So, most of you reading this have already seen it plastered over social media, but in case this is news to you- I GOT ENGAGED!
Before I get into the story on how it all went down on that special day, I have some incredible testimonies to share with you. So sit tight, I'm going to be writing about things that I had asked the Lord for in prayer TWO YEARS AGO.
We'll start with February 1st, 2015. During my time serving as a missionary in New Zealand, I lived in a small shack with two other guys who were on staff with YWAM's Marine Reach base in Tauranga. The shack was at the start of a path that led you into the base's scenic valley. As I walked through the gate to get to our little home, I was casually praying and waiting to hear from the Lord when it hit me like a crack of thunder "I'm bringing you out of your season of singleness". I panicked. "You're WHAT now?" I asked. "I'm bringing you out of your season of singleness" the voice said again. I became very flustered and didn't know quite what to do. Just 5 months ago, I remember the Lord very clearly and specifically stating that he was JEALOUS of my singleness, and now he was done with that? I went on a hike in the valley to clear my thoughts and hopefully get some understanding on what was happening. Eventually I asked the Lord to give me a bible verse that would confirm to me that I was, in fact, hearing his voice. When I did this, I again heard him clearly say "Psalm 128". I was decently familiar with many of the Psalms, but couldn't remember what this one was about, so I decided to look at it before I fell asleep that night. As I crawled into bed, I pulled out my bible and flashlight to find the Psalm I felt the Lord had spoken to me. The first verse was pretty generic, speaking of the Lord's blessings for those that fear him. And then it hit me like a sack of bricks "Your wife will be like a fruitful grapevine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table."
Haha... yeah... but I reasoned, "You know what? This was written by David, he had so many wives. In fact, I'm sure that there are a TON of Psalms about the blessing of wives!" Turns out there's only one other psalm with the word 'wife' in it, and it says "May your wife become a widow and your children become fatherless." Really glad he didn't give me that one.
So, the Lord had spoken it very clearly and then confirmed it with a verse, he had a plan for me, and it didn't include me being single much longer. And of course, that meant I should probably start looking for someone, and I saw someone that caught my eye. Shortly after I started liking one of the girls who was on Staff at the base, the Lord again took me into the Valley to talk with me. He promptly made me surrender that relationship over to him and when I finished, I felt him impress upon me to ask some things of him. The first was one that he specifically placed before me. I felt like he told me to ask him for a wife within 3 years. I laughed at first- the Lord had NEVER given me a time specific promise before, and so I didn't really think he'd do it. But as the Lord does quite regularly, he convicted me until I submitted to him, and so, I asked. He also impressed it upon my heart to ask for some signs of confirmation when I found the right girl. So, I first asked that someone who didn't know me very well would come and talk to me about the girl I was with and say that it was something the Lord was doing. The second thing was for the Lord to provide a ring when it was right to get engaged. There was a third thing that looks like it's happening, but I'm not at liberty to share that one yet. All of this happened April 6th, 2015.
Now, fast-forward to December of 2016: I was house sitting for a wonderful family that has really taken me in while my family has gone through a really difficult divorce. They have invested in my life in more ways than I could ever thank them for, so naturally, they were very eager to hear about this girl that I was now dating. I told them that we were very serious and wanted to get engaged and married in 2017, and when I told them this, the wife of the couple told me that they had a ring they wanted to give me. They brought it down and showed it to me and I almost started crying. Anna and I had been looking at vintage (because that's Anna's style) rings with either pearl or a blue gem stone as it's centerpiece (because that was my budget), and here before me was a 70 year old diamond engagement ring. I could never had afforded it, but through this precious family, the Lord provided what I had asked for and confirmed to me that I was with the right girl.
Just about a month later, the other confirmation came. The Colorado Springs YWAM base was having a day of base-wide prayer and fasting. During one of the breaks, one of the older men on our campus came to talk with me. We've had a few encounters before where he has encouraged me in one way or another, but we really hadn't been able to get to know each other well yet. He sat with me and told me how he had been noticing that Anna and I had been spending a lot more time together and how much that filled him with Joy. He then told me that he had found out that Anna and I were actually a couple only 10 minutes before he came to talk with me, and that made him even more filled with Joy! He said that he really felt like God's blessing was on this, and so, BOOM the very first thing that I asked the Lord to do was done.
I felt that I had the Lord's blessing to continue pursuing Anna and start preparing for the proposal. I had an incredibly elaborate plan to surprise Anna that ended up falling apart because the location that I wanted to propose in was far too cold, and covered in over 5 feet of snow. If any of you know Anna, while she would have said yes, she would have hated every minute of being up on that mountainside. So, instead, I wanted to spend a day showing her that I know who she is and that I love what she's like. I took her out to breakfast at her favorite place, because she's ALL ABOUT THAT BREAKFAST FOOD. We then went to a ministry called Every Home For Christ, where Anna and I go to pray and ask for Guidance every month. After this, we went on a hike through Ute Valley, where Anna and I had gone hiking a lot when we first started dating, and it was a place where she began to open up her heart to me. She really wanted to bring Hudson, our puppy, along with us and after a few panicked seconds I agreed to take him with us. I had a spot picked out where some friends would set up a lovely picnic for us and a Photographer could hide in the bushes to take some pictures while I was proposing. We rounded the Bend towards the place I had picked out and as soon as the blanket and picnic were in view.... Hudson decided that it was the perfect time to poop. "Not NOW Hudson!" I whispered sharply underneath my breath. I tied him to a nearby tree as quickly as I could and got Anna over to our picnic. I asked her to marry me and she said "Of course" while shaking me and saying "is this really happening???".
In short, the Lord has been RIDICULOUSLY good, kind, and generous to me. He's the same God for me as he is for you- so ask of him, and expect him to be good, kind and generous to you because he is everything he says he is, and he does everything he says that he'll do!
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