That young, very good looking girl, is Jackie and that's in our home in Mobile, Alabama. Wait, I'm getting distracted. I need to focus and give you the story of what our incredibly romantic son did and who he has invited to be his wife. A fine, extremely good looking and as sweet as you can get girl named Lauren.
Here they are shortly after Nathan pulled off the proposal of a life time. You know how old men get when it's Saturday afternoon and there's no beach nearby and thus no surfing to be done? They get bored and they start bragging about their son and that's exactly what you are going to have to put up with for the next 5 minutes or so as you read this. It's a great story, even if I say so myself, being a bored and old man far from the beach.
The day was typical of Florida: hot, not much wind, some cumulous clouds floating in for the evening to provide one of those lit up sunsets we Floridians love. Nathan had been planning this event for weeks and this kind of day is just what he wanted. He picked up Lauren and they went over to the lake. He had brought along a picnic dinner and they put it into a kayak and paddled out to a small, secluded island to enjoy the sunset together. The food was good, as good as it can be when you are nervous and excited. The ants certainly appreciated what fell to the ground from Nathan's shaky hands. The sunset that nice was a celebration of orange, but we aren't here for the ants and we aren't here for the sunset and we aren't here for a picnic. Let's get to the action.
The "island" isn't much more than a pile of sand with a few trees growing around it with a bit of undergrowth here and there with few places to hide. Maybe Laruen's eyes were blinded by the sunset or maybe it was the magic of the evening because she had no idea about what was going to happen. Nathan, being the well brought up, romantic and sensitive guy, asked her to close her eyes. How do you argue with a 195 pound guy when you are on an island by yourself? She closed her eyes, and in the moments of silence Nathan's plan came together. From out of the trees his friends came out with their guitars and began playing while another one had the video camera (why do we still call digital cameras "video"?) capturing what would be a definitive and cherished moment of their lives together that will always be a part of them. As a small aside, if you do things right, if you remember to love and if you remember to celebrate life instead of drudging through it, you have a good chance of having some exciting and happy times together. Those few trees, as the Bible tells us, were clapping their hands and celebrating God that evening and in doing so, celebrating with God for the wonderful adventure Nathan and Lauren have coming in Him.
When he told her to open her eyes, he was on his knee, a beautiful diamond ring, competing with the beauty of the moment, in his hand and all she could do was scream. I don't know if it was terror, surprise or joy. She told me she was completely freaked out by all the people around because she had no idea how they could have been hiding for such a long time. I do. God loves to love us and give us wonderful surprises and she got one of them. What did she say? "YES," of course. How could she say no! She was being filmed. After the screaming and celebrating, the party began. Nathan had a boat pick them up and take them to a friend's house where he had the party planned and cranked up.
When? We don't know. We are the parents. Actually, because our son has been raised so well, he is thinking about us in Thailand and when we can get to Florida so he's planning on a May wedding because I have a break from work and Jackie can get away too. We hope to come back to the States in April, hang out for a month helping out and then see a moment in our son's life that we will all celebrate. It's such a blessing to know he's done this so well. He and Lauren have been dating for about 5 years--since high school days. Nathan is Lauren's "real" first boy friend and they've just done everything well. We are so proud of both of them.
I do hope you have enjoyed this story. It's true. Most of it at least. I had to fill in a few spots because that incredible son shares spoken details about as good as me. That's not too good. We weren't expecting to be flying back to America so soon, but it looks like we are.
On another front, and I'll keep this short cause you must be getting tired of reading. I asked for prayer for Bum's sister (Bell) a while back. Though we didn't see what we would have liked to have seen happen, we do see God at work in Bell. Her parents, though still rejecting Bum and her faith in Christ, brought Bell here and told Bum to raise her. So Bell is living with Bum, who is now working on staff with our church. That's a blessing. Bell has been completely accepted by all the Thai girls in the church and getting loved like she never had been before. We are praying for her salvation as well as for Bum's parents. Please join us in praying. Family relationships here are weird and it is quite different from what you are used to. And it takes some getting used to when you live here.
So, that's the news. I'll end it with a photo of Jackie and I from a few weeks ago. We took the motorcycle with a bunch of other folks and drove about 3 hours from here to a town where a couple (YWAM missionaires) is living just to have lunch with them and say hello. It was quite a ride, a lot of fun and it took a few days for our backsides to quit hurting.
Here's part of the bike gang...
Bye Bye
