Passage

May you be blessed in the city, and blessed in the country! (Deuteronomy 28:3)

Sunday, November 25, 2012

When in the World Am I Getting Married?




I remember it very well. My boyfriend and I were in this restaurant on a date. But unlike other dates, I had my head down most of the time while eating my food. This was not a happy date. He told me some news, something that I didn’t want to hear. He would be relocating to the province soon, as he truly believed in his heart that God wanted him to work there.

OK…what about our future? We had been in a committed relationship for more than three years, and it was clear that marriage was part of the plan. And living in the city. So why did this wild card suddenly surface and catch me off guard? This was not part of the original plan.

Guess what? This was reality. Who was I to get in the way of God’s plan? As we exited the restaurant, I began to cry. While walking past partying weekend people. I must have looked like a mess.

So our relationship would soon be classified under “LDR” (long-distance relationship). But wait. I was hoping at this time that he would’ve already proposed marriage. After all, he expressed years back that after he took the Bar Exams, his plan was to settle down already. So the Bar was over, but no hint of a proposal.

Maybe at Christmas, I thought. Christmas came and went, and no proposal.

Anyway, he did relocate at the start of the new year, and we got used to seeing each other only every other week. Meanwhile, I wondered when he would ask me to marry him. Maybe during Valentine’s Day. (OK, I’m the romantic type, so this would be the perfect time to pop the question!) But nope. Maybe during my birthday. My birthday’s in May, and by this time, the results of the Bar were already out for sometime (he passed!), so I figured this might be the time. Wrong!

After this, I finally surrendered my expectations to the Lord. Up went the white flag. I decided to just trust in God’s timing. I continued to live my single life fully, enjoying the opportunities to serve the Lord in our singles ministry, putting nothing on hold.

One normal day in July, as my boyfriend and I went out for coffee after having dinner with his family in a dampa*, he started saying something like the more he got to know me, the more he realized I was the one for him. I was totally clueless as to what this was leading to. Then he asked me, “Will you marry me?” I could hardly believe my ears. So much so that I began to rattle on (I can’t remember now what I said) and my tongue couldn’t even enunciate a “yes!” (I think that made him nervous.) Finally, after what seemed like an eternity (to him…I think it was just a few minutes, though), I said, “Yes!”

While he was bringing me home, I was giddy. But I wondered, Where’s the ring? I tried to brush it off, not wanting to be demanding. But minutes after we arrived at my house, my fiancĂ© of less than an hour caught me by surprise. A tiny box emerged from his hand. He opened it to reveal…the ring! OK, that got me. I started to cry (for joy now).

Oh cool, wedding mode was officially on! But provincial living mode? Um…say what? Let’s deny that for the meantime, folks…I am getting married!!!


* A restaurant where you can buy fresh seafood and have it cooked to your liking; “a wet market restaurant,” says my hubby


> Howdy, readers! Thanks for reading! Just post your own comments below, whether it be about your own proposal stories, waiting and what not! God bless!

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