We do!

The Proposal Story

Preparing for Engagement

The proposal was a long time coming. She thought that I would never ask! But the timing wasn't right. We had a lot of growing to do first, and I believe that God knew that long before we did.

That isn't to say that I wasn't willing. I've been pursuing her since the day she smiled at me, and I was not about to let her get away. We had to learn to love each other, even beyond all the differences between us and beyond all of our selfish expectations. But by God's grace, we formed a solid foundation of love through the Scriptures, and abundantly through our new church home. With her father's blessing and a ring, I was ready to move to make her mine.

Once we were ready, there was the planning. I had not announced the engagement to many people. I figured that more people knowing would mean more chance of spoiling the surprise. Sadly, there were many wonderful people I wanted to be there who could not, and also some people I kicked myself later for not inviting. But through wise counsel, I decided to proceed anyway.

The Proposal Day

That morning, I actually arrived at church early, which is not common for me. I prepared the ring and gummy bears, and acquired the assistance of a few key people to make the whole thing happen. James prepared a microphone in one of the plants on the platform, and seats were prepared for our visitors. After a few phone calls, I was just in time to get a text from Alicia.

"You Stinker!"
I thought for sure she had found out! But before I opened my mouth and spoiled the whole thing with a "Who told you?", I saw her car, and realized that I had forgotten to tell her that I was already at church. I bragged about beating her to church, and played it off as if that were my intention all along.

Once we were in the church, Jennifer followed with Evelyn. I knew I could never keep Evelyn quiet, so I had decided to "invite" them earlier. Her mom, dad, and Lauren were hiding around the corner to keep her from seeing them until after the fellowship time was over.

We had a regular service. The message was wonderful as always, and there was much to learn, even on that day. But as the time drew near, my heart began to beat, rather heavily. I told Alicia that I was preparing to give a testimony, so she expected that. Later, she said that she knew I was acting a little funny, but thought that I was just nervous about the testimony, and otherwise, did not expect a thing, until I began to transition more in my monologue away from the church and more onto us.

Proposal Video

For all of you who were not able to be there with us for the day, Here's the official recording of the proposal.

Of course, she said yes!

It was after we had both sat down that I was able to tell her that her family was there. The whole church came up to congratulate us, including her family and Lauren. It was a very special day for both of us.