Lindsey and I are getting married!

I’m an engaged man!! I have a fiance, and she’s going to be my wife in less than six months! I still have a hard time believing that it’s really true! By the amazing grace of God, I have found the love of my life, my bride, the one with whom I get to spend the rest of my life, the one whom I have the honor of loving, serving, and being faithful to! Lindsey, more than anyone else I’ve ever met, embodies God’s grace to me. In addition to her tremendous grace, she’s a humble servant, thoughtful and faithful friend, fun sojourner and companion, good cook (thank You, Lord!), peaceful daughter of the King, and a beautiful woman! One scripture verse that comes to mind about Lindsey is Proverbs 18:22: “He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord.” I really do sense that God is smiling on us and is so happy that we’ve found each other! I praise Him for His faithfulness!

Since I’ve been dating Lindsey, I’ve realized more and more how true are the words in Genesis 2:18: “It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Lindsey has helped me so much in learning how to live a more balanced life, how to cut back on details and the amount of ministry I’m involved in, how to relax, and how to just enjoy life! I love journeying with her, spending quality time with her, enjoying her presence, and growing in our faith in Christ together. By His grace, we’ll continue throughout this life together!

Lindsey told me a couple months ago that she wanted to get engaged in Moscow, so I patiently waited all through the Christmas break and worked on my engagement day plan. (I had the ring with me for about two weeks before I was able to give it to her…it joined me on my trip to Texas to be with her family, it was on my necklace when flying over the Atlantic – I had to make sure it was safe at all times.) Being the romantic that I am, I didn’t want her to just remember a moment; I wanted her to remember an entire engagement day! So here’s the story:

I told Lindsey to set aside the whole day on Saturday (January 9), and it was so magical! I picked her up at her apartment at noon, took her by metro to the Starbucks on Arbat Street where our first date on March 1 had been, and that's where we sat together and read through the photo story book that I had made for her while I was home. It includes pictures and parts of letters, text messages, journal entries, and other thoughts from the past ten months together. Before getting to the last page (the page with "Will You Marry Me?" on it), I walked with her through the downtown region, through a garden, right to Red Square where I proposed to her, and she said yes! We shared the words "I love you" and kissed for the first time. Then after warming up a little bit, her two roommates joined us and helped us take about 500 pictures around Red Square and inside the Goom mall. I think we got some really good pictures together, and it was a gorgeous day, which was an answer to my prayers! After the picture session, I took Lindsey to one of our favorite delis for dinner, where we reminisced a bit and just expressed how thankful and happy we are for all God's done! Then we took the metro home (while listening to three of my favorite love songs). Once home a red rose was waiting for on her bed, and I kissed her under the mistletoe, which was still there from Christmas :) We watched It's a Wonderful Life, which is one of our favorites, and I once again cried, realizing how blessed I am to get to marry this amazing woman of God! Before she fell asleep, she discovered a letter on her pillow that I had written, in which I explained what I meant by saying "I love you" and how much we must depend on God's perfect love and faithfulness as we journey toward marriage.

If you’d like to see more pictures of our engagement day, click on the link to view an album on my Picasa web page: http://picasaweb.google.com/lukedanielhays/EngagementDay#

It was so fun sharing the news with my class on the first day back to school (January 11). I shared the news with them one phrase at a time, and as I did, their volume of noise and excitement only grew with each phrase: “On Saturday…..on Red Square….I….asked….her….to marry me!....And she said yes!” Many of my former fifth graders were also so excited for the two of us – what a fun thing to share with them! Lindsey and I pray that our relationship will be a good example to our students. One student, who earlier this year had written funny sentences about Lindsey and me on his grammar tests, told me in class this week, “Mr. Hays, you’re smiling all the time. You’re like a kid going to bed on Christmas Eve!” I just love kids and what they say!

After getting married in Lindsey’s hometown of Austin, TX, on July 17, we plan to have our honeymoon somewhere in North America; celebrate with another wedding reception at my home church, Flint Central Church of the Nazarene, in Flint, Michigan a couple weeks later; and then return to Moscow for another year of ministry at Hinkson, in the English Café, and at Moscow First Church of the Nazarene. We’re definitely pumped!