The day I said, “I will”

I spent a couple of hours getting ready. That’s not the norm for me. Ten minutes is usually the max. He’s easy to impress and often tells me I’m beautiful even when my hair is thrown together in a ball on my head and I’m wearing sweatpants. Those times, though, I still don’t feel “beautiful,” but Friday night, I wanted to feel like what he was saying was really true.

He showed up at my door right on time, looking incredibly handsome in a black suit with a white shirt and light blue striped tie, with his hair combed over perfectly. Of course, the dozen roses in his hand just added to the radiance.

We got in his car and drove the 20 minutes into downtown Dallas, where he took me to Texas de Brazil. He even paid for valet parking, a luxury in my book. He knew I was suspicious. He was intentionally trying to throw me off track, letting me think we were doing one thing when we were really doing another. As we got into the restaurant, he told the hostess, “Matt, reservation for 7.” I thought he brought our families there to pop the big question in front of them, and that made me even more nervous. Then when we sat at the table for two, I realized it was nearing 7:00, the time he made the reservation for.

We sat in a corner table and enjoyed our beyond-delightful meal of salad, meat, meat and more meat. We both took one sip of the complimentary champagne, and decided “garbage” was a perfect description for how it tasted. I enjoyed my water much more as well as the chocolate mousse cake for dessert.

Isn’t he handsome?!

Then we explored some of downtown Dallas…on foot. I didn’t quite wear the right shoes for that as my feet quickly became sore, but it was all worth it. We walked through a mall with a huge fountain in the center. Then we found ourselves at a random, nearly vacant diner. We ordered sodas and danced for a short time to jazz music on the patio, all by ourselves, like no one else in the world mattered.

We made our way back to the car. He wouldn’t tell me where we were going next. It took me about 15 minutes before I guessed it–Prayer Mountain, somewhere I had never been, but had heard him talk about numerous times.

Prayer Mountain is a beautiful place, on a hill with a bridge and gazebo overlooking the city. There’s also a chapel that’s open 24/7. We went into the chapel and read some Scripture (he read 1 Cor. 13, and I read some of Eph. 5) from a Bible borrowed from an African man who was praying in there. Matt and I prayed together. I thought for sure he we was planning to ask me soon, but nothing of the sort was happening.

When we went back outside, he seemed frustrated that there were some students hanging out at the gazebo and bridge. Then, his contact got stuck back in his eye. So we got back in the car, and I took the wheel to drive back home. We didn’t even make it to the freeway before his contact was back in place, and we mutually decided to turn around and go back. But the students were still there.

By this point, he knew things weren’t going as planned and so did I. The difference is, he was ready to come up with another plan, and I was ready to assume it wasn’t going to happen that night. On the ride home, I asked how he felt that things hadn’t turned out how he wanted. We concluded that’s just how our lives have been. Our plans never turn out just like we want them to. God seems to always have something different in mind. To that I said, “I’m just ready to say,’YES’ to you! I’d even do it on the side of the road if I had to!”

Well, he started to pull over in a parking lot, and I changed my mind. Maybe I didn’t really want to say ‘yes’ on the side of the road, but I still wanted to say it somewhere that night. We went back to my house, and he told me to get my tennis shoes on. I ran inside, threw off my heels, and put on the tennis shoes. He drove us out to my family’s property, one of my absolute favorite places to go. We didn’t even make it 100 yards of walking before he dropped to his knee and gave his speech.

I wish I could recall every word. It was incredibly sweet and perfect. The moon was full and bright that night. When he pulled out the ring, it shimmered in the moonlight. Without a single doubt in my mind, I finally got to say, “YES!” at 11:55 p.m. on November the 7th at my family’s property in Lancaster, Texas.

I can honestly say, not a doubt did enter or since has entered my mind about agreeing to spend the rest of my life with him. I can’t wait until the day I say, “I do” to completely seal the deal.

In the last year of being together (since 11-12-13), we have both graduated, gotten jobs, moved into new homes, and managed 4.5 months away from each other while I was serving on mission in South Africa. I’d say God’s given us a lot of tests in the last year, but we both agree it hasn’t even felt that way. Together we’ve grown closer together and challenged one another in our walks with Christ. Every weekday morning, we call each other on the way to work and talk about what God showed us in our Bible readings that morning.

I’ve found the man I’ve prayed for for a long, long time. The Christlike, Ephesians 5 leader my heart has always longed for is now my fiance. On May 23, 2015, we’ll exchange our vows, and forever say “I do.” That day will be the first day of a new calling in my life–to be a wife to Matthew Reynolds. He feels the call to ministry, and I can hardly wait to stand beside him in that calling and be his Mrs.