Shannon here: Jodie Bailey shares her real life proposal story and a chance to win her latest Romantic Suspense, Smokescreen. Comment or answer the question at the end of any post dated August 3 – 5 to enter the drawing. Deadline: August 15th, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Jodie:
You know how, when you’re a little girl, you daydream about the perfect marriage proposal? Well, being the Carolina beach girl that I am, that dream involved a pier at night. You know… full moon on the waves… a slight breeze… salt in the air… A little scary if you think about it, because if the ring got dropped…
My soon-to-be husband was a soldier when I met him. (By the way, about six hours before I met him, I had stood up in my college cafeteria, banged my hand on the table in front of eight of my closest friends, and declared I would never, ever marry a soldier. And God said, “Ha. Ha. I know what I’m doing and you don’t.”) The Army had decided to send him… in August… to the California desert… for six weeks.
I was working in the counseling center at college, and he called to tell me he wanted to see water if he was going to be without it for that long, so we should make the two-hour drive to the coast for a walk on the beach that night. I was suffering from a summer cold and, to boot, thought it was kind of pointless to drive two hours after he got off work, walk on the beach, then drive back for two hours when he had to leave so early the next morning. So I told him no. All seven times he called to ask.
To say I was clueless would be an understatement.
He showed up at my dorm around seven, and I had pretty much decided that if the man wanted to get no sleep that night because he was driving back and forth to the coast then, hey, it was his life to live and we’d go.
Only he didn’t give me the chance to tell him so. He walked into my room and held out both hands. “You’re so indecisive tonight, I wrote two restaurants down and there’s one in each hand. Pick one and that’s where we’ll go to dinner.”
Okay, then. I pointed to the right.
He wiggled the left.
I pointed to the right again.
He wiggled the left again.
I’m stubborn, so this went a couple of rounds before I finally sighed and said, “Fine! The left!”
And he dropped to one knee.
And I said yes. And then I said I was sorry for spoiling his grand romantic plan to take me to the beach and ask me on the pier. But really, the fact that he wanted to? That was more than enough.
Here’s the funny part of the story… In his right hand was actually a slip of paper with the name of his favorite restaurant on it. I have no idea why, since he never intended to let me pick that hand anyway.
And here’s the sweet part… Back in the 90s, the Army paid soldiers ahead of time for their food if they were going to be travelling. He took his pay plus that money and bought my ring, the ring I still wear today. And for six weeks on that temporary assignment, he ate almost nothing but cream of mushroom soup and canned tuna.
There is nothing more romantic than that.
About Jodie: Jodie Bailey writes novels about freedom and the heroes who fight for it. Her novels include 2014 RT Reviewers Choice Award winner Crossfire, from Love Inspired Suspense and the 2015 Selah winner in Contemporary Romance, Quilted by Christmas, from Abingdon Press. She is convinced a camping trip to the beach with her family, a good cup of coffee, and a great book can cure all ills. Jodie lives in North Carolina with her husband, her daughter, and two dogs. You can find her on the web at www.jodiebailey.com.
About the book – Smokescreen: When her life is on the line, Ashley Colson is rescued by the last person she ever expected to see again. Military officer Ethan Kincaid might have disappointed her once in the past, but now he’s the only person who can keep her safe. They’re under the gun to decode top secret files that can save the life of a friend who is in enemy hands. But the killers will pull out all the stops to get their hands on the files…and Ashley. With time running out, can they put aside their past and find the answers that could give them a future?
Question for readers: Have you ever had something all planned out… and then God changed everything?
Come back August 5th for Jodie’s recipe for romance!
yes
Thank you for having me here, Shannon! This was fun!
Yes i had planned to have at least 2 kids but God knew that my marriage would fail and i would be a single mom so i only had 1 daughter who is the light of my life
Yes, after moving across the ocean, thinking that this was going to be forever…….a couple of years later, God moves us back to our home state. Jer.29:11
Thanks Shannon for having Jodie here. she is new to me. can’t believe she was going to get the proposal of her dreams.And, the way he made her choose the hand he wanted. LOL Sounds like it has turned out okay Jodie.
When I married a week before being 16, I nor my love had any thoughts for leaving the little town where we lived. Both sets of parents lived there. But GOD must have had different plans. after a short time my asthma got worse needing more meds, the doctor said we should move back to the area where I lived before moving there. So our plans went to the side of the road.
And, of course other times too in the 80 years I have lived. Thanks for the giveaway.
Maxie > mac262(at)me(dot)com <
Jodie is new to me so thank you, Shannon, for introducing her. I loved her story, especially the part about never marrying a soldier. I always said I would never marry a red headed guy. Well, you can guess what color hair my husband has and you would be right! In two months we will celebrate our 40th anniversary so thank goodness God knows better than we do!
melback at cebridge dot net
Awww… I love reading your God stories. He moves in some crazy ways sometimes, ways that seem contrary to what WE think they should be, but then we look back and see… Wow. It just gets me every time. His love for us is big enough to trump our plans, you know?
And yes, Maxie, it turned out beautifully. And it’s twenty years almost to the day of that proposal, by the way. I just realized that. 🙂
I was giggling and shaking my head as I read this. That easily could have been me saying no to the ocean and refusing his subtle (not so subtle) hints. The Lord’s plan is perfect, because he gave us those patient, loving, and cherishing husbands in spite of our stubbornness. Or for the sake of.
When hasn’t God changed MY plans? I know when my plans haven’t involved Him, b/c worry, fear, and doubt will many times invade the process. It’s those little bumps that remind us to let the lord lead.
Yes, a nice quiet life on a little farm… God blessed us with 5 years there and then traveling for 13!
Yes. I can’t even tell you how many times in my writing career. But it always works out. He’s got this.
So true, Shannon. I think all of the stories prove it. God’s got this. I couldn’t get out of bed in the morning if I didn’t believe that. Thanks for the comments everyone! And thanks for having me, Shannon!