To My Future Fiancé...

Let me preface by saying that I'm still praying for you. Whether we've met or we won't meet for another ten years, you're in my prayers each night, and I am so looking forward to the day that we are united together.

Now with that being said, let me get to my point.

Even though I've never been at the level that we're currently at, I've watched friends and even my sister go through the dating process that eventually led them to where we are right now. We know that God has placed us together and that we're going to one day stand before Him and all of our family and friends and pronounce our love for each other. We get that, and I'm ever so thankful for the road we've traveled. However, before you go picking out rings and planning a big to-do over popping the question, let me tell you this:

Make our proposal "our's".

I'm sorry for what society has made of proposals. Social media has made it required to have everything displayed and made into a show. Pictures and memes are plastered over single women's profiles saying, "Future Husband, if there's no photographer to catch the moment you get down on one knee, try again." For that, love, I am so incredibly sorry.

You have enough on your plate already. You're planning our future, you're planning how we'll be able to financially support each other, where we'll live, how we'll split holidays between our families... Why do we have to add one more stressor to the table?

I'm sorry that you've now got expectations to meet or else it isn't considered a "proper proposal." I'm sorry that you're now expected to have a photographer poised and ready, a flash mob break out dancing in the middle of Disney World, and the lucky lady's entire family on Skype ready to witness the moment you profess your love. I'm sorry that the only acceptable proposal is one that's broadcast for all of the world to see, leaving you with the pressure of not only having the love of your life accept your heart,  but now the rest of the world to worry about as well.

What I'm looking forward to most isn't a shiny stone on my finger (shoot, you could get me a ring from one of those twenty-five cent machines and I'd still love it). It isn't about the theatrics of the proposal.

I'm looking the most forward to being married to you.

So pop the question in whatever way feels "right" to you. Whatever seems the most "us". Whether that's watching football on the couch on a Sunday. Whether that's driving down the road, holding hands. Whether that's sitting in the DMV waiting for our turn. I have trusted God's timing for so long to get us to this point; I'm now trusting your timing in waiting for the right moment. Whatever that moment may be, however you decide to ask. My heart is yours.