Hello.I'm 23.And Engaged.

February 15, 2011 at 12:00 AM | Posted in Culture, Food, God, Inspiration, Relationships | 34 Comments

So…..Something incredible happened this past weekend! Whewww boy was it eventful!

I got ENGAGED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Waaaahhhh?????? I know, crazy right? 😀  Somebody pinch me…

Let me explain a little bit of the background of our relationship.

It all started one faithful day on January 22, 2008.

I was very much involved in a club called “Campus Crusade for Christ” at the community college I was attending.  On that scorching, sunny day I was out in the campus quad handing out fliers, free books, candy, CDs, etc.  The thoughts going through my head were simply “Oh Lord this is fun and all…but I need some shade and someone else to fill in for me!” As you can see, I was feeling quite encouraged. 😛

Then, this one tall dude with fair skin and a black trench coat, and what my mind imagined to be a cape, was walking by and suddenly stopped at my table.  Obviously, he was wanting to find out more about the club and what we stood for.  (We had Bible studies every week)  I had noticed at the time that when he looked up and saw my countenance, he was somewhat taken aback and had an inquisitive look in his eyes.

I ignored that feeling and started to have a conversation with him.  As this was all going on, the thoughts running through my head were…“I wonder if he’s from Transylvania, why is he wearing a black trench with a cape?” (He wasn’t but my mind had added on to my already twisted imagination)  “Hmmm…He’s so nice and gentle, and has the same beliefs as me…I always wanted a husband like him, I wonder how it would be to be in a relationship with him..”

(More on the black trench coat later)

SLAP!!!! That’s what I did to my thoughts as he was talking to me about I don’t-remember-what.  Terrible, I know!  I was wondering about him the moment we met!

It was one of those moments in which you want to know a person better because they come off in such a way that catches your attention.  I wouldn’t say that’s when I started to have feelings for him!  But certainly, there was an interest in my part.

Usually, when people told me that they were curious about the meetings and wanted to come out, I knew when they were being truthful or not.  But when Greg had told me that he was going to come by the following week, I was shocked because I really felt that he was going to keep his word!

Lo and behold, he did.  🙂

Immediately, I knew he was a man of his word.  By then, I was pretty impressed.

I had no idea about what or how he even felt about me, to be honest!  We just became “sort of friends” who served together.

The more time passed, the more I wanted to know him, be there for him, and give my heart to him…Later as we grew more as friends, his best friend had passed away from some unfortunate choices he had made.  This had torn Greg’s heart apart!  And I was in between the cracks knowing what the boundary was in being able to help him through those times.  You see, I was fearful that I would somehow make his circumstance worse than they already were.

So as we progressed in this “friendship” I still wasn’t certain what he felt for me!  The problem was that we were (and are) 10 years apart!! Yes.  You read that right!  Also, I’m Korean and from a very strict traditional background.  On the other hand, he’s white and of American customs all the way!

This issue had kept me battling back and forth in my heart because I knew immediately that my family wouldn’t accept him, nor any potential relationship–and thus, I was afraid to make my feelings known to Greg.

To my surprise, his feelings and mine were completely mutual!  And he had fought against all of it with everything he had because of the very same reasons.

Now, you’re probably wondering how we STARTED to date/court, right? ^_~*

I was actually the one who initiated.  I know, normally the woman is known to be “hunted” by the man, and let the man do his hunting job haha!  But after MUCH MUCH prayer and fasting, I asked God if Greg was the one he had sent me.

You see, I didn’t want to do anything that wasn’t in God’s perfect plan.  I believe that He always has many alternative plans, significant other, etc.  But he has the absolute best plan for all of us, and that’s what I truly wanted.  I was never the type to date for the sake of dating, but only for the purpose of a potential marriage in the future.

Yes, surprisingly enough, Greg is my first and my last and I’m actually very thankful for that!  I don’t regret it one bit.  🙂

When I told him about what I was going through in my heart, he shouted “Finallyyyyyy!! Finallyyyyy!!” I didn’t understand what he meant by this obviously!  This meant, he was going through the same turmoil in his heart.  Greg’s story is very different from mine, you see.  He came from a rough lifestyle in which he did anything and everything he ever wanted–only to find out that he had no more hope and was desperate for God’s truth.  So at this point in time, God had showed him that he had to just trust Him that something would happen rather than him doing anything by his own will.

The super ironic thing is that 6 months before he had met me, God had given him a dream!  In this dream, he was getting married to a woman with exactly my face but about 10 years older!!  Now, this is up to the reader whether to believe it or not, but I firmly believe that this WAS a dream from God. 😀  This would explain Greg’s surprised look when we first met.

It has been a beautiful and rewarding, yet difficult path we’ve been on.   As we had guessed, my family was strongly opposed to our relationship until a few months ago I would say.  This past Friday we finally asked for their blessing (not their permission) and although the “interview” started off on the wrong foot, it progressed to my parents’ final blessing upon us.  Yay!

Then on Saturday night, Greg took me to a dinner cruise for Valentine’s Day, and there he proposed to me!  I didn’t think he would do it then because he was hoping to do it when I LEAST expected it.  However, he couldn’t wait any longer and proposed that night.  That was actually surprising to me haha!

As I mentioned before, Greg is a true romantic and always tries to go all out with whatever he plans.  When we were at the dance floor, the DJ congratulated us for our engagement and as soon as I had heard the music come alive, it began to sound uncannily familiar…Indeed, it was one of OUR favorite songs!!   “Sea Breeze” by Tyrone Wells.  Awww….

I know that it’s not about the wedding day ultimately, and certainly this road towards marriage won’t be an easy one either.  I’m sure that there will be obstacles amongst my family, but the more obstacles, the greater things in store for us.  🙂 I’m so grateful that Greg and I haven’t given up and stayed faithful and hopeful to the Lord.  Our motto is that during difficult times, rejoicing in Him is key.

So there you have it.  It’s our story.  It’s God’s story living through us, and now we are ENGAAAAAAAGED!  It’s all part of His plan.

As I go through this year before marriage, I hope I can glean many things from all of you! 😀  As well as tips and pointers for the wedding.  Yikes!

P.s:  He was wearing a black trench coat because he was cold from fasting.  He was fasting for God’s direction for many upcoming things in his life–including that “special someone”.

________________

These are photos from the dinner cruise!

Hehe I took this in the restroom because I liked the color of my dress.


We were at TABLE 25…

Mmmm….soft pillowy French bread…

Then we went out to the deck, it was awesome!!

Hehe we were starting to freeze but you can’t tell!~

For some reason, I feel so spoiled to have this ring!  I feel like I don’t deserve it, but what do I deserve anyway?! 😛 But hey, I’ll take it.

I wish I could write about some more stuff in here, but this is a long post already as it is.

Thank you for sharing with me in my little adventures and have a great day Loves!

Grace & Peace,

Ellie.  The engaged one.


Hello.I’m 23.And Engaged.

February 15, 2011 at 12:00 AM | Posted in Culture, Food, God, Inspiration, Relationships | 34 Comments

So…..Something incredible happened this past weekend! Whewww boy was it eventful!

I got ENGAGED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Waaaahhhh?????? I know, crazy right? 😀  Somebody pinch me…

Let me explain a little bit of the background of our relationship.

It all started one faithful day on January 22, 2008.

I was very much involved in a club called “Campus Crusade for Christ” at the community college I was attending.  On that scorching, sunny day I was out in the campus quad handing out fliers, free books, candy, CDs, etc.  The thoughts going through my head were simply “Oh Lord this is fun and all…but I need some shade and someone else to fill in for me!” As you can see, I was feeling quite encouraged. 😛

Then, this one tall dude with fair skin and a black trench coat, and what my mind imagined to be a cape, was walking by and suddenly stopped at my table.  Obviously, he was wanting to find out more about the club and what we stood for.  (We had Bible studies every week)  I had noticed at the time that when he looked up and saw my countenance, he was somewhat taken aback and had an inquisitive look in his eyes.

I ignored that feeling and started to have a conversation with him.  As this was all going on, the thoughts running through my head were…“I wonder if he’s from Transylvania, why is he wearing a black trench with a cape?” (He wasn’t but my mind had added on to my already twisted imagination)  “Hmmm…He’s so nice and gentle, and has the same beliefs as me…I always wanted a husband like him, I wonder how it would be to be in a relationship with him..”

(More on the black trench coat later)

SLAP!!!! That’s what I did to my thoughts as he was talking to me about I don’t-remember-what.  Terrible, I know!  I was wondering about him the moment we met!

It was one of those moments in which you want to know a person better because they come off in such a way that catches your attention.  I wouldn’t say that’s when I started to have feelings for him!  But certainly, there was an interest in my part.

Usually, when people told me that they were curious about the meetings and wanted to come out, I knew when they were being truthful or not.  But when Greg had told me that he was going to come by the following week, I was shocked because I really felt that he was going to keep his word!

Lo and behold, he did.  🙂

Immediately, I knew he was a man of his word.  By then, I was pretty impressed.

I had no idea about what or how he even felt about me, to be honest!  We just became “sort of friends” who served together.

The more time passed, the more I wanted to know him, be there for him, and give my heart to him…Later as we grew more as friends, his best friend had passed away from some unfortunate choices he had made.  This had torn Greg’s heart apart!  And I was in between the cracks knowing what the boundary was in being able to help him through those times.  You see, I was fearful that I would somehow make his circumstance worse than they already were.

So as we progressed in this “friendship” I still wasn’t certain what he felt for me!  The problem was that we were (and are) 10 years apart!! Yes.  You read that right!  Also, I’m Korean and from a very strict traditional background.  On the other hand, he’s white and of American customs all the way!

This issue had kept me battling back and forth in my heart because I knew immediately that my family wouldn’t accept him, nor any potential relationship–and thus, I was afraid to make my feelings known to Greg.

To my surprise, his feelings and mine were completely mutual!  And he had fought against all of it with everything he had because of the very same reasons.

Now, you’re probably wondering how we STARTED to date/court, right? ^_~*

I was actually the one who initiated.  I know, normally the woman is known to be “hunted” by the man, and let the man do his hunting job haha!  But after MUCH MUCH prayer and fasting, I asked God if Greg was the one he had sent me.

You see, I didn’t want to do anything that wasn’t in God’s perfect plan.  I believe that He always has many alternative plans, significant other, etc.  But he has the absolute best plan for all of us, and that’s what I truly wanted.  I was never the type to date for the sake of dating, but only for the purpose of a potential marriage in the future.

Yes, surprisingly enough, Greg is my first and my last and I’m actually very thankful for that!  I don’t regret it one bit.  🙂

When I told him about what I was going through in my heart, he shouted “Finallyyyyyy!! Finallyyyyy!!” I didn’t understand what he meant by this obviously!  This meant, he was going through the same turmoil in his heart.  Greg’s story is very different from mine, you see.  He came from a rough lifestyle in which he did anything and everything he ever wanted–only to find out that he had no more hope and was desperate for God’s truth.  So at this point in time, God had showed him that he had to just trust Him that something would happen rather than him doing anything by his own will.

The super ironic thing is that 6 months before he had met me, God had given him a dream!  In this dream, he was getting married to a woman with exactly my face but about 10 years older!!  Now, this is up to the reader whether to believe it or not, but I firmly believe that this WAS a dream from God. 😀  This would explain Greg’s surprised look when we first met.

It has been a beautiful and rewarding, yet difficult path we’ve been on.   As we had guessed, my family was strongly opposed to our relationship until a few months ago I would say.  This past Friday we finally asked for their blessing (not their permission) and although the “interview” started off on the wrong foot, it progressed to my parents’ final blessing upon us.  Yay!

Then on Saturday night, Greg took me to a dinner cruise for Valentine’s Day, and there he proposed to me!  I didn’t think he would do it then because he was hoping to do it when I LEAST expected it.  However, he couldn’t wait any longer and proposed that night.  That was actually surprising to me haha!

As I mentioned before, Greg is a true romantic and always tries to go all out with whatever he plans.  When we were at the dance floor, the DJ congratulated us for our engagement and as soon as I had heard the music come alive, it began to sound uncannily familiar…Indeed, it was one of OUR favorite songs!!   “Sea Breeze” by Tyrone Wells.  Awww….

I know that it’s not about the wedding day ultimately, and certainly this road towards marriage won’t be an easy one either.  I’m sure that there will be obstacles amongst my family, but the more obstacles, the greater things in store for us.  🙂 I’m so grateful that Greg and I haven’t given up and stayed faithful and hopeful to the Lord.  Our motto is that during difficult times, rejoicing in Him is key.

So there you have it.  It’s our story.  It’s God’s story living through us, and now we are ENGAAAAAAAGED!  It’s all part of His plan.

As I go through this year before marriage, I hope I can glean many things from all of you! 😀  As well as tips and pointers for the wedding.  Yikes!

P.s:  He was wearing a black trench coat because he was cold from fasting.  He was fasting for God’s direction for many upcoming things in his life–including that “special someone”.

________________

These are photos from the dinner cruise!

Hehe I took this in the restroom because I liked the color of my dress.


We were at TABLE 25…

Mmmm….soft pillowy French bread…

Then we went out to the deck, it was awesome!!

Hehe we were starting to freeze but you can’t tell!~

For some reason, I feel so spoiled to have this ring!  I feel like I don’t deserve it, but what do I deserve anyway?! 😛 But hey, I’ll take it.

I wish I could write about some more stuff in here, but this is a long post already as it is.

Thank you for sharing with me in my little adventures and have a great day Loves!

Grace & Peace,

Ellie.  The engaged one.


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