The Story- Stephanie's Perspective

Back to the beginning:

I was driving from my friend's house on January 2nd (this year) after spending a wonderful New Year's with her and others. While on the way home I was plagued with thoughts and questions about why I am still single. I was finally getting to a place of contentment in my job, and at church, but this one area of my life had always been a struggle. So on this particular hour long drive, I was praying about this "issue" of singleness. And then and there, I realized that being single was not something to "deal with" or a compromised way of living life, but it was exactly where God wanted me for that particular time. Being single allowed me time to grow in my relationship with God and invest in other things like my job, friends and church. And I was completely at peace and full of contentment with everything about being single and was actually looking forward to seeing what God had in store in this life of singleness.

Two days later, my friend had sent me a message saying she had sent my bio to someone she knew and hope I didn't mind too much. She then proceeded to tell me a few things about him (although he got way more information about me!) So, that very night, I was introduced to Steven, through Facebook chat. We talked for hours.Then, we continued conversations over the next few weeks. In the back of my head, I really wasn't sure about it all, especially since he lived in North Carolina. I was waiting for the conversation that inevitably happens: "You're a great person, but I just don't think this is going to work." That conversation never happened.

First Date:

Next thing I know, he is calling my dad and planning to come to Ohio for a visit. He came the weekend of my birthday. He took me to The Melting Pot. We were there for 4 hours. Any fears I may have had left over about this relationship not working melted (yup...it's a pun). So, on my birthday in February, we officially started dating. He came to visit me a couple more times and soon it was very clear where this was going. We made the decision for me to move to North Carolina. So, I quit my job, a week later I had an interview for another job in NC, and the next day they hired me.

And here we are:

Last night, Steven surprised me with a little date since we didn't have church, I didn't think too much of it. He made reservations but he didn't tell me where we were going. I really had not idea that last night was going to be The Night. Then we pulled into the parking lot of The Melting Pot and all I could do was smile. If nothing else, it was going to be a special date just because it was where we had our first date. So, we got in, and sat down in a nice private booth, gave our order and chatted for a while. After our server got our cheese fondue ready, I was ready to eat! So I started getting my bread ready, and Steven hadn't even touched his utensils. So, I put mine down and wondered what was going on. From there a lot of it was a blur, because he said something close to "I can't wait. I thought since we had our first date at The Melting Pot, that this would be the perfect place to propose. I knew I wanted to marry you..." (And he pulled out the ring and everything else became a blur) It was perfect. The ring is perfect. He is perfect for me!

I love him and I'm so excited to share life with him, it is going to be so much fun! :-)