I picked her up around 1:30 and was calmer than I expected to be. We headed out to get something to eat and I suggested Panera, a place I knew she loved and a place I knew would by light on my nervous stomach. I insisted we go to the Christiansburg Panera, rather than the one much closer in Blacksburg, saying that it was better, but really I just wanted to buy some time. Usually I'm a very quick eater but I took my time while intermittently checking my phone making sure that all parties were on the same page. Luckily Becca thought that I was checking the score of the Tech game. Finally she noted that we had been at Panera forever, so I began our tour of Christiansburg.
I really had no idea where to take her. Most of the places I could think of we had already been. So I told her since we'd been to those places at night I wanted to show them to her in the day time. Seriously, I was stretching for everything. We went to the house I grew up in, a bridge my dad used to take me, the new house my brother and his wife bought, and my brother's sister-in-law's house. I was desperate. I told Brendan we would be there at 4, so finally at 3:35 we headed back for Blacksburg.
When Becca and I first started hanging out we had a few run-ins with the police. It started on our first date when I got pulled over for my tags being expired. It was then that Becca told me how much she HATED being pulled over. I've never known someone who hated run-ins with the cops so much. The next two times we hung out after our first date we also got pulled over; three times in the first week of us hanging out. I finally got my tags changed knowing that if I got pulled over again with her in the car she would probably never drive with me again.
This is important because of what happened on the ride back. As previously stated it was the day of the Tech vs. UVA football game, a game that VT traditionally wins regardless of how terrible a season they are having. Becca said at one point that if UVA won it would be the worst day ever. While I knew she was joking, I desperately wanted Tech to win. As the Hokies drove down with the final seconds ticking away and the score tied up they took a time out to set up the field goal with four seconds left as we listened on the radio. It was then I noticed the police car behind me with it's lights on. The problem? My tags were expired. I love when things come full circle.
So as the officer wrote me a ticket we listened to the Hokies kick the game winning field goal before finishing things with the cop. We then FINALLY made our final push towards the Chapel. Now, Becca didn't know that was where we were going. But I knew if I hinted enough about me playing piano for her she would ask me too, and in that case there was only one place I could take her with a piano; the Chapel. So I hinted, she asked, and away we went. We parked in an illegal spot but as we walked into the Chapel I dropped the keys outside the door so our friend Ben could move it without her noticing. Together we walked in.
The trick for me was to set up the Chapel in a way that it was decorated, but not obvious. I told her they must have put up their Christmas decorations. We walked over to the piano and I told her that we'd never sang a song together and I wanted to sing. I played the song Give Me Jesus while we sang which was a really cool experience. I kept my eye on Brendan who was well hidden, but stuck out enough if you were looking for him. I finished the song and became instantly aware I had no idea how I was going to transition to the little speech I had planned, so I just dove into it.
As is my custom I started pacing as I told her what I'd been learning about marriage. She hadn't noticed that my Bible was sitting on the alter and so I went over and grabbed it as she followed me over.
Becca and I started dating on April 29th, 2011 and one day I got bored and looked up all the 4:29s in the Bible. I came across Deuteronomy 4:29 which is "From there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find him if you search after him with all your heart and soul." That became the basis of our relationship for me and we often referred to it. The purpose of anything is to draw us closer to the Lord; especially a romantic relationship. God didn't make marriage so that we could just enjoy another person, but so that we could better understand who He is. It's a wild concept that I've been learning about for the past year and a half now.
In asking Becca to marry me I was asking her to chase after the Lord with me for the rest of our lives together. My Bible has fallen apart and even is in two pieces now right where Deuteronomy 4:29 is (due to the fact that I kept all the letters Becca sent me there) and so that is where I put the ring. As I talked to her I grabbed my Bible and asked her what Deuteronomy 4:29 said. As she started to say it she looked around and caught sight of Brendan.
That was the moment she realized what was going on. I knew she was suspicious at different parts of the day but once she saw him every doubt was erased. This was the moment she'd been waiting for. Her eyes started tearing up at she looked back and me and her hands started to shake. I grabbed them as I pulled the ring our of my Bible and dropped down to one knee. I honestly can't even remember the words that I used at the point but the gist was that I wanted to spend the rest of my life running after Jesus together.
There should be a class for things that guys don't know about engagements. One of those things I didn't know was which hand to put the ring on. After reaching for the wrong one she gently placed the right one in my hands and I slipped on the ring that had been burning a whole in my pocked for the month prior on to her finger. Then that was it! We were engaged. She hugged me and didn't let go for what felt like forever. Brendan took a few pictures more and then snuck our without a word leaving us to sit by the alter and take in everything that had happened. I finally got to tell her all the things I'd been hiding from her over the past few months trying to make the engagement a surprise.
After we had time to talk we called our families to meet us there and got to spend some time before heading to our engagement party. A crazy amount of our friends showed up and we got to spend the night celebrating the big, big things that Jesus lets us enjoy. And now I get to tell the world that we are happily engaged! I've wanted to do that for a long, long time. I told my mom a week after we started dating that she was the one I was going to marry. I spent the next year and half convincing her of that!
I want to thank everyone who made the day ridiculously special. Our families for supporting us, Brendan for taking pictures, Katie Meehan for planning the party and Hypes for making some ridiculously delicious food and all our friends that were able to make it.
I hope that as you read this that you walk away with a clearer picture of who the Lord is and what His role is in relationships I don't post this blog so that every girl who reads it will cry and think how sweet everything is. I post it because before Becca I had no idea what a Christ-centered relationship should look like and maybe this gives you a better picture. And now we get to start our ministry together in Franklin County soon! Big, big things.
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