"Seven months, God, you have seven months to do something until I hit 30 years old. And if you don't, then please prepare my heart for online dating. But please, God. Do something before then." That's what I wrote in my prayer journal. Actually, I wrote and cried to God in my prayer journal that night. I had promised God, my family, and my friends that if there wasn't a hint of a budding romance in my life by 30 then I would resort to online resources. Not that there's anything wrong with using technology to meet someone nowadays (if you're smart about it and do it right) but I was convinced that I would not thrive in that environment. So I pleaded with God that night and reminded Him about my promise. I told Him that if He wanted to stop me then He'd better bring someone soon. Little did I know that 3 months later a message in my Instagram inbox from a stranger in Arkansas was going to change my life. His name was Dustin, an up and coming apologetics author, and he was asking about the Christian Apologetics grad program that I was in because he was interested in attending as well. By the end of that conversation, I was sure I wouldn't hear from him again. But he kept on messaging me, EVERY DAY. It was annoying at first, but then I came to realize that he and I were of the same heart and mind. That we both truly loved God and loved the idea of helping others understand the truth of the Bible. The Instagram messages turned into texts, the texts turned into 4-5 hour phone calls, the phone calls turned into me jumping on a plane and flying to Arkansas to meet Dustin in person; someone I had already fallen in love with over the phone. The first day we met in person was a dream come true. It confirmed everything I already knew about this wonderful, intelligent, God-fearing man - that he was the man I had been waiting and praying for all these years.

I didn't know if he had brought the ring with him, but I was pretty sure he hadn’t. I could see no evidence of a box or ring in his pockets, and last I’d heard my parents still hadn’t given their blessing. So when I suggested we go get an ice cream sundae and eat it at the little park he loved, I had no idea I was setting up my own proposal! This was a special place for us. Once we had sat here and talked about God. There was an especially beautiful moment of silence we spent watching the night breeze brush through the trees. I remember how special it was to hear Dustin’s heart that night. But today I was sad. Just a few hours earlier I had looked at myself in the mirror with tears in my eyes and said, “You just have to accept that this proposal isn’t going to happen this weekend.” Dustin noticed I was down and asked what was on my mind, so I told him how I was disappointed, but that I was praying for a heart of patience and I knew that God would open the doors for us to be engaged when it was right. He took this time to remind me how far we each had come. We both reveled in the fact that God had heard our prayers and answered them so beautifully by bringing us to each other. After that, we packed up and started to walk down the street when all of a sudden he said, "I did talk to your dad again, Jennifer. And he's fine with it." "What?" I said. Then he got down on one knee and proposed. Through tears, I accepted as he slid on my ring. I later found out that my parents gave him their blessing that morning when I was getting ready; probably about the same time, I was telling myself in the mirror that it wasn't going to happen. And isn't that telling of how God works things out for us all the time? I had no idea what was going on behind the scenes. All I could see was what was in front of me at the time. Clearly, God was working in ways that I could not see or understand. That's a lesson I hope to keep close to my heart. God is faithful. God is mighty. God is good.

So, I was just finishing up my book, Crossing Opinion: The Step into Fact-Based Faith, (now on Amazon by Dustin T. Holcombe...don’t forget the middle initial; the other “Dustin Holcombe” would rather you know how to have adequate Black Jack strategies than how to have a personal relationship with God). I was self-taught in the subject, but I wanted to know more about getting an actual Master’s degree in Christian Apologetics. The very best college for that was Biola University. I decided to add normal looking people on Instagram who were either previous or current Biola students. Jennifer was one of those students. We talked about the program. Which brings us to the greatest Star Wars question of all time: “Who shot first, Han Solo or Greedo?” In this instance, the question is “Who swooned first?” Don’t let Jennifer fool you; she did from day 1. Okay, maybe day 27. But SHE was the one who got on a plane first, if that proves my case. I notice she also failed to mention that, from the second our eyes met, she claims it was all in slow motion and Cyndi Lauper’s “Take My Breath Away” was vividly playing all around her. “I love that song” she said. “What song” I replied. Case closed. In all seriousness, she agreed to fly out here first after I said I’d pay for her flights, a separate room with a really pretty view, and everything that came with me showing her around The Natural State. Since then, we’ve each flown out to California and Arkansas countless times. And, yeah, we love seeing you guys to the moon and back, but that routine was getting pretttty old; hence the engagement ring, which I’ll speak of below!

She's right; that park was a special place for us. Ever since the first time we'd visited it, I knew that would be on my shortlist of potential proposal sites. Once I received the blessing from both Dan and Betty (very important to me!), I noticed the place we'd originally got sundaes from had closed. To my surprise, Jen had already planned for us to go a little out of our way to get ice cream from another place and then walk to the park. Yeah, she was quite down at that point. Perhaps she wanted to go somewhere familiar and nostalgic in order to escape the thoughts that a proposal wasn't going to happen that weekend. Little did she know that was perfect! We'd previously had very deep conversations about our purpose in life, what we see in our future, helping others to know God, etc., and I knew those were the perfect topics to bring up again. "Jen, remember how we felt before we knew each other: how we both were so lonely and oh so ready to meet who God was preparing? Remember how grateful we were coming here for the first time, God finally having brought us together? Think of how far we went between those two instances, and now how far we've come since our first visit here. With that said, tell me more about that journey and tell me what's all on your mind at the moment." It was also very important to me that God was right in the center of what would happen next... It was hot! I had flip flops and shorts on all day, but where on Earth is a guy to hide a ring box?! I do get sunburns quite easily, so I put jeans, wool crew socks, and boots on and then claimed I was being wise with sun exposure. Yep, the box went in my right sock at the back side of my ankle. These specific jeans had just enough room so that it wasn't noticeable (not only was that a good thing so she wouldn't notice, but also so that strangers wouldn't think I was an ex-con on probation wearing an ankle monitor!). You're reading this from our wedding website so, spoiler alert, she said "yes."