It’s really funny to tell this story now considering how it all developed. In fact, Katie and I laugh about it A LOT because it was definitely not something that either of us could have planned. Anyway, back to the story…
One day, I decided it would be a good idea to get ice cream. 
I had never hung out with Katie one-on-one (remember the “putting up walls” thing?), so I decided we could have a “meeting”. We headed out, got our ice cream, and sat down for a bit to chat. Keep in mind, at this point, still no fireworks or sparks flying. We had developed a friendship, but as I said previously, that was ALL we viewed it as. We started scratching the surface a little bit but our conversation was cut a bit a short. So we called it a day and headed off to our evening plans with different friends. She told me she wanted a rain check and I agreed to it. About a week later, the premiere of the new Harry Potter came out. Now I know what you’re thinking, because so were we, how in the heck did something develop from a night with friends at a Harry Potter movie? Yeah, don’t ask me, it sounds silly, but it’s part of the story. We were there and somehow ended up sitting beside each other. Here’s where the story differs depending on which one of us you talk to. I guess I’ll just say that there was a magnet in our hands that brought them together and maybe I’ll even fess up and say that I reached for hers. Either way, it happened. Neither of us said anything about it during the movie, but I’m sure we were both freaking out a bit. I texted her afterward and said “we should probably talk”. She said “Yes we should”.
To back up a bit, as I’m sure it’s true in any close community, we chose to keep this information close to the chest. I mean, we didn’t even know what was going on and the idea of the word getting out to everyone and their moms did not appeal to us. So there were a select few individuals who were told what happened, and it stayed that way until we figured things out. Ok, back to the story…
The next day we went down to the marina close to where we lived. We sat on the edge of the boat dock and determined that we would be more intentional about getting to know one another. So we did. Throughout the next week (Thanksgiving) we talked everyday for hours it seemed. As the layers peeled back, we grew more and more attracted to each other. She got what she wanted, she got to know this other side to me that I don’t share with people. And I got to know this incredible woman who I’d only seen with friend eyes. It’s kinda funny to me how God kept these feelings hidden from us for a while. It’s like he knew that we needed to have some foundation of friendship beforehand. Whatever it was, it just clicked. I knew I wanted to take her out on a date, so I gave her dad a call as well her spiritual father Mike Paschall. I asked if it would be okay if I took her out, they agreed. Although Tim did send me the great protective father warning message. You know, the “if you ever hurt my daughter …” You can fill in the rest.
Christmas present for Katie: “Restored” in the roots,
“temple” in branches, my name in music, Katie in the rain
During the week leading up to our date, I asked if Katie would pray into and listen to what God was saying about me and as about us as a couple. I told her I’d do the same. I brought her flowers, took her out for sushi, cashed in the rain check for ice cream, and went down to the marina again. We shared the visions that God had given us and the crazy thing is how in alignment they were. She received a lot about rebuilding the temple and a picture of a tree of restoration. I got a passage from Ezra 3:3-9 which says in verse 3:
It continued to talk about the rebuilding of the temple and from it God started revealing to me a vision for ministry and a life together. I had a picture of her being the rain watering the soil and covering the land. She had a picture of David worshiping before the Lord and the king. Incredible stuff! As these words flowed I had an idea of where things were headed for us for the first time. Fast forward a bit…
About a week and a half later, after going public at the AIM Christmas party, Katie had been considering squad-leading this upcoming fall for the World Race. She had met with Caroline who said that she would love to have her if that was what God was leading her to do. Katie told her that she would sit down with me and talk about the idea and ask me to pray into it a bit as well. So, we did. Circumstances had changed significantly since Katie had first entertained the idea and we were both operating on the word that God had given us for each other. So the conclusion I came to was that we would continue operating in that unless he spoke otherwise. I decided to give Mike a call again and process through things with him. After doing so, I had made up my mind of what I was going to do. Katie had to let Caroline know by February and I knew that neither of us wanted to really spend 4 months apart from each other the next fall. So I did what anyone in this situation would do… go after the thing you really want!
We traveled over Christmas break to visit my family and to meet her mom, brother and mom’s side of the family. Everything went great! My family loved her and I clicked well with hers. That was all the confirmation I needed. I called her dad, Mike, and talked with her mom this time through asking for something a little different…a blessing. I asked for them to bless us in asking her to marry me. They all gave their support and I was so honored by that. I knew that this was moving faster than what we had originally anticipated but knowing that we had support of our families meant so much to me. So the next week I had to trick Katie a little bit. I MAY not have been where I said I was while I was getting a ring picked out. I told my roommates and her roommates the plan and they jumped in to help. It was New Year’s Eve and I decided to cook dinner for Katie. We sat and chatted for a bit while the roommates were busy setting things up down by the marina. I presented the idea of walking down there again, ya know, just to close out the year together and start a new one. She thought it was a great idea and said she had thought about doing that the day before. So I had her convinced. We left to go down there, pulled up and past our usual spot (I did intentionally). We continued on to this strip of land that jutted out into Lake Lanier. It was lined with candles all the way to the end. At the end were some blankets and some flowers. She had no idea that I planned on proposing, she just thought it was a sweet thoughtful date. So I didn’t waste any time, I dropped to a knee, spoke from the heart, and she said YES! I spent some time praying and prophesying over her before the rest of our friends came out from behind the boats to celebrate with us. It was such an amazing way to bring in the new year, the year 2011, the year of transition.
