The Life Changing Question

I'm engaged.

While I was visiting my boyfriend & his family for a weekend, my boyfriend took me hiking in the Gila National Forest. At the end of a beautiful canyon trail we sat in on a rock ledge and he asked the question that would change our lives forever.

There have been a lot of emotions and thoughts since then. They range dramatically depending on the moment or the day:

•  I'm engaged!!!! I'm engaged!!! I'm engaged!!! *bounce, bounce, squeal*
• *when I unexpectedly catch sight of a sparkle on my finger* I'm wearing a diamond ring. I'm been tagged and claimed and promised to spend the rest of my life with someone.
• Total peace
• Brief panic: do I understand the ramifications of getting married? Am I prepared to spend the rest of my life loving, respecting, submitting, sacrificing, working, serving, and everything else that marriage brings for, with, and alongside my husband?
• Overwhelming joy & excitement

I'm extremely blessed on so many levels. The more I get to know my fiance (seriously, that word is still astonishing every time I say it) the more I realize what an amazing man he is and how wonderful my life with him will be. I have no doubt that he will love & cherish & serve me & protect me not only at first, but also decades from now as we raise our family, rejoice over grandchildren, and grow old together. We will be able to serve God together, following His lead, and enjoy the adventures that He will take us on, both good & difficult.

I've pleaded God for years to send me a husband. I've cried myself to sleep longing for someone to see who I am and love me for me. I've watched friends with their boyfriends, fiances and husbands and rejoiced with them while trying to trust my Father with the ache in my heart, wondering when my turn would come. I've learned to enjoy being single, and be at peace with the season God has placed me in. I've had ups & downs and struggled and mourned and been discouraged and hurt, and wondered if God really would answer my prayers and give me a beautiful romance.

He has. He brought a Godly man into my life that I easily and quickly fell in love with. I feel valued and loved. My fiance makes me feel special, says sweet things, does beautiful things, and has acted in an incredible way, giving me the romance I craved while being careful to guard my heart and protect my purity.

I'm happy, in the truest sense of the word.