My Family: The Proposal

August 9 was Phil's birthday. The night before he had taken me to a nice Italian dinner (and honestly, I had fully expected him to propose and had been SO disappointed that he hadn’t), and this evening I was taking him out to celebrate. I picked Phil up from the church, and on the way to the restaurant, he mentioned that he left his Bible in his office and wanted me to remind him to grab it when they got back to the church. (I thought nothing of this, as this has happened many times in the past)

After dinner - when we arrived at the church - I waited in Phil's office while he ran to the restroom. I thought he was going to be a while, so I was actually on the phone with my dad when he returned.  Phil said that he wanted to show me some of the construction that was being done on the back room of the stage. [Background info: a few weeks before, the church had begun renovations on the Student Ministry wing, including the backstage room where Phil and I had first seen each other the previous Fall.] I followed Phil back to the room and when we walked up the stairs, I heard music playing in the background and saw a circle of candles in the spot where I had been standing the first time Phil saw me.

Phil led me over to a couch in the corner of the room and pulled out a journal that he had been keeping since we met. He read me excerpts from the journal, including accounts of different dates we had gone on, things that attracted him to me, and different scriptures and prayers he had been praying for me. He then turned to a page with scriptures that referenced biblical marriages and love. He had me read the first scripture, then he read the next, etc. The last scripture was 1 Corinthians 13. Phil had written a few words from the passage on each page, so he started by reading "Love is patient" - then turned the page and I read "Love is kind" - all the way to "Love never ends." The next page said "Rachel Renee Allen" and the next said "I love you" [the first time he had ever said these words to me!!!] and the last page said "Will you marry me?" As he read that, Phil pulled a ring out of his bag and got down on one knee. I said "yes", and after putting the ring on my finger, we each prayed.

Phil then asked if I wanted to dance with him in the candle circle. He went over and switched the iPod to a song that one of his friends wrote [he first played the song for me earlier that weekend and it talks about a man who wants a woman to take his last name]. About halfway through the song, Phil asked if I wanted to see the construction they were doing to the stage, and when we went out there, Phil’s friend (Jack Doyle) was actually there playing the guitar and another guy was playing the keyboard. The music had been live and I hadn't even known! Another couple (Brian and Maegan Witham) was there too and had helped setup the room for Phil's proposal.

It was such a special evening for us and one that I will never forget.