On May 16th, 2013 I asked God to put somebody in my life, romantically, that would accept and appreciate me as I am, rather than somebody that would constantly make me feel as if there was something wrong with me like I had recently experienced. Five months and eleven days later I met Julia – who ended up being what I see now as a clear answer to that prayer.

I first processed this photo and started writing this post last month on the 5th. As I processed the shot, her being an answered prayer is what was going through my mind.  Not that she’s beautiful inside and out. Not that the beach she’s on is beautiful. All I was thinking about was her and how she’d treated me since we had started dating. At that point I knew I was going to be asking her to marry me in a few days and was still  trying to make sense of everything that would entail once we were married. So, this shot ended up being a pretty emotional one that I’ve just been sitting on and not sharing due to not being sure how to express that emotion. Not until this morning.

I use to be really worried about asking the wrong person to marry me. Asking somebody to marry me that would end up being a horrible wife. Now, I oddly feel completely at ease about that, and my concern has shifted over to whether I will be a good husband to her. It’s overwhelming thinking about how different married life will be, and all that I feel I still need to do to prepare myself for that – even though I’ve been working to prepare myself for it for years now.

So, please join me in asking God to help me become a good husband, because I think I’m going to need all of His help I can get – as will Julia in dealing with me. Please join me in asking God to help me remember to always put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher rather than in the sink.