the story

Where do I begin?

It was Wednesday night of a pretty hectic week. I had been trying to write a sermon for class, but it wasn't going well. I couldn't think. A week earlier I had bought a beautiful diamond ring for my unsuspecting girlfriend. So, for seven days all I could think about was the ring, proposing, changing the course of this woman's life, and then planning our future together. With all those thoughts running through my head, the last thing I wanted to do was write a sermon. I was way too excited!

Anyway, I bought the ring a week before I was to propose, but they had to make it. They told me it wouldn't be ready until Wednesday, September 26. That made my nerves a little more agitated - that was the day I wanted to propose! Nothing special about the day - it just felt right.

The week passed by really quickly. Faster than I expected. Over the weekend I made plans with Amanda to go out for dinner on Wednesday night. It worked out well because we went out the previous Wednesday and we weren't going to see each other on the upcoming weekend because we were both going out of town. So, it made sense for us to go out on Wednesday again - a nice mid-week date! Gotta love those!

On that special day I worked at the church in the morning, had lunch with my buddy Joe, went to class, and then had to pick up the ring. I drove as fast as I could to that little jewelry store. I was supposed to pick Amanda up at 6pm, but I wasn't getting to the store until 5pm. When I arrived, the salesman, George, wanted to chat. We sat in his office for a half hour before he had the ring brought out. I don't think he knew what kind of pressure he was putting me through! He had the jeweler bring the ring out and it was gorgeous. I couldn't believe my eyes. At that moment, it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen - perfect for Amanda!

I skipped out of the store, riding on cloud nine, zoomed to my house, threw on some different clothes, and headed off to pick up Amanda.

She was ready to go. We went to Macaroni Grill, had a great dinner, and finished our meals earlier than I expected. I had been telling her that we were going to study after dinner, but I had other plans. I wanted to take her to a park, but I wanted it to be dark. But, because we finished dinner so early, I had to find a way to stall. I said, "Can we go to Starbucks and get some coffees before we head home?" She obliged.

We hung out at Starbucks for a few minutes and then we went out to my car. On the way to the car I said, "It's such a beautiful night, can we go drink our coffees at a park? I can read my sermon to you there." Again, she obliged. It was now dark, the moon was big, the air was cool. It was perfect.

We got to the park, I grabbed my bag with my "sermon" in it, and headed to a bench. There was one bench under a light right next to a little pond. We sat there and talked for a few minutes. Then I said, "Can we go over my sermon now?" She said, "Yep." I pulled out a folder and acted like it wasn't in there. I pulled out another folder and acted like it wasn't in there either. Finally, I pulled out a photo album and said, "Oh, but I have this." It was short album full of pictures of Amanda and me. On a card on the last page I had written the words, "I LOVE YOU." That was the first time I ever told her I love her. Under the card were the words, "WILL YOU MARRY ME?" At that point, I got down on one knee. Pulled out the ring and said, "Will you marry me, Amanda?" Without wasting a second, she said, "Yes!"

That was the best day of my life. Amanda means the world to me. I feel so blessed that the Lord would give me such a beautiful, kind, loving, intelligent woman to spend the rest of my life with.

The wedding will be in Dallas on May 24, 2008. We just secured the church and will have many more wedding prep stories to share with you in the weeks ahead. Blessings!