I’m engaged! It doesn’t feel real. I have waited so long for God to bring my future husband into my life, and it is still sometimes hard to grasp the fact that I KNOW him. That he is mine. 🙂 And what a journey it has been to get to this point!

Two years ago, I was still living in Southern California, preparing to move to Pennsylvania that summer. I did not move with any intention of finding a husband (though it wasn’t something I objected to 😉 ), but God had other things in mind! I started going to East Shore Baptist Church in August 2008, but didn’t become active until January 2009.

I met a woman named Amy, who was fun and kinda crazy (just like me!), not knowing that she had an unmarried son. She invited him to attend ESBC for Easter (all of this without me knowing a thing, thankfully…being set-up is very awkward), and that’s where it all began. April 12, 2009. I was really tired by the time the 3rd service that day was over, and wasn’t really looking to talk to anyone (I’d been up since 4:30am). Amy called me over to meet her son, so I obliged. I said hello, invited him to join the new singles’ Sunday School class I was starting in a few weeks, and that was it. If you ask him, he says that I was grumpy that day. 🙂

By the end of May, I was beginning to be intrigued by this young man, but still didn’t think a relationship was in the future. He was sick one weekend, so I took him some homemade soup and some salad from my garden. He will tell you that was when he began to think that maybe I was worth pursuing. 🙂 Food really IS the way to a man’s heart! Haha.

We started dating officially on July 19th…

…but on July 14th, I wrote in my journal that I knew he was the one that I would marry someday. I just knew. I had never really thought that it was possible to “just know”, but I can now testify that it’s true!

Things just clicked. We could talk for hours, and only stop because we had to work the next day and had to be responsible. He had (and still has) such a heart and passion for the Lord and for serving others. We had many common interests. And I “just knew”.

Oh, and he just happens to fit the list of 24 things that the Lord laid on my heart in 2002, things to look for in a future husband. He fits them ALL.

On August 24th, as we started going through a book called “101 Questions to Ask Before Getting Engaged” (excellent book, by the way), I decided to be bold and ask the question to which I already knew the answer: “Do you see us getting married?” Without hesitation, he said “YES!” So, if the definition of being engaged is that you have decided to get married, we’ve been engaged for months. 🙂 He asked my Dad’s permission to ask for my hand in marriage when we were in California for Christmas, so I knew it was coming soon…

…but I honestly didn’t expect it until late February or even March. And I was content in waiting! I knew that he wanted to surprise me (and I wanted to be surprised).

The entire day today was perfect. We had a few errands to run, including going to Chocolate World (because Hershey now has Dark Chocolate Pieces and we decided that it was a necessity, haha) and riding the ride again. It was a day of enjoying each other, and a day filled with simple joys–which we both love. It’s all about the little things.

We came back to my house and hung out for a few hours before heading to church so that I could practice with our worship leader (for the concert we are having on February 5th to raise support for my Israel trip). We entered the sanctuary, and no one was there yet. So, as we were taking off our coats, and I was getting my stuff together to practice, he said something (can’t remember what) to get my attention. I looked over, and saw a box in his hand. A little black, velvety box, that could only have one thing inside: a ring! He got down on one knee, about 10 feet from where we first met on April 12, and asked me to marry him. I was completely surprised!! And it was perfect. Intimate and simple. Simply perfect. We celebrated by getting Blizzards from Dairy Queen, and by going to my best-friend’s house (at her request/demand! Haha).  Again, just perfect.

We had already decided on the song for our first dance months ago–“I Thought I Loved You Then” by Brad Paisley…and that’s part of what made the proposal even more PERFECT!

I remember taking you back to right where I first met you
You were so surprised
There were people around
But I didn’t care I got down on one knee right there
And once again I thought I loved you then 

It’s amazing to think that God set our love story in motion in 2002, when He brought me to Williamsport to be a summer missionary…twice. God brought me back to Pennsylvania in 2008, and it is so amazing to see how His hand was in EVERYTHING. I can’t imagine my life without Brennan, and I am so blessed to be the future Mrs. Brennan Brackbill. 🙂

And now you know the rest of the story. 🙂

283 days!