An early, but long-waited & eagerly anticipated Christmas present

Well, the point of Advent season is to prepare ourselves for the coming of Jesus - both celebrating when He was born in the stable, when He came to reside in our hearts, and when He will come again. The theme of advent is patience.

Ah, patience. A hard gift to appreciate. I've spent much of this season wondering if what I hoped & longed for would come to fruition. While I hoped for it, I prepared myself for the fact that it may not come...but, still, I hoped.

Well, on the morning of Thursday, December 23rd, Dan woke me up (by poking me in the face) and requesting that I come downstairs. I was far more interested in remaining in my bed where it was warm. He said, "It's warmer downstairs! Come on! I've got an ornament for Mom & Dad and I want to show you!" Well, I got up and went straight downstairs...in my pajamas, with my bedhead, and glasses.

I had this fleeting thought that maybe Dan was going to propose - but, when you've thought it could possibly happen for awhile, you learn to dismiss those thoughts. :) So, I came downstairs, tyring to focus (I really need new glasses!). He was waiting by the tree and started pointing out some ornaments and explaining their history. As I'm looking at some of the ornaments, I notice one of two penguins wrapped in a red scarf. The scarf had writing on it. The writing said, "Will You Marry Me?" I looked at Dan and said, "Really?" (I wasn't really sure if that ornament was for me...or was somebody else's...like one of his brothers had proposed that way. I don't know. I just wasn't sure if it was for me. When you've waited 31 years, you want to be sure that it's really for you before you go saying, "Yes! Yes!")

He said, "Yes. Will you?"

I said smiling and laughing, "Yeah! Yes! I'll marry you!"

So, there you have it. I'm engaged.


Also FYI...when you've spent your life being single and you're me (which means it's okay to think about silly things like reception decorations but not actual details like dates), it's a bit daunting to be asked WHEN the wedding will be when you've been engaged for less than a day. :) So, keep your ears open - we'll let you know!