This post has been a long time coming. In fact, it’s been since May 20th! I was waiting for a video, but, my impatient personality can’t sit still any longer. 

There is a day that holds a dear place in my heart, now. May 20, 2015, life began to look a little different. It changed for the better. That day, Jesse got down on his knee and asked me to be his wife. But oh, how planned this day was for him. My description of it won’t do it justice-it was literally THAT impressive! 

But, I’ll take my shot at it. 

May 20 began like any other Wednesday does. I worked on some classes and sat around until Jesse was done working for the afternoon. Once he was done, we hung out until it was time for band practice. This is where things changed. Instead of sitting at practice I went to dinner with a friend (I didn’t realize this was a distraction until later, obviously). We shared a meal and a beer and talked about life and about Jesus. It’s funny, because in the car ride back to the church, she asked me what God was teaching me. 

I told her patience. I told her how ready I was to be engaged but how I had come to terms with the fact that God’s timing is far better than my own. I told her that He was teaching me to love the moments of dating while waiting for the engagement to come. I told her that He was helping me be so patient. 

From there we walked into the church, where I took my normal seat on the front row. I listened to the end of practice, waiting on Jesse to be done so we could go home like normal. 

And then I heard the music change 

“Well I’ll be your rainy day lover, whenever the sunny days end, and whatever the weather, we’ll have each other, and that’s how the story will end.” 

I looked at Tori and exclaimed, “hey! That’s my favorite song!!” 

It wasn’t weird, though. Sometimes they jam after practice. I thought it was sweet of him to play the song I love. 

And then some high school girls walked in, which was a little different, but not strange..until one of them grabbed my hand and pulled me to the center of the room, handed me a flower, and said something sweet. I turned to Tori, very confused, and said “what is happening??” She ran away. 

There I stood, listening to Jesse play my favorite song as one by one people I love walked in, hugged me, put flowers in a vase next to me, and said beautiful things:

I’m so excited for you!

Congratulations!

You’re beautiful! 

We’ve been through a lot, but we made it, and we have the scars to prove it.

I love you.

Today is a beautiful day! 

Person after person, people from Atlanta, people on FaceTime, people from Tuscaloosa, etc. 

and then his family walked in. 

And behind them came mine, but the most special person to walk in was 100% my G’pa. Jesse didn’t even know he would be there! 

After my dad got the last hug, Jesse finished the song, grabbed a box off of his music stand, and walked down to me. 

At this point, I knew what was happening! 

“Well..”

He said a little something sweet and romantic, something so great I had him repeat it in the car afterwards.

He got down on one knee:

“Will you marry me?”

Yes. A million times, yes. I will marry you, Jesse. I will love you and cherish you. I will encourage you and affirm you. I will sing with you and worship beside you. I will tell you all of the ways you make me a better person. I will hold your hand and kiss your face. I will always trust you, never leave you, and forever love you deeply. I will be with you in the good and through the bad. I will make memories with you. I will adventure with you and never forget to laugh along the way! I will cook with you and clean with you. I will be your biggest fan. I will apologize when I’m wrong and forgive you when I’m right. I will love you to the end. 

You see, you, my dear, are my iridescent bliss. You are radiating joy. I can’t wait to marry you, but I love this whole being engaged to you! You are wonderful. May Christ always be our center!