Nathan and I have been talking about getting married for awhile; we've been ready for about 3-4 months. I didn't know when the proposal was coming, but I was hoping (and praying) it would happen over Christmas break. I did not care how/where he did it, but I did have two requirements for myself. 1. I would be surprised, and 2. I would cry (name two girls that don't...). Well my friends, he did GOOD.
Nathan and I had plans to open our Christmas gifts from one another on Saturday morning. We bought a small Christmas tree and lots of decorations, and we had decorated my apartment on Friday. So Saturday morning, Nathan (who has a key to my apartment) came over early and made us breakfast and peppermint mocha. When I finally awoke, we ate together and then sat down in front of the toasty fire place to open gifts.
As I opened my last gift from him I realized there was nothing in the box... except a guitar pick tapped to the bottom. I was like, "um... what?? I don't get it." And he replied, "well give it to me and I will show you." Then he picked up the guitar and started playing me a song he had been writing since we first started dating. He sang about our past struggles and how we have loved each other through the hardships and we are stronger and better for it. To honor his request, I won't read all of the lyrics. But I will share the beginning and ending of the song:
(V1)
From across the room I saw you there
Held down butterflies when you caught me staring
You walked to me and took my hand, didn't know if I had the strength to stand
On the first of the steps of my walk with you, loving you was so easy to do.
So I gazed in your eyes for a minute or two, saw the love and the hurt that you held in you
And I hoped to fall in love with you.
(V4)
So here we are, the moment of truth,
No turning back, all I want is you
As we walk together, won't you take my hand
When one's not strong enough the other can stand
There's no one else I'd rather be with, with you my troubles just don't exist
Because I am in love with you
(v5)
We'll figure it out as we go along, keep adding verses to our song
Because I am in love with you
Through the years our love will change, don't worry about it cuz every day
Ill fall in love with you again.
Through the tears at the end of the song, Nathan pulled out a ring box, opened it, and asked, "will you marry me?" Obviously, I said yes. It was magical. We laughed, cried, and kissed for the next hour, and I made him play me the song over again because he was crying so much through it. Precious!
THE ring
One more surprise that he had up his sleeve was that he invited our dearest friends and family to celebrate with us at my brother's house. It was the best engagement party I could've hoped for. I am still in shock sometimes when I look down and see the GORGEOUS ring on my finger. We can't wait to plan our wedding and spend our lives together. The Lord has truly blessed us.
Thanks for reading our story. I'm loving this sweet time in our relationship and looking forward to being Mrs. Phelps!
