Our Love Story - Part 7 - Will You Be My Wife?

(I’m telling the story of how my husband and I met, dated, and got married. If you missed it, you can read Part 6 HERE.)

(Don’t worry, the story wraps up with one more Part after this.)

We are now to August 2004 and summer break was finally over.  We headed back to school.  Matt was starting his master’s degree and I was finishing up my undergraduate. (I had changed my major my freshman year and it put me behind.)  The school year had just barely gotten started when Hurricane Ivan hit us and the campus and surrounding area suffered a lot of damage.  That experience was actually very scary and one that I have shared about in the past (you can read about it HERE), and will again in the future.

Anyhow, a couple weeks after the hurricane we were busy in the throes of school life when Matt decided I needed a day to get away from studying.  My older brother, his wife, and my sister were all at the school as well, so Matt set up a family day for us to all get together off campus, enjoy a meal, and go to a park by the beach.  Many of the parks and beaches were still a mess with debris everywhere, but he found one portion of a park that was not too bad.

On October 30, 2004, we ate lunch at Chilis (my favorite restaurant that has the best chips and salsa), then headed to the park.  I was not suspicious of anything - honestly thought it was just a nice day to spend all together.  I actually had a friend say to me that morning, “I bet he’s going to purpose today.”

“No way. He won’t do that without a ring, and he can’t afford a ring. He will probably have to do it at Christmas.” was my reply.

We had just gotten to the park and were about to start a game of Phase 10 when Matt asked me to go for a walk with him first.  In truth, I didn’t really want to do that so it took him a few minutes to persuade me to go but he eventually did.

Matt and I got up and started to "walk."  Now, I don't know about you, but when two people go on a walk together, they usually walk side by side.  Well, not this time.  To me, it seemed as if Matt was running.  And I was a few feet behind him saying, "Matt, where are you going?  Why aren't you walking with me?"  I guess he realized what he was doing and waited for me to catch up.  "Let's go over by that tree."  He said, pointing to a tree a ways ahead of us.  "Uh, okay.  Why are we gonna go to that tree?"  I was getting a little suspicious now, but still not catching on.  I just thought he was acting very weird.  "Just come."  He said. I asked again why we were going to that certain tree but he was already walking toward it again.

We finally reached the tree and were just standing there, me looking at him when he said, "Emily. Look down."  It was then that I noticed.  At the base of the tree was a small blanket laid out.  And on that blanket was a very beautiful, large single red rose and a wrapped package.  "What is all this?" I asked.

“It's for you." 

"How did you get it here?" I was not making this easy on him with my wanting to know everything.

He calmly said, ”Just open the gift.”

I reached down and picked up the gift.  Attached to it was a card which was a very sweet note.  Near the end, it said, "This is just a small gift to let you know that I will get you what you REALLY want as soon as I possibly can."  How sweet!  He was telling me that we will get engaged soon. Kind of like a promise.  I smiled really big and opened the gift.  It was a figurine of a little girl and boy sitting on a couch with the boy holding out a ring to the girl.  It was super cute.  I smiled and thanked Matt for his sweet gift.

"I also wrote you a poem that I want to say to you."  And with that, he began to quote the poem that he had written.  It was talking about how we met and dated and all that fun stuff.  As he was saying this, three things were going through my mind.  First of all, I thought it was so nice that he took the time to write me another poem.  I loved it that he did that.  Second, I was thinking that I was surprised he had taken the time to actually memorize it!  Wow.  That was special.  And third, I was thinking, "You know, this is sort of what I picture an engagement being like."  But still, to be perfectly honest, I had no idea that was exactly what was actually happening!

So, here he was - saying this poem and I was standing there thinking these things, when, all of a sudden, he reached in his pocket, pulled out a box, got down on one knee and finished the poem by saying, " I believe it is God's will that we are together for life.  And that is why I ask you now, Emily Marie Doan, will you be my wife?" 

He opened the box and there was the most beautiful, solitaire diamond ring.  It was exactly what I would have picked out myself.  I looked at the ring, looked at Matt, looked at the ring, looked at Matt, all the while saying, "Are you serious?  Are you serious?"  He was smiling saying, "Yes! Yes!"  Then, he finally said, "Emily?  What's your answer?" 

"Oh!  YES!"  I said.  I was so shocked, I forgot to answer him!  He then put the ring on my finger. 

We headed back to my family who were trying to play a game but really were sneaking peaks at what was happening “by the tree.” :-)  The rest of the day was spent with me telling everyone, “I’m engaged!!!!”  I was so excited and it felt a bit surreal.  I just couldn’t believe that this amazing man who had such a heart for the Lord was in love with me and wanted to spend the rest of his life with me.  It was almost too good to be true.  God had blessed me beyond what I could imagine.  We knew we wanted to get married that summer, so we set the date for June 11, 2005.  And so the planning began.  Those next few months couldn’t go fast enough…

Click HERE to read Part 8 - the final instalment!