I will admit it, I was not looking my best. It was 100 degrees, not a cloud in the sky, and every inch of my body was sweating. Did I smell good? Absolutely not. However, I had to give it a shot! At the Summer camp all staff day, I saw the most beautiful brunette girl from TCU, and I approached her with the biggest smile on my face. I somehow managed to get the words out of my mouth when I got close enough to her, “Hi, your name is Bethany Harrington, right?” Now…this is the moment I was waiting for my whole life. My future wife was about to respond to the first words that I had ever spoken to her! Man, what was she going to say: Why hello there? Hi, your name is Michael, right? Oh, my goodness, I have been wanting you to come say hi! The options were unlimited, and our story was about to begin! Wrong. Bethany responded, “Um…hi?” … WHAT?! Now let me tell you, this was not an excited, “um, hi” this was a “why are you talking to me?” kind of “um, hi.” Dejected, I calmly ended the conversation and went on my way knowing I had blown my opportunity. Later in life, I would find out that Bethany was having a terrible day, had no memory of this so-called conversation, and promises me she would’ve talked to me…. Hmm, likely story. - Michael

Luckily, our paths crossed again when the tables were turned. I was the President of my organization and getting ready to interview new candidates for the upcoming year. This time I was in a suit, not sweating, and ready to go! Then in walked that same beautiful girl from camp. My heart stopped, yet again, and I knew there was a certain glow about her this time. Bethany was wearing a stunning blue dress and from the moment I heard. “Hi, my name is Bethany Harrington!” I knew I had to take a second shot. The interview ended up going great for Bethany, based solely on merit! Now, I had to find a time to talk with her. We met at a get-together of mutual friends and immediately hit it off. After talking for two hours, Bethany took my phone and put her number in, and told me to text her. WOW, what a shift in attitude! God really provides the best timing for everything. After countless dates, walks, and vanilla lattes, I no longer can imagine life without that beautiful brunette girl from camp. God has a funny sense of humor. That simple and short, “um…hi” that I had received from Bethany was God’s way of telling me, um hello dude this girl will always be worth the wait. Be patient and I will provide. I love you, Bethany Jayne. - Michael

It was January 7th, 2021 and a beautiful day in Maui, Hawaii. After a long year of social distancing, masks, and quarantining, we were finally able to travel again! Leading up to this trip, Michael had been telling me how he was planning on asking my Dad for his blessing over our vacation in the hopes of proposing to me in Fort Worth later in the year. So, toward the end of our trip, Michael decided that on January 7th he would have this conversation with my dad after dinner. All day he seemed nervous and kept asking me to go on a walk with him before dinner. (I had no what he would be asking me!!!!!) As I was finishing my makeup, my dad burst into the room and informed me that our dinner reservation (which I would soon find out what was not real) was actually earlier than he thought. Because of this, Michael and I had to “hurry” to go get the table since no one else was ready. Immediately, I knew that something was strange. Michael and I started walking over to the restaurant, and I could tell something was up. I knew that he could not be this nervous about asking my dad. My heart started racing in anticipation of what I thought was about to happen. But, in the same breath, Michael had told me just that morning that he did not have a ring and that he would want to celebrate his proposal with both of our families and his family was not in Hawaii (or so I thought). As we were walking, Michael said “Bethany, let’s go look at these turtles over on the beach! It will only take a second.” And as we were looking out on the beach, he started to tell me all the things he would tell my dad that night after dinner. Then, I blacked out!!! Next thing I remember is Michael down on one knee asking me to be his wife! After, we were greeted by both of our families for a beautiful surprise dinner celebration. Thank you Michael for the sweetest beginning to our engagement, and pulling off the best surprise EVER! :) -Bethany