Will You Marry Me?

Will you marry me?

I had decided that I was content with being single. But six months ago, God brought Miss Sandy Lynn Baker into my life, and it changed forever. We were certain that we would eventually marry. We took turns being cautious and aggressive as things developed. The first weekend of September 2009, things came to a turning point.

My parents were passing through on their move from Washington to Florida. Friday night they came over to my place, and we started talking. At one point I showed them the ring that Sandy and I had had made. We used materials from her mother's rings and my mother's rings to craft her engagement ring and my wedding band. Both my parents thought it was beautiful, and so pleased that the diamonds worked well together. Randy asked why she wasn't wearing it yet. I came up with a line about how we were in no hurry, and I was trying to find the right words. He said, "will you marry me? Seems easy." It was at that moment that I began to wonder just what I was waiting for.

Sandy came over Saturday, and we spent the afternoon getting to know each other. I spent most of the day basking in the love of my mother and Sandy as the concerns and fears evaporated. We had a great time, and I was certain that I wanted to propose much sooner than I initially intended. After my parents went back to their hotel, Sandy and I discussed the day and reflected on some of the things my mom had said.

Sunday morning I decided to put the ring in my bag before leaving for church. I'd been going to Sandy's house after church to eat and just relax, eagerly waiting for football season to arrive. I knew that she would want me to propose in a more private setting, so I didn't bother to bring the ring inside. During the service, the pastor asked if I would be willing to share my story, how God redeemed me and my mission service. Being a missionary, I was prepared to do that, and gave an account of my conversion and a brief synopsis of my mission career. I'm glad that I got to do that on the day of our engagement, and I credit it to God that it even happened.

We went home after the service and were trying to decide what to do. I suggested we do some more questions, and maybe arrange to go see the sunset if possible. We've been working through the book "101 Questions to Ask Before Getting Engaged". Sandy had recently assured me we didn't have to finish it before I asked, but I had hoped we would. We had to stop in the 90's to make dinner if we were going to make sunset.

Before leaving the house, I had taken the ring out of its box and put it in my pocket. Driving to the lake, the sky was gorgeous. I knew we would have an awesome sunset. As we pulled into a parking place overlooking the lake, the sun was just touching the horizon. We watched one of the best sunsets we've seen together, then sat there enjoying the moment. Sandy noticed my heart rate was up and asked if I was ok. I was doing my best to take deep calming breaths, but I figured she suspected. I started talking about how I had wanted to come up with the perfect words to say to her before I proposed, but I had decided that simpler was better. I told her I loved her no matter what, and asked if she would marry me. She said yes, and I slid the ring out of my pocket and onto her finger. She said Yes, yes, yes, yes, and tried her best to hug me. She said she couldn't hug me that well, so we climbed out of the car, and I held her, kissed her, and looked into her beautiful eyes. At one point in one of our embraces, she prayed and I prayed, committing our relationship to God. I committed to being there for her, to love her, and provide for her. We laughed, we cried, and we were engaged.

One of her nephews had told me, secretly, that I should marry Sandy. So we decided we wanted to go share the moment with him if he was still up. We called his mom, and yes he was up, so after a stop at Sonic, we headed over. We were met with three energetic but sick little boys. We called Hayden over and showed him the ring. He went crazy, saying he was gonna have another uncle, and pleased that he had kept his secret from his mom so well. We talked for a short time, then went home to show Sandy's mom. Since then we've had the joy of telling friends and family of our engagement, and watching eyes light up with the news.

I am grateful that God brought me someone as wonderful as Sandy, and I know we will have a wonderful engagement and marriage.