We’re getting married!

Grace: It was the fall of 2017 and I had just moved to Hawaii. Upon seeing me that first Sunday at church Jethro was instantly smitten and I was blissfully unaware. After weeks of trying to talk to me, Jethro was finally able to make his introduction, and thus was the beginning of our friendship. I joined him on the worship team at the church and began to fall in love with the heart Jethro had for God. I looked forward to every weekend when I would see him again. He did too. Here is a moment where I pause and tell you I’ve always prayed that the first man I fell in love with would be the man I marry. That he would be kind, generous, thoughtful, ambitious, curious, and most of all, have a deep love for the Lord. Little did I know he would have the added bonuses of being funny, playing the guitar, having a beautiful voice, and oh, you know it, that sweet cooking. But, all this for the point that I told God, “I will never say anything to him about my feelings. If this is meant to be, he’ll have to say something to me.” So seven months of painfully obvious feelings for each other later, under the church lanai, Jethro shared his feelings with me. I was so excited I was shaking! This was when we trusted God with our hearts and our future, and never looked back.

Jethro: I had planned it all out. I was going to take her on a hike she had never been on and propose to her on a bridge overlooking a waterfall. The ring would be ready for me to pick up in early August, I was so excited. But Grace had other plans. She was leaving July 31st to go spend a week with her family and she made sure to drop a few hints about wanting to celebrate the engagement with them. So I scrambled to get the ring earlier and make a new date to propose. Again, I figured it all out. I was going to propose on the same hike, just on the Sunday before she left. But, again, Grace had other plans. She had to work Sunday, so with 48 hours' notice, I had to formulate a new proposal. We went on a date Friday night, had a nice dinner, and I took her to a lookout, but it didn't feel right. The next day, we only had the morning to spend with each other before she went to work that evening, so I had to think fast. A quick hike near us came to mind and I managed to convince her to go, even though she adamantly voiced that she did not feel up to it. When we got to the end of the hike, there was a lookout with a view of a waterfall. I proposed with a paper ring in hand, claiming that I didn't get the ring in time. She said YES! (This is how I knew she loved me for real lol). Little did she know that I had wrapped the real ring within the paper. We're so blessed and excited for the future God has for us, and how his plans are always better than our own.