In early 2021, I visited the singles group at Broadmoor Baptist Church. I wasn’t going just to “meet someone,” but that thought was definitely on my mind. I didn’t hear a hallelujah chorus as Stephen Ginn introduced himself after class. But I had noticed him asking questions that resonated with me during the lesson. “You often go for the nerdy types,” I reminded myself. Because I am one. As I hung out more with the Broadmoor singles, I saw that Stephen was always the one with the follow-up question for whoever was talking. “So what made you decide to do that?” or, “What do you like about (insert job here)?” I found myself hoping he’d ask me some of those probing questions. And he did. In June 2021, Stephen invited me to a design show hosted by the company where he works as a web developer and designer. He also invited some of the women from our group, because he wasn’t sure I wanted to be singled out. (He was wrong: I was happy none of them could make it.) Stephen and I had some good conversation, I met some of his coworkers and friends, and at the end of the night, he said, “By the way … if you ever want to hang out … I’m free.” “Yeah, sure, I’d love to,” I said. Then quietly, “Just let me know.” That night, I told my girlfriends I had put the ball in Stephen’s court. My friend Mandy wasn’t so sure. She said he might fear I was “being nice” only to say no later. Well, I wouldn’t want to be unclear, now would I? The next afternoon, I sent him a message: “Hey, thanks so much again for inviting me last night! Would love to hang out again over food or a movie or something! … ” Within 30 minutes, he texted me back, and two nights later he officially asked me out. We went on our first date on June 23, 2021, became a couple on July 28, and said “I love you” on September 10. We’d been holding it in for a month. I would’ve loved to be married within a year. That didn’t happen, for various reasons. Sometimes it’s frustrated one or both of us; other times we’ve known we weren’t ready. But in the waiting, we’ve grown closer together while discovering that we cannot meet each other’s deepest needs. Only God can. Finally, when we were ready, Stephen got my parents’ blessing, bought the ring, and contrary to his nature, pulled a plan together on the fly during a Thanksgiving trip to Arkansas. Late on Thanksgiving afternoon, Stephen and I drove up to Petit Jean State Park, one of my favorite places of natural beauty that also carries history from both sides of my family. Still, I suspected nothing. We’d just spent hours with 30 of my relatives. Surely both of us were too tired from all the food and socializing to deal with a proposal. Surely we were only going for the sunset, as he’d suggested. Instead of a sunset, we encountered a thick gray fleece of fog, which was absolutely gorgeous. We were the only two people at the overlook, and when we got out of the car, we experienced the kind of silence usually reserved for after a snowfall. Then Stephen suggested we film a silly slo-mo “hair flip” video, which we’d done before. He told me to stand facing away from him, and then whip around toward him. I kept “practicing” while he got the phone ready, and unbeknownst to me, he was also fishing the ring out of his pocket. At one point I “whipped around” and he hastily jammed the ring box under his arm. I didn’t notice. Finally, I said, “Tell me when you’re ready.” “OK,” he said, now filming. “I’m ready.” He knelt and held out the ring as I whipped around for the final time. Between my shock, our laughter, and my exclamation of “You’re so sneaky!” we got engaged in the fog. Much like on the foggy mountaintop, we can’t see everything ahead of us. But we’re excited to venture on together, and we trust God to direct our steps. We can’t wait to celebrate with y’all!