After five months of dating and growing close to eachother as we sought God as the center of our relationship I decided to buy Lila jean Turner an engagement ring! It was hard for me to keep it a secret for so long but finally on the 25th of December 2006 i was able to ask her to be my teammate, partner, helper, lover,...my wife. It was a cold and rainy December day, i awoke with butterflies excited and ready to start the usual christmas traditions of the treasure hunt that my dad started with my brothers and I when we were children. However this year was going to be different, this year i would use this family tradition to ask the love of my life to become part of the family, but more than that to become my wife! Before i arrived back in the US i wrote Lila's treasure hunt clues on the airplane. Each one was a small witty riddle that led here here and there and eventually at the end she was blindfolded and lead outside to recieve her "present". I had thought out, planned, and dreamed of that moment for a long time! The funny thing is everything works out in its own way, however that way "God's will" is always better than anything i could plan on my own. So as i led Lila, unsuspecting, outside my mind and heart were racing!! I had the ring in my pocket and led her down the driveway to a grassy spot infront of my house where you could see the mountains, i had hoped for snow but instead God blessed us with a cold december rain that fell on and around us. I had planned, written down and even dreamed about all the perfect things to say, but to be honest i was only able to get the first few words out "from the first time i met you knew that i loved you" when i started to tear up. After that things were kind of an emotional blur however i did get down on one knee with tears in my eyes and the cool rain falling on my face, i looked up into lila's beautiful eyes, took her hand in mine and asked her to marry me. She said yes through the tears as i slid the engagement ring on her finger. I drank in that moment, embracing it. It will be a drop of time that will last forever in my mind. After we hugged and spent a little time in eachothers arms we slowly took our first steps as an engaged couple back toward the house. It truely was an amazing experience, i am so blessed by Lila. God has placed her in my life, and let me tell you i could have never found someone so wonderful, loving and encouraging, if i had tried to do so on my own. It was the Lord God who brought us together. We hope to be married with in the upcomming year! We will be keeping Christ as our center, and both work hard to love and serve one another unselfishly as Christ did the church. There is so much to look forward to in life, especially now that i will be able to share it with my one true love!!!!!
