Bursting into light.

The glow of candles lit the room while snow fell in the darkness outside. I did not expect to be in Trout Lake last Tuesday night, nor was I expecting to get engaged that evening. We were supposed to have our church community group at my house like normal. But it wasn't going to be a normal day.

By the time that Dan picked me up from work, everyone from our small group had called me to cancel for one reason or the other. One was sick, one was busy, one couldn't get home in time. I found out later that this was no coincidence. Since it was just the two of us for the night, Dan offered to take me out to dinner. I suggested staying home and cooking something together, but he insisted that he had something special in mind.

I began to suspect a covert operation as we left Portland and headed east up the Columbia Gorge. We passed Multnomah Falls, Crown Point, and other places where we had shared hikes and memories. Finally we arrived at the Riverside Grill in Hood River, Oregon.

We were both hungry, and we shared a delicious plate of hazelnut trout at our window table. Dan suggested the scenic route back on the Washington side of the river, but instead we turned up toward his hometown of Trout Lake.

As we got closer, it began to snow, and there was a beautiful blanket of white covering the tiny town. We pulled into the driveway of Dan's childhood home. His family has been away for almost a month, so I expected it to be dark and quiet. Instead it was cheerily glowing with candlelight in every window, and smoke was puffing out the chimney.

The walkway was strewn with white rose petals, and there were candles flickering in the snow all around. We walked inside the warm house to see a table set for dessert with white linens. Soft background music broke the snowy silence of the outdoors. White rose petals covered the floor, and every surface was crowded with tea lights.

We sat together, and Dan read me some thoughts he had prepared about our relationship while I wiped away tears. There was a small carved trunk on the table, and it had a lock that conveniently fit a key Dan had given me earlier at dinner. (“Look at this key I found,” he had said to me. “Hmm,” I answered unromantically, “It looks like it goes to someone’s filing cabinet.”) Inside was a little book that Dan had created from a story I told him on a whim almost a year ago. It was about a boy and girl who each have half a heart until they find each other. Next to the book was a wooden heart carved with our names that Dan had brought back from Uganda. With these gifts and more kind words, Dan proposed. I quickly answered, “Of course!”

Dan and I had talked about marriage enough that I was expecting to get engaged sometime soon, but he was able to take me completely by surprise with the evening he planned. It was so special, unique to us, and really beautiful. I enjoyed getting engaged, and I am looking forward to getting married. But overall I am so glad to be able to spend my life with Dan! For those of you interested, we are tentatively planning a wedding in early June.