The Proposal

He was eighteen. She was seventeen. They had been dating for about a year, if you call going to church and Bible school dating, which back then you did.

He and his brother had moved to this little town in Texas to go to a school for preaching. It was much bigger than the one they came from. They had moved from Eden, Texas to Kerrville, Texas – both brothers determined to become preachers of the Gospel.

Her family had moved to Kerrville for the sole purpose that she find a good, Christian husband. That may sound odd to people but if there were no suitable young men where you went to church and you wanted to do all you could to ensure your daughter married well, that’s what you did. Still, it was a little uncommon for the entire family to move. But that they did.

As was the practice, a group of students, men and women, would go to other churches for camp meetings or would travel on the weekend in order for the men to practice what they had been learning – preaching. And it was one of these weekend jaunts to Corpus Christi, Texas that changed their lives forever.

This was a weekend meeting and of course there had been a service on Friday and Saturday evenings. The visiting young men and women had been invited to a get-together after services by one of the families of the local church. But Roland wanted to spend some time alone with Wanda. He had a plan.

They set out for a drive through the countryside where he had scouted the perfect place earlier in the day. The ocean air was still fragrant even though they were quite a way from the ocean. Roland turned down a country road and since shock absorbers were far from perfected in those days, the car hopped and jumped down the dirt road almost tossing petite, little Wanda to the other side of the seat.

“I’m sorry, Sweet,” he said, turning the car around, back to the highway. “I must have taken the wrong road.”

She turned and looked at him and smiled. “That’s alright,” she said. His slight dimples danced in the moonlight when he smiled back at her. How handsome he was, she thought. But more important to her was that he was a man of God.

The two might seem an odd pair to some. She was shy and quiet. He was outgoing and funny.

A few more turns and they arrived at the spot he found earlier. The bluebonnets glistened as they reached for the moon. The stars were twinkling and a soft breeze wrapped around the couple. The livestock in the field were sleeping and only the sound of crickets and rustling leaves were heard. It was a perfect night.

He stopped the car and took her hand in his. His heart was beating so hard he was sure she could hear it. He was never nervous. Always very sure and confident. I know what her answer would be, right? His blood pulsated through his arm with every beat of his heart. He took a deep breath as though breathing in the night air. He didn’t want her to know he was nervous.

“Roland?” she asked. “Why did we stop here? This isn’t the place where the get-together is supposed to be, is it?”

“No,” he began, “it isn’t the place for the get-together. I thought we might enjoy the moonlight and I know how you love bluebonnets.” The moon and stars lit the bluebonnets it seemed, just at that very moment.

“They are lovely, aren’t they?” she offered.

“Wanda, I didn’t bring you out here just to look at the bluebonnets,” he said. “Wanda, you are the love of my life. I can’t imagine my life without you. Will you marry me?”

He took out a simple diamond ring from his pocket and as she whispered, “Yes, I’ll marry you,” he slipped it on her finger.

Their eyes met and each knew in their hearts that this was a love that would last two lifetimes. He kissed her sweetly and gently then they sat holding hands until time to go back to the others.

When they got back to the get-together, they announced their engagement and shouts of joy filled the air and hugs of happiness soon followed. He laughed, almost giggling, dimples showing and she sweetly smiled as she looked up at the love she had found.