The Jewelry Box-Part Two

My parents immensely enjoyed my reaction to their news. ;) It was such a sweet time of the three of us sharing what God had been doing over the last couple of weeks.  I couldn't believe how well my mother kept the whole thing a secret!
Daddy shared with me about the day that Daniel met with him and asked for permission to court me.  They met at a Subway on my Dad's lunch break and he saved the receipt from their meal (isn't that absolutely adorable:). 

My dad gave me a quick overview on what he and Daniel had been discussing together when they met in the evenings.  The two of them had been reading through Voddie Baucham's book, "What He Must Be."  Dad asked Daniel to get the book (which he did right after lunch:) and to go through it his last two weeks at home.

I learned that Daniel had not even been considering a relationship when he first started coming over to spend time with my dad; he simply was looking for someone to mentor him over the summer.
The one thing I kept thinking about while Dad was talking to me was that God had orchestrated all of it.  Someone recently made this comment to me, "God has such great ideas!" I couldn't agree more.....☺

Daniel went out of town with his grandpa around the time that daddy told me of his intentions. It gave me a few days to pray, think, and pray some more. He texted daddy on the morning of August the 17th and asked if he could talk to me on the porch around 7:30 that evening.

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I couldn't help but smile when I let Daniel in the door....That grin of his is so contagious!
Dad stepped into the room and made small talk with Daniel while I made a mad dash to the kitchen to get a drink of water and to try one more time to regain my composure.  Madeline and Mom were baking pies together and they both looked up when I entered the kitchen. My mom knew I was stalling and she shooed me out.  I nervously ran my fingers through my hair and hurried back to the front door. Dad left the room just as I entered and Daniel asked me if we could talk on the front porch.
Daniel up to that point had always seemed so confident and sure of himself.  I wasn't sure exactly what to say or even how to act, so I just followed him outside. It didn't take me long to realize that I wasn't the only one who was nervous. ☺☺

So, you are probably wondering why the title, The Jewelry Box...

When I sat down on the swing Daniel handed me a brightly colored gift bag. He said that there was a story behind what was in the bag, but he wanted me to open it before he told me.  I pulled the pink and green tissue paper out of the bag and found this.....

Daniel found this beautiful jewelry box in an antique shop in Florida. He walked into the shop just a few minutes before it was supposed to close, but the lady who was running it stayed late to paint it for him.
When I opened it, I found a pink rose inside. ♥

The rest of that conversation is history....But, I will say that August 17, 2013  will never be forgotten, and what he told me that night will always make me smile. ♥ ♥ ♥

 "Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever." Psalm 136:26

 

And the story continues.........