On Sunday, October 4th, I had the honor of asking my love Vanessa to marry me. We’re engaged y’all! October 4th holds a special place in our journey, for that is the night we had our first dinner two years ago. From that point until now, God has revealed His purpose and blessed Vanessa and I beyond what we deserve.

The experience of an engagement proposal is usually heard from the perspective of the woman being proposed to, but as a man, there’s so much that goes on in our mind when we make the decision to propose. There’s a video that my fiancé (feels good saying that!) sent me some time before I proposed, where a recently engaged man shared his experience, which really encouraged me.

One of the things that stuck out to me is when he mentioned that when you decide to propose, and you break the news to friends and family in preparation for it, that “bullet” is out of the chamber. There’s no turning back from it. I didn’t have any reservations about proposing to Vanessa, but the weight of that statement made me respect the decision I was making even more.

What also went through my mind was how to do this in the midst of an entire pandemic! The timing had to be right, and I wanted to make sure that everyone who attended were safe. Not to mention the search for the ring was extremely important to me, I didn’t want her to tell me what she liked, I wanted to find it myself. The ring is rose gold, one of her favorite colors, and shows the class and elegance she possesses! The cherry on top is that she absolutely loves it.

Meeting Vanessa and being in a relationship with her has transformed my life for the better. I’ve talked about her in some of my past blog pieces, and she has been God’s manifestation of grace to me. A grace that also exposed my brokenness and need to be refined. A grace that strengthened me towards living out my purpose in Christ. It’s no exaggeration that she has had one of the biggest impacts on this platform. Even had a special moment of her being my first guest contributor! The Thoughts Of Redemption that I preach about, I’ve been challenged on directly by her in our conversations, and even our conflicts.

I’m humbled at the transition towards marriage that’s before us, because I know that it’s a heavy responsibility. I also look forward to what God has in store, for He has been involved in this from the beginning, and I look forward to sharing more of our story with you. I ask that you pray for us, as we continue to depend on the grace that God has given to us.