28/6’5/265lbs, lift 3x/week, pray daily, church 2x/week. Read the sidebar. Homeowner, small business owner. Family is involved and well-known in the community.

TL;DR first because my ADHD medication hasn't worn off yet:

Hung out with a girl from church a few times. Haven't escalated because I'm not sure what is appropriate from a Christian perspective. She never texts me first, but always responds quickly and is eager to hang out.

Here we are, a week after I made this post asking for advice on how to proceed after going to coffee with a girl from my church - let's call her Ashley. When I still had one foot in this world, dating (i.e. hooking up) was easy: find a girl on Bumble, tell her to meet at x place at x time, crack a few jokes, ask if she wanted to come back to my place to see my ant farm, then partake in activities I'd regret in the morning.

I'm a changed man now, all in for Jesus if you will, and I am committed to living according to the Word. Subsequently, Christian dating feels foreign to me - it's like I'm learning to ride a bike for the first time. Where do we go? Where do I put my hands? What do we talk about? Do I tease her? WHERE DO I PUT MY HANDS?

If you read my previous posts, you know that I slid into Ashley's DMs and successfully arranged to meet up for coffee and dive into some scripture. Everything went well (Saturday) and I texted her the next day (Sunday) to tell her I had a good time, she said she was glad we got together. The following day (Monday) I decide to message her to let her know that I'd be at Starbucks that evening studying and that she should join me. Enthusiastically she agrees and we have another great evening of coffee and scripture; we exchange testimonies, have a few laughs, and at some point she tells me I should come to the young adults bible study later that week (Friday) and go bowling with her and her friends afterwards.

Now normally, by the second date (can I even call this a date?), I've already kissed the girl, but I've also never went out with a devout Christian before. Does she even see me as someone who could be more than a friend? I definitely haven't told her or even implied my intent at any point so far. I haven't even rubbed knees with this chick yet. Long story short, we leave Starbucks, chat in the parking lot for a few, hug, and go our separate ways. I get home and I'm hamstering like my old blue pill self - "is she going to text me" I'm wondering. Surely, the appropriate thing to do is text her to make sure she got home okay. Of course I talk myself into doing so. She texts me back immediately, we joke a bit, and she tells me she hopes to see me Friday (bible study and bowling).

Wednesday, nothing. Thursday nothing.

Friday comes along and I head to the bible study at our church. She runs up to me, gives me a big hug, and introduces me to a couple of her friends. She tells me to sit by her, but I'm too busy chatting everyone else up at this point and decide to sit with my new friend, a quiet dude sitting in the corner. Bible study ends and she comes over to me to make sure I'm going bowling with her and her friends.

We go bowling and everyone, myself included, had a blast. I'm pretty decent at bowling and let everyone know it - I even gave a few pointers to a couple of the other guys with us - they thought I was the man. Anyways, I also had 19 different opportunities to get some kino in, but did I? No. Didn't touch her once except one or two low fives to award her for not throwing another gutter ball. I have to be up early the next morning, so I make somewhat of an early exit after the 10th frame of the last game. At this point I'm thinking SHE HAS TO TEXT ME, right? I mean, I just entertained her friends for the last two hours and took time out of my weekend to see her.

That night (still Friday), nothing.

Saturday, I start hamstering again. I swear to myself I'm not going to text her first this time, but would you believe it?! I caved. I text her a joke about her bowling skills. She thanks me for coming and demands a rematch. At this point, I still haven't stated my intentions, but I know I want to see her again. I tell her that we should go see a local Christmas light show her and I had talked about at coffee previously. She says she'd love to and offers some times she's available the following week; however, I want to see just how available and interested she is. So, I tell her that I'm available that night (Saturday) if she's free and feeling spontaneous. She says she has a birthday party to go to, but she thinks she can make it work. I tell her to text me when she's finished at the party and ready to go.

I'm fully expecting her to flake and not text me, but at 9:04 PM I hear my phone buzz. She says she's ready to go and I tell her to meet so we can drive together. We're driving, singing, and laughing all the way to the light show. The night goes well and I drop her back off at her car. Once again though, I haven't touched her, haven't overtly expressed any interest in her other than me simply asking her to hang out. I tell her to text me when she gets home and she obliges. She says she had a great time and thanks me for taking her. I give her a short answer. She responds telling me she is looking up Christian concerts (I had mentioned to her that I have never been to a concert). I tell her I'm down to go. We go back and forth a bit before each saying goodnight.

Haven't heard from her since and not sure I will unless I text her first.

What's my next step? Do I explicitly state my intentions and tell her I'm taking her on a proper date? Do I casually insist we hang out again and actually implement some escalation tactics? If so, what's an appropriate way to escalate as a Christian? Is she even THAT interested in me? I mean, she hasn't once texted me first unless I've told her to.