Sorry for the delay #2

Life has been very intense since the new year rolled in. Jon and I are doing much praying and seeking the will of God for the future, so it is difficult to write our story right now. Your prayers are appreciated and what I said earlier still stands: the pain of trying to have your own way is always far worse than the pain necessitated by following hard after Jesus.

Will try to get some other random posts up this week.

A bit more about the engagement

Work is a little slow this afternoon and I have a few minutes to write a short post. While my mind is wandering here, there, and everywhere, I know that what my few faithful readers really want to hear about is how/when/where Jon popped the question.

First, it must be said that Jon is not a quick mover. While I had decided only a couple of months into our relationship that I wanted to marry him, he took his time considering all the implications. By the time we headed to Sarasota to spend my 30th birthday with my dear friend TulipGirl and her family, I thought he might be considering proposing. We had talked about marriage and we were in a mentoring relationship with a married couple--Ken and Sue--and were reading the book Sacred Marriage with them.

Good signs of a possible proposal flitted across the horizon, but considering Jon's methodical (and sometimes procrastinatory) tendencies, I thought it might be possible that he would propose around Christmas or New Years. At that point we would have been dating for 7 months. If you know my family history that definitely qualifies as a LONG-term relationship! For Jon, on the other hand, it was still quick. He has no married siblings and one of his cousins dated his girlfriend for 7 YEARS before they married!

All of this set me up for a bit of an emotional quandry. Everyday Jon was giving me more and more evidence or his strong character, passion for God, brilliant mind, tender heart and hilarious sense of humor. When I imagined someone partnering with me to minister to the body, raise children and impact the world for Christ, no one seemed to fit more perfectly than Jon. He was what I wanted. But I had already learned from long and hard experience that the pain of un-met desire is infinitely easier than the pain of fighting God for something He is unwilling to give.

To be continued….

The ring

This is the ring. Jon picked it out all by himself, although I had tried it on the day before. I told him that I wanted him to choose it, and that I didn't like diamonds. When I saw it I protested that it was too big, but he informed me that I would get used to it... and I have;-) It is a roughly 9 ct amethyst surrounded by a total of 37 teeny-tiny diamonds set in 14kt white gold. Oh, AND he got it 1/2 price! Totally cool!

We have not yet figured out the wedding band thing, but I am thinking I'll go with a plain, rather narrow white gold band because nothing is really going to fit with it.

Engagement pic

My dear brother-in-law Jason took this pic at Thanksgiving and it is one of my favorites! Jon is actually tickling me in an attempt to get me to smile correctly.