done her a disservice in being afraid of her ill opinion over it. She just smiled and said, perfectly calm like this was another, everyday conversation between normal buddies, "Look, William, I understand how you feel about me. I am totally cool with this. There is no reason for me not to be."
Well, thank you for giving me the benefit of the doubt when you did.