Well, I made a big step a couple of weeks ago and asked Kelsey if she would be interested in marrying me. To set the stage for this question, however, I have to go back to how this all worked out. I had been sneaking around for a while in order to get the ring and I worked with a great guy up in Edmond (any of you guys that are thinking about getting engaged, talk to me, he does things for a pretty reasonable price). Kelsey didn’t know that I had been doing this, because I had “cover stories” for each time I went up there. I was “meeting a friend for dinner,” “going to a meeting after work,” or just plain “had a lot of things going on” that night.

I spoke with her parents on Labor Day and was pretty encouraged by their enthusiastic response - although when her dad asked why they didn’t have larger steak knives at Red Robin I was a bit more nervous. However, when her mom and dad were both excited and when her dad siad, “Now, Chris, if she says ‘no’ you give me a call, because I am still her father and I still have a little more discipline left.” That was an encouraging way to end the talk.

So, I wanted the engagement to be a surprise, but I wasn’t sure how to do that. I wanted to go to Colorado, because I have so many memories of times spent there with family over the years. So, I got tickets (I had actually had them for quite some time) and didn’t mention anything about it until Labor Day. Then, I told her that she needed to be ready for a trip that coming “weekend” (that term is used loosely, because I told her that I would pick her up after lunch and we would get back Tuesday night). I told her how long we would be gone and things that she needed to pack, but not where we were going. On Thursday I finally broke down and told her that we were flying, because for some reason women need to know whether they need to pack a carry-on or not.

Friday arrived and I picked her up and we went to the airport. She was very excited to see that we were going to Colorado. My heart about gave out on me when they pulled my bag out to run it through the X-Ray machine a second time. I was having visions about the terror of having to take the ring box out or having to somehow convince Kelsey that she needed to go up to the gate while I went through security. However, I made it through and watched my bag like a hawk for the rest of the flight. We got to Colorado and met up with my grandma and drove out to her cabin. I didn’t sleep very well that night and got up quite early to spend time praying and reading and watching the sun rise. I decided that morning that I wanted to propose in one of my favorite meadows on a hike that we were going on sometime that morning.

Well, when Kelsey woke up I spent some time telling her about how special she is and some of the great memories that I have about the time that we have been dating. I was a little worried that if I waited that I would forget all of the things that I wanted to say when I actually proposed. We ate breakfast and Kelsey spent a bit of time reading (I was a little upset that she needed to be so spiritual :-) ), then we left for the hike. Quickly thinking on my feet, I put the ring box into a pair of long socks and told Kelsey I was taking them along “in case my short socks didn’t work out on the hike.” She doesn’t remember me saying that, but it was important that I explained myself . . . :-)

We hiked up to this meadow and thankfully I had to use the restroom, so I could transfer the ring over without lying one more time (I figured that I had already done that enough in the ring-design process) . I then went and sat on a log right across from the one she sat down on and spent some more time talking to her about some of the things that I love about her and she agreed with me that she thought I was fairly special also. I then said, “And that is why I would like to spend the rest of my life with you.” And she said, “I’d like to do that as well . . .” I then said I had something to give her and took the ring box out (after having to use BOTH hands to open the silly zipper on the backpack) and said, “Kelsey, will you marry me?”

Apparently women never really plan through the answer to this question, they just dream abou the question being asked. At least that is what Kelsey told me. After probably five seconds (which seemed like five hours), she responded with a YES! So, we spent some time talking and praying and just gazing around the beauty of the meadow. Then we headed back to my grandma’s place and the rest has been a crazy blur.

Now, I look forward to seeing how God blesses this time of engagement and allows us to be successful as an engaged couple. Please pray for us in this time, that God would be glorified and that we would really establish a firm, God-centered foundation for the rest of our lives together.