A little over a month ago, Christopher let me know he was ready to propose to Lauren. He planned to fly to Denver at the end of March to speak to her parents. I was elated, but it was not easy to keep it a secret. But that I did. When my mother-in-law and I were talking one day, she brought the subject up.
"Do you think Christopher will get married to Lauren?"
"Umm...well, I think they've been moving that direction for awhile. We will have to wait and see."
Do you know how difficult that was? Inside the secret was pushing hard, trying to burst forth. It was as if someone was blowing air into that balloon of secrecy, and I was afraid the inevitable would happen. But it didn't.
Sitting around the dinner table last Thursday night, Christopher shared his secret, and swore the family into secrecy. A little bit of the pressure of holding this in escaped. We could speak openly within the confines of our home about the upcoming event. This new freedom brought relief, but it was still a secret.
Christopher met with Lauren's parents the next evening. Driving over to their home, he felt his heart beat a little faster. What was this nervous feeling? He knew it would go well, but he felt a aquiver inside.
Lauren's folks were overjoyed. Since she was born, Rick and Dee had prayed for their only daughter's husband. Twenty-three years later, here he stood, asking for her hand in marriage.
Christopher reminisced about the first time he'd been to their home. An awkward junior kid, who lost his glasses, because he hadn't remembered tucking them in a side pocket of their mini van. What did they think when they found his glasses? Did they pray for him and wonder if he was the one?
On Sunday, Christopher boarded the plane back to Phoenix with the promise that within two weeks the proposal would be made. We'd be free to share their engagement with the world.
I wish I had a picture of them when they were 8th graders. But here is a photo of Senior Prom 2003.
6 comments:
I love to hear it when parents say they've been praying for their child's future husband/wife since they were little. And that is so cool that Christopher went to Lauren's parents' house to talk to them about it! I wonder if my husband did that...I do know that my parents were really hoping Eric would propose to me, because I had told them that after college I was going to move to Tanzania to teach English. Haha!
Anyway, I'm so happy for Christopher and Lauren :)
Congratulations!!
oh golly, that's fabulous news... good for you for keeping the secret!!!!
congrats!
WHAT A WONDERFUL STORY!! Congratulations
Joanne, you are so blessed with words. The story was so exciting for us to read and we even know the ending :) We love you XOXO
They are SO beautiful together! Congratulations again (and yeah...no WAY could I have not spilled the beans earlier...)
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