Friends, I just wanted to let you all know that last Sunday, July 24th, I proposed to Avin Leigh Houghland and thank God, she said "Yes!!!" So we are pretty excited these days about being engaged and are hoping to get married sometime in October!!!
When I was in Thailand in June, for a PAOC missionary retreat, I went to Bangkok for a few days and with the help of Cavelle Dove, got an unreal ring made in China town. Thank God Cavelle was there because I had no clue about diamonds and bands and all that stuff!! I got a crash course in rings and we ended up getting a sweet ring made!!!
I asked Avin's Dad two weeks ago if I could marry her and he gave me his blessing and some fatherly advice which I really appreciated.
So on Sunday morning I typed out a letter to Avin that expressed how I feel about her and what I am believing God for concerning our future together. It took me a bit longer then I thought so I was a little late for Church, which really had her wondering what was going on!!! So after meeting her at Church, I went and got Gas in my Dads truck, thanks Dad!!, and then picked her up at her place in White Rock. She had no clue where we were going!!! I just told her to wear clothes that were suited for physical activity and being outside!! It took us 2 hrs to get to Stanley Park from White Rock which is just horrendous!! The rush hour was unreal!! After finding a parking spot we walked to Lumbermans's Arch and while Avin was in the washroom I set up the picnic blanket and our picnic lunch. She came back and was pretty impressed by the whole set up!!! We prayed and had a great lunch together, including sparkling apple cider and some great sour dough sandwiches. After eating we played Bocce Ball for a while and then headed back to the truck so we wouldn't get towed.
We watched a street entertainer for a while at English Bay and then walked down to Denman street where we stopped at the Italian restaurant where our first date was. We weren't super hungry so we just had Pizza which was really good. Then we got some Gelato Ice cream and walked back to the truck. We drove back to the Park around 11pm and took out the picnic blanket and some candles and went down to the water. I put candles around the blanket in the sand and after talking for a while and looking at the stars I took out the letter I had written and gave it to her to read. She was in tears in minutes and then out of no where, 6 russian guys in their 20's show up. Most of them were smoking and they were all laughing and talking a good 50 feet from us!! I tried to ignore them and then shared some scripture with Avin from Psalms. When I realized they weren't going away any time soon, I was like. " We need to get out of here!!" So we blew out the candles, packed up the blanket and walked back to the truck, when one of the Russians spoke English for the first time and said something really rude. Avin fired back that he shouldn't talk like that and we just kept on walking!! I think I was in shock that he said what he said!!( You don't want to know!!!)
So we went to 3rd Beach and laid out the blanket and set up the Candles again. All of a sudden we see a flashlight and then a homeless guy starts looking for bottles right beside us, for like 5 minutes!! He left eventually and when I thought we were all alone, another homeless guy showed up looking for bottles. This guy was really thorough and was hanging around for like 15 minutes!!! It was unreal!! I just laughed!! Finally we were by ourselves and by this time it was almost 1am Monday morning. Finally I got the ring out of my pocket and asked Avin if she would marry me!!! After a real awkward embrace, JUST JOKING!!! JUST TRYING TO KEEP THIS BLOG ABOVE REPROACH!!!!! we waded into the ocean and I washed her feet cause I just wanted to symbolize that I wanted to serve her for the rest of our lives.
Then we packed up and I dropped her off in White Rock!!!
It was awesome!! Will keep you guys posted about the wedding details! Please be praying for us!!
