How We Met
Before we get into the magical night of how Jon proposed to me there is some back story that needs to be established, because there is so much to our story.
Before Jon and I met I had just had a humbling moment with God and I was so thankful that God wrecked my life to make it better than I could have possible imagined. I was praying a lot about what God had in store for me and the future path He wanted me to take. During that time, however, God was teaching me how to wait and continued to do so. It was difficult and painful at times. He showed me over and over again that I needed to trust Him enough to wait and to not force things or make them happen by myself or by my timing, but to instead rely on God and giving up control.
One night I was walking into the Campus Ministry I worked for and talking to God. I wondering what I was waiting for. I assumed in that moment that it was a future move or career or something of that nature. But then God said “Did it ever occur to you that you are waiting for your future husband?” The thought was so sudden and shocking that I stopped. I reasoned myself out of it thinking it was just my hopes getting carried away and not truly God speaking. So I tried to forget it.
On February 2nd 2016 I made the choice to go to a worship event called Carry the Love that my students were going to. I was tired at the end of a long day, but I thought I should go anyway. It was a great time of worship and I was thankful I went. Then at the end they asked if anyone wanted to join a prayer group to pray for the campus. God was putting prayer on my heart so I went forward to sign up. I wrote my name down even though it was going to be at 7AM one morning a week (and I am NOT a morning person). Then I handed the clipboard to the guy standing next to me and went on with my life.
I was talking to two of my students when this guy walked up to me and said “Hi, my name is Jon.” I had no clue why this guy was talking to me or introducing me to his roommate. So I introduced myself and my roommate. I told them my name and his roommate said he would never remember my name. So, I told them it was spelled really weird if that helps them remember it. At once they both said “Yeah we know, it’s “C-A-D-Y” I was instantly freaked out and skeptical at how the heck they knew that. Then Jon said “Yeah you signed up on the prayer group before us and handed me the clipboard. I calmed down a little but I still thought that was pretty weird and kind of creepy that he noticed. I left the event soon after and never expected to see him again.
Four days later I was at another ministry event with a couple students to observe. One of my students had been telling me about this guy involved in another campus ministry that had reached out to him when he first started and how he had impacted my student’s life. My student realized he was at the same event so they called him over. Jon walks up to me and introduces himself to me again. I recognized him and told him we had met, and he responded saying he remembered he just didn’t know if I would. I then realized that this person my student had been talking about all last semester was this Jon guy.
Jon started talking to me as we went to a pizza party following the event. He asked me questions and we chatted about both being in campus ministry. I thought he was a student and he thought I was a student, but in fact we were both campus ministers. He asked about where I went to college and other little things and we played some card games all together. I remember wanting to hang out with him and be his friend, but I was trying to remember what God told me about waiting and not making things happen my way. So I left that night without a way for us to contact each other and thought I would never see him again.
The next week I show up at 7AM to a prayer meeting. I walk into the room and I see Jon there. I felt more like I knew him at this point so I said hi to him and the few of us started praying. Afterward is when Jon started talking to me about coming by my ministry sometime. He would show up and talk to me (even when I thought he was there to visit my students) and started inviting me to worship events or nights at his apartment.
We started getting to know each other in similar worship group type settings. I rode with him shotgun on a trip to one event where he asked me more questions and we got a feel for each other. We learned about hobbies, experiences, and our mutual dislike for peanut butter which is unheard of!
Then one day I invited him to play Frisbee with me and my roommate. Which turned into him inviting us over to a dinner that night that his students were going to. We all went and ate and had fun. He eventually worked it out that I was supposed to send him a link to something and he said “Do you just want my number?” He asked me to play him in pool and I agreed, but then he changed it to playing on the same team against other people. We played, but I told him I had to leave at 8:30. When that time came I left fairly quickly saying goodbye to the room of people. Jon was crushed that I did not say goodbye to him. He texted me and chided me about not saying bye. I had already told everyone I had to go, but I was also afraid that he was starting to like me and I was not wanting to date anyone and was not the biggest fan of guys at that moment. I was scared and pushed him away.
The more I prayed about it, spent time with him, and heard his heart, the more I started to develop feelings for him. The thing about him that caught my attention was how much he loved Jesus and he will tell you that he fell for me the first time he heard me pray. We had numerous coffee “get to know each other” type of hangouts before he knew the time was right to ask me on our first date. May 1st, 2016.
how they asked
Jon and I met on February 2, 2016 and started dating May 1, 2016. We have been together almost two years when I wanted to surprise him around the time of his 30th birthday, which was January 26th. A year into our relationship I moved back to Kentucky making us long distance for the first time. It was difficult but we knew we really wanted to make this work.
A mutual friend of ours told me that the bible study group wanted to throw Jon a surprise birthday party, asked if he would like that, and if at all possible they wanted me to attend if I was able.
I am a very hard person to surprise because I figure it out way too easily, but I like surprising other people. I really wanted to be able to surprise him but was not sure I would be able to get off work and be able to make it happen. It ended up that I got the time off of work and thought about surprising him and not tell him I am coming up to Pennsylvania at all and to also plan a surprise party with some of my friends up there. Weeks passed and I had been in constant communication with several friends organizing the party, where I would stay, who could pick me up from the airport, etc. Then the moment finally came and I flew up very early on January 31st and surprised him at his apartment.
He seemed sort of surprised but I expected the reaction to be bigger so I asked him if he knew I was coming, he told me that a mutual friend let something slip so he knew I was planning on coming but was not sure exactly when I would get there. I thought part of my surprise had been ruined! But at least he did not know about his surprise birthday party! So we enjoyed our time together and I anxiously awaited the party on the night of February 2nd.
February 2nd comes around and we spend the day spending time together. My friend, Susie, had sent a fake text to us both inviting us over for dinner with her and her husband which Jon agreed to. It was a ruse to get him to the surprise party. Everyone would be there with cars hidden by 7:30 and we were set to arrive at 7:45. It was going perfectly and he did not seem to have any idea.
We pull up to Susie’s house and I go head of him and ring the doorbell. We walk in to a room full of people who yell “Surprise!” And one of Jon’s friends, who does photography, even brought her camera! It was perfect. I then started saying hello to everyone and talking with a couple of my best friends. Then Jon comes over and tells me that they hung up some pictures of us and he wanted me to come look at them with him. We walk over and are talking about the pictures with people and I point some out to him and then he says “I have something to tell you. This party is not about me, it’s about us.” I was in shock because I knew immediately what he was saying and I said “Nuh-uh…” He said yes and I blurted out: “I’m gonna throw up!” Then he disappeared and I tried to walk into another room to set stuff down.
One of my friends stopped me and pulled out her phone where she had a note written. She told me a memory of Jon and I early on before we started dating and how she told me: “that boy is crazy about you and you can destroy him so you need to figure out what you want.” After she shared with me she handed me a picture that was significant to Jon and I’s relationship and went downstairs. One-by-one 5 of my friends shared advice, a memory, or something about Jon and I to me followed by handing me a picture.
Then my best friend walked up to me and he asked me to sit on the couch with him after we hugged. He told me that Jon has done an amazing job. He started sharing with me that all of his best memories of last year had me in them, we touched on some important memories of our friendship, and how I live out the advice to find someone who loves Jesus. He told me I found that in Jon and that he is an amazing guy. Then he told me that he knew people had been coming up to me and giving me pictures. He told me that he didn’t have a picture for me but to follow him. He brought me to a table set with a board with paper hearts pinned to then and stargazer lilies all around it (those are my favorite flower). He told me that every picture I had collected had a clue on it and that the clues were not hard. He instructed me that once I figured out which clue went to each heart, to unpin the heart read the note on the back and replace it with the picture I had. At this point no one was upstairs except for me and the photographer friend who had been taking pictures the entire time.
I went through that process for the 5 paper hearts. Each heart had a hand written note from Jon on the back, and all were moments of our relationship when he realized he wanted to marry me. At the end of the final heart it read: “I know right now I want to marry you.” I set them all down and turned to find Jon had changed clothes and was walking towards me. He said: “From that first time I heard you pray, I’ve been hooked. My feelings just keep getting stronger and stronger. I never would have imagined that I would meet someone I respect so much, for your convictions, your courage to think differently, and your genuine love for God and people. I really mean it when I say you’re gorgeous inside and out. I love you so much. Cady Mariah Wurtz, will you marry me?” He pulled out a ring and the diamond belonged to his great great great grandmother and it was from the 1800’s. It was beautiful and the moment was perfect.
I of course said yes! This was also the first time we had said “I love you” to each other. Then after we had a moment he went to the stairs and told everyone that I said yes and then everyone came back upstairs, congratulated us, and we all celebrated and spent time together.
What had happened was that Jon had used my friends to plant the idea of throwing a surprise party for him in my mind, all the while it was actually Jon planning a surprise proposal for me with so many of our loved ones. I was so focused on thinking that I was surprising him, that I did not even suspect that he was actually going to propose. Jon knew he had to give me something else to focus on so that I would not figure out the surprise. It also happened to be that on that day 2 years ago, was the night we first met. It was perfect and I was completely surprised.
