how we met
We first met at a college age ministry group in January 2015. It was my first time attending this group. Like the social butterfly he is, Gordon found his way around the room to introduce him to all the newbies, myself included. I did not think much of it, since he was talking with everyone. I took a friend with me two weeks later and he again came up and said hello. But this time he added, “I am going to sit with y’all tonight.” I won’t lie; I got pretty excited he said that. Later that night after the session was over, everyone found their way to Steak N’ Shake. Even though I hardly knew anyone, I decided to go because after all, that was why I was there in the first place, to find more Godly friends in my life. I sat down at the table and a few minutes later the seat moved next to me and I looked over as Gordon was sitting down in it. My heart skipped a beat. That night at Steak N’ Shake started our journey to forever, and we did not have a clue that was happening. We talked the entire time we were there. When we were leaving for the evening, I wanted to make sure we’d be able to talk again so I asked him if he had a Facebook page. Little did he know, I had already found him on Facebook the week prior to learn a little more about him, so I knew he had to say yes.
The following day, we messaged back and forth all day on Facebook. He asked me if I wanted to meet at Starbucks that evening, and although I do not drink coffee, I agreed to meet. He got out of his car holding his Bible and I thought to myself “Wow, I would love to be with a man that in love with God.” That evening we did nothing but share our testimonies with one another. God works in astounding ways because Gordon’s testimony was exactly what I needed to hear at that time in my life.
We dated for the next few months and knew that this was it. I had already had the place chosen in my mind of where I wanted to get married. So, on my birthday that May, Gordon surprised me and took me to the venue. On the same steps where we will say our “I do’s”, Gordon asked me to be his girlfriend. He was so nervous at that moment. It was adorable. We wanted to get a picture to remember that special moment. So, Gordon moved around some furniture, set up a timer on his phone, and then sprinted down the aisle with such excitement to take a photo with me. It was such a special moment between us because we knew the next time we would be on those stairs together would be our wedding day. Now to wait… And wait… And wait… For him to propose.
how they asked
Knowing that God set up our relationship made it so incredibly hard to wait for the proposal. I wanted it to happen right away. So I kept bugging him, and nagging him, and questioning him….all year long. I finally got it out of him that it would happen the summer of 2016. My thoughts immediately went to the possibility of him proposing on our family vacation at the beach. When I got the news from my new job that I had mandatory training right smack dab in the middle of the family vacation, my heart sunk. I informed Gordon after I found out and his reaction to my words verified my thinking that he wanted to propose at the beach. So I had to do something. We planned a beach trip with friends the week prior to his family’s vacation so I could have more time at the beach rather than just one day. So on that Saturday, when our friends were leaving, we joined his family upon their arrival. Voila! We made it to the beach.
Sunday evening his family had a photo shoot planned. As we were getting ready, Gordon came over and was staring at me and told me, “you look so beautiful” and I thought to myself, “he seems very in love right now”. When he left the room I started to tear up thinking that this could actually be the night. I was suspicious to the point of looking for the ring box in his pocket as we were all walking out of the door to leave for the beach. Sadly, I did not see anything, so I just dropped the idea that it was happening that night.
The beach was absolutely beautiful that evening with the perfectly warm sunset and soft crashing waves. We took our family photos and Gordon and I went last for the couple photos. After a few pictures, I started walking off because I thought that was plenty. But everyone told me to go back for a few more…
G- I was nervous to the core because I did not know how to transition from taking photos to proposing. I guess I was taking too long, because Katie started to walk off. After she came back, I told her I had one more pose and in that moment I dropped to my knee and held out the ring and asked, “Will you marry me?”
K- I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I wanted this for so long that I did not believe it was actually happening, even though I had my suspicions it was going to happen here at the beach. I couldn’t think of what else to say.
K- “Really?”
G- “Really.”
K- “Really, really?”
G- “Yes, really.”
K- “Yes!”
The evening couldn’t have been more perfect with where we were and who we were with. Gordon’s family embraced us all with warm hugs, welcoming me into the family. WE ARE FINALLY ENGAGED!
