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She said, "YES"!!

by ‎10-17-2014 11:47 AM - edited ‎12-07-2015 02:52 PM

I will never forget my 10th birthday, back in October 1997. As a tradition in our family, my siblings and I each received a leather-bound Bible and a very good piece of advice on our 10th birthdays. That was the day my parents told me, “It’s never too early to start praying for the woman you’ll marry someday.” I’m pretty sure I was more interested in the Philadelphia Phillies baseball game that night than the Bible or the advice. Those words of wisdom from my parents and the wisdom from that book, however, stayed with me ever since.

 

Whether my parents knew it or not, I took their advice. From time to time during my teenage years, I’d ask God to prepare a wife for me. I imagine He must have laughed when I gave Him some suggestions for what she should be like. Those prayers certainly did not stop in college, although I began to come to my senses and trust God to choose her for me. By the time I entered the workforce and started my career, my prayers for my future wife became more of an exercise in trust than a plea for a spouse. “God, I don’t know who you’ve got for me, but she must be pretty special if you’ve kept me waiting for twenty-five years,” I once prayed with a passive-aggressive impatience. I cannot pretend that I cruised through that exercise in trust without a few doubts along the way, but I sure kept praying!

 

One of the greatest exercises in trust that I have ever faced was when God called me to the United Kingdom to earn a Master of Public Policy (MPP) from the University of London. I arrived without a single friend there, and all I could do was lean on the everlasting arms. Three weeks later, I encountered the woman of my dreams and the one God intended for me to marry. Alice Gayle and I first met on my birthday in 2013. We were in the same Bible study that met inside the church I was attending. I’ll never forget walking in, surveying the group at large, and thinking to myself, “Eric, pull it together! Stop staring at the beautiful Christian woman across the room. This is a Bible study, after all!” We didn’t start dating right away, but after several months of friendship, Alice and I began a Christ-centered relationship the following March.

 

 

I fell in love with Alice for many reasons. I’ve already mentioned that she is exceptionally beautiful, but her greatest attribute is her love for Jesus Christ. She is a woman who both fears and loves The Lord. Like me, she knows the transformational power of the Gospel, and she lives her life with that in mind every single day. We pray together for our friends, our families, and our coworkers. Alice is others-centered, and it’s apparent to everyone she meets. She has the most disarming smile, and her cute English accent can melt even the hardest heart. I often retell a short story about the time when her car broke down while we were driving to church. We pulled over, called a tow truck, and waited for the mechanic to arrive. When he arrived, Alice immediately started asking him about his life (again, very others-centered). Working on a Sunday, he told us about his young daughters and how difficult it can be to go for many days without seeing them in order to work, pay the bills, and make ends meet. He kindly drove us to Alice’s house because we no longer had a working car. Since he had a few spare minutes until his next project, Alice invited him in for tea (very British!) and continued to listen to him talk at length about his family, his work, and his dreams. Most people would have taken a car breakdown as license to have a lousy day, but not Alice. Instead, she used it as an opportunity to show love to a stranger. St. Francis of Assisi is often credited with saying, “Preach the Gospel everywhere you go, and if necessary, use words.” Alice Gayle embodies those words. The transformative power of Christ in her life is on display for all to see, and that’s why I am in love with her.

 

 

On October 16th, 2014, I asked Alice Gayle to marry me and spend the rest of our lives serving God together. God made me the most fortunate man in the world when she said “yes”. The engagement ring is a classic three stone round brilliant design, symbolizing Christ at the center of our relationship and our marriage. Needless to say, I had my amazing mother help me pick out the diamonds! This Thanksgiving Day, I am thankful for God’s provisions in my life. I am thankful that He blessed me with a godly woman who will soon be my wife, and I am thankful for parents who had the foresight to encourage me to pray for her since I was ten years old.

 

Counting my blessings,
Eric Roe  

 

 

Alice and I will be married at Holy Trinity Brompton, the church where we met, in April 2015.