Michael and I were emailing frequently, and the emails were getting longer. Then we started calling. Not very often at first; maybe once a week as I remember; and those quickly grew from a twenty minute chat to an hour and a half talk. It was truly amazing to me how fast time would fly when I was talking with Michael. I knew things were getting serious when he asked me to look at his mission board's website, and then to fill out an application and send it in.
Michael's mission board, BIMI, lost no time in figuring out what was going on and getting my application through quickly. BIMI only receives candidates twice a year, and they wanted me at the earliest time possible; and asked me in mid-October to get my application in by the end of the month to be reviewed the first week of December. Whew! What a hustle. And so, I was invited to their candidate school in December, just forty minutes from Michael's house.
Hmm. That's handy.
Michael and I had not spent much time together in person, and we were both a little nervous to meet. Nervous may be the wrong word. I wasn't worried about meeting Michael, but more, what to do when I met him. We were just good friends at this point, and nothing more, but we both knew this could be the beginning of something more. I had talked to him at church, and camp, and at my grandparents', but we both knew this was different. How does one greet a friend in such a situation?
December came quickly, and I flew down to Chattanooga. We said hi, I met his mother, he took my luggage, and we got in the car. It wasn't awkward at all as I thought it would be. The first few days, I met his family. Then it was time for candidate school. Michael took a lot of teasing! He was invited to attend classes with me, and the staff was a jovial group. The more we got to know each other and spend time together in class and out of class, I knew for sure that Michael was the guy for me.
Later I found out that my daddy had talked to Michael and asked him when he would propose, but Michael said he wanted to get to know me a little in person first, and wouldn't ask me in December.
But... he did want to ask me something.
Thursday evening, we sat in a couch at the end of a frequented hallway. We talked for a little bit, but then we exchanged Christmas gifts. I had gotten Michael a country girl to her boyfriend type gift- a pocket knife. But I was quite surprised when Michael started quoting verses to me and gave me...
a ring!
Michael's mission board, BIMI, lost no time in figuring out what was going on and getting my application through quickly. BIMI only receives candidates twice a year, and they wanted me at the earliest time possible; and asked me in mid-October to get my application in by the end of the month to be reviewed the first week of December. Whew! What a hustle. And so, I was invited to their candidate school in December, just forty minutes from Michael's house.
Hmm. That's handy.
Michael and I had not spent much time together in person, and we were both a little nervous to meet. Nervous may be the wrong word. I wasn't worried about meeting Michael, but more, what to do when I met him. We were just good friends at this point, and nothing more, but we both knew this could be the beginning of something more. I had talked to him at church, and camp, and at my grandparents', but we both knew this was different. How does one greet a friend in such a situation?
December came quickly, and I flew down to Chattanooga. We said hi, I met his mother, he took my luggage, and we got in the car. It wasn't awkward at all as I thought it would be. The first few days, I met his family. Then it was time for candidate school. Michael took a lot of teasing! He was invited to attend classes with me, and the staff was a jovial group. The more we got to know each other and spend time together in class and out of class, I knew for sure that Michael was the guy for me.
Later I found out that my daddy had talked to Michael and asked him when he would propose, but Michael said he wanted to get to know me a little in person first, and wouldn't ask me in December.
But... he did want to ask me something.
Thursday evening, we sat in a couch at the end of a frequented hallway. We talked for a little bit, but then we exchanged Christmas gifts. I had gotten Michael a country girl to her boyfriend type gift- a pocket knife. But I was quite surprised when Michael started quoting verses to me and gave me...a ring!
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