The Wonder of Engagement

For those of you who do not know, I got engaged to my wonderful girlfriend of 4 years this past September. In the weeks and months since that moment that I got down on one knee it has been quite a wild ride. From the battle of having to pick a date and a venue to the joy of the afternoon spent taking engagement pictures, there have been so many lessons I have learned. First and foremost, I have learned that I didn't really know what love was until I got engaged. You think you have this deep love for someone in this radical way, and then the relationship takes another step deeper and that love for the person grows in so many different ways. For instance, love is very different when your planning goes on into the unknown with the future then it is when you know at a certain date it goes from couple to husband and wife. That change causes deeper love due to simply having to plan for a life together.

With all the planning and preparing for our life together, I have gotten to spend so much more quality time with Claire. Through all our dating we spent plenty of time together, but I don't know how much of it could be qualified as quality time where we dug deep into our relationship and what we want for our lives. Its not a bad thing we didn't do so, it was just not in the cards because we didn't know what God had in store for us. Since being engaged we have dug much deeper and that has caused feelings so deep I can't even believe they exist.

The final and most important thing I have gained/learned from engagement is how deep God's love is for me and for Claire. Through this growing love for Claire I can see a small glimpse into God's eyes and how much he gave up for all mankind. I see it more because I feel such deep love for Claire that I would without a doubt lay my life down for Claire to spare her from any harm, just like God did by sending Jesus to this earth. It obviously isn't equal since I will never ever know what Jesus went through for me but like I said, its a small glimpse into that love and it has caused a deeper relationship with God as well as with Claire. I am understanding more and more what it means by being the spiritual leader in a relationship.

So much learned in just 2 1/2 months and theres still 11 more to go. I can only hope I continue to learn though this process and hope that my love for Claire and for God grows deeper and deeper.

Love you all,

GM