On February 19th, 2015, I answered the easiest “yes” of my entire life. And this is our proposal story.
February 19th is a day that holds not only one sweet memory, but two. On this day in 2014, James asked me to be his girlfriend after months of insisting we were “only friends” (and we all know how that ends up). I eagerly said yes, knowing our days together would be filled with endless laughter, unconditional love, and so much adventure. The way he asked me to be his girlfriend was in and of itself one of the most romantic memories of my life.
The whole week leading up to the day (literally, every. single. day), James drove 20 minutes to my house before I left for school each morning to leave a rose and a note on my car window).
There were five notes total, all of which ended up being more special than I had originally thought. The very last note told me to take the first word of each letter and put them together to create a question he had for me. They spelled out “Will you be my Valentine?” (love love LOVE). Only a few short days later, I came home to this:
A 1930 Royal typewriter (something I had dreamed about having for years and had only briefly mentioned once in a conversation we had…could he be more amazing?), with a hand-typed letter – the contents of the page guiding my soul to the realization that the man who had written it would have my heart for the rest of our days. The letter ended with “Will you be my girlfriend?” to which, of course, I answered a whole-hearted YES.
The next year was one of the best of my life – filled with so much growth and a great eagerness for what God had planned for our future together. 365 days later, on February 19th, 2015, James asked me to spend forever with him. And that memory is the next most romantic of my life.
James and I knew we wanted to get married for some time, but I didn’t know how he would ask, or when. I even had my suspicions the weeks leading up to it, but I wasn’t exactly sure when it was coming. The day he chose was our anniversary, so naturally it wasn’t out of the ordinary to be celebrating.
He took me on short hike to a beautiful clearing where we enjoyed a picnic and dreamed about the future.
The whole time, we were taking pictures (which again, was not unusual given that James is a photographer and this tends to happen often). So, when he insisted on taking one last picture on the way back to the car, I didn’t think anything of it. But little did I know, James was only seconds away from changing my life! He set up his camera, hit record, and the rest feels like a blur – but my heart was overflowing with so much JOY as the man of my dreams got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife.
When asking my father for permission to take my hand in marriage, my dad asked him to make 4 promises, all of which he incorporated into the way he proposed to me (cue all of the tears):
- Do you promise to spend every day reading God’s word together?
- Do you promise to spend every day in prayer together?
- Do you promise to always be a part of a local church, and encourage each other to be actively involved?
- If God blesses you with children, do you promise to lead them to Christ, raising them in a way that honors our Heavenly Father?
James asked me to make the same promises with him, before asking the most anticipated question of all, “Will. You. Marry. Me?“
YES. YES. YES.
We were then greeted by a number of our sweet friends who were hiding in nearby bushes and around the corner (WHATTTT! – I was genuinely surprised).
After we shared in excitement, reminisced on what had just happened, and even re-enacted the whole thing (for pictures, of course!), we headed back to my in-law’s house for a small engagement party with both of our families where we celebrated all that had been and all that was to come of our relationship.
Our proposal was nothing short of magical – surrounded by our loved ones and so genuinely focused on the one who loved us first. We are so thankful for the highs, the lows, and all of the in-betweens that had led us to this very day.
Ten months later, on a rainy day in December, we began our greatest adventure with an unshakable covenant, promising to always choose one another, to seek holiness all the days of our lives, to love without condition, and to find happiness in the simplicity of the life we build together.
#WeAreTheGages
*read our Wedding Day story, here*
One more fun story I thought I’d share: a few months ago, James and I were browsing through old pictures and I came across one that I had taken on the very day James told me he liked me (you know, liked me liked me ;)…) and the date stamp was December 19th, 2013. We freaked out for a good few minutes at the coincidence, because we got married exactly two years later on December 19th, 2015. It’s so fun to see how special memories like this pop up in our reflections.
As James and I both reflect on our relationship and all of the sweet memories we share, I am thankful first and foremost to our Heavenly Father who has so graciously brought our lives together. James has been an amazing friend, boyfriend, and husband – not only because of the way he loves me, but because of the way he leads us, making Christ the center of our relationship always. I am humbled and awestruck. All glory be to Christ!
Check out a short clip of our engagement below:
p.s. you can tell how ABSOLUTELY nervous James was in the video – he was rubbing my hand so much it started to hurt!! (We laugh about it now…)
I love this man with all my heart and soul. Thank you to every single one of you who have been there since the beginning, riding this journey alongside us. WE LOVE YOU.
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This is lovely.
Thank you so much!!!