This Weekend is Valentines Day!

This is a special time of year for me as Valentine's Day four years ago started a whole new chapter in my life. Josh and I had been courting for a little over a year, and while we had our ups and downs things were going good and we were getting to know each other better through life and the situations that pop up with it. This is often the best way to see what a persons true character is; being with them during a trying or difficult time.

At any rate this was to be a special day for us as Josh had made plans and this was going to be one of the rare times that we were going to go on a date without other people or family with. Part of our courtship was that we wanted to be held accountable by other believers and family, so we could maintain a relationship that wouldn't defraud the other person emotionally or physically. If we decided our future together was not fitting in with God's will we would have minimal heartbreak to carry on to future relationships.

He had told me we were going to go out for breakfast, as that is our favorite meal of the day, and there would be some other surprises along the way. Little did he know that there were more surprises than he planed!

The bad news started when my Dad, who owns his a cleaning business, had his employee call off sick. I was working for him at the time so guess who was going to have to fill the slot? Surprise, you guessed it me! So I called Josh to let him know that breakfast was not going to happen as the job was in the morning and at a farm 40 min away. His reply was not frustration just," Ok can I come with? All farmers like to talk to other farmers." This is such a true statement. I didn't even know then but boy I do now! So Josh called the farmer and asked if it was alright if he came with and talked to him about farming. Turned out when my Dad and I finished cleaning we had cut the farm tour short so we could get on the road and finally go for our special day. Never underestimate that farming bond!

When we got back to my house I started to get ready and while I was doing my hair Josh came in to tell me that the surprise was we were going to fly in a private airplane to go to breakfast! I had never been in a "little" airplane before so this was going to be really neat. However we got a call from the pilot and he informed Josh that the weather was so windy that I may never want to go flying again. So surprise! We decided to drive instead.

After getting lost on the way to our resort breakfast/brunch we finally arrive at 3:30 in the afternoon. We go in and everything is dark and the employee is sweeping up the floor. Not really what we were expecting, then we found out that the restaurant closed at 3pm. Surprise! We had to switch gears again and go to a different place for our lunch/dinner at this point. You would think with basically everything NOT going as planned Josh would have been really frazzled at this point, maybe upset or dicouraged, but nope he was just rolling with the punches and I was watching.

I took a break to fix my hair in the bathroom and while I was busy Josh discovered a gorgeous ballroom that was completely empty except for the fountain, soft music and skylight roof with the stars just comeing out. He went to the front desk and asked if it would be ok for us to be in there because the last thing he wanted at this point was to get dragged out by our collars and told to go home. They said yes and when I came out he showed me the amazing space that was just ours to spend this special moment together. We went down to the fountain and sat down and talked for a little then I asked, "so now what?" That is when he got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife! I knew that beyond a doubt, no matter what happened in our lives after this, I was going to be with a man who didn't sweat the small stuff and just let the Lord have His way.

So while things didn't go the way we planned God had better things in mind. If we would have come in the morning that whole beautiful room would have been packed with people eating breakfast, the stars wouldn't have been out, and I would not have gotten to see how calm my then future husband is in difficult circumstances when things just don't go our way. It is one of the many traits that I treasure in him. The best surprises are orchestrated by God, we just have to trust Him and go along for the ride!