(Written by Shawn)

Our Courtship Story:

After my wife left two years ago to be with someone else, I was very lonely. I wanted to spend my life working for God and so I kind of thought maybe I’d be single for the rest of my life because that seemed like the safest thing to do. I saw marriages falling apart left and right – even some of the people where I never expected to see it happen. It just seemed so risky in this day and age to get married. Like the following quote says, I didn’t want to get married unless evidences were unquestionable that I was bettering my condition and making Heaven more sure by doing so:

“If Paul could remain single, and recommend the same to others, that he and they might be wholly the Lord’s, why not those who would be wholly his, and wish to make a sure thing of avoiding the cares, trials, and bitter anguish, so frequent in the experiences of those who choose the married life, remain as he was? And more, if he chose to remain so, and could recommend it to others, eighteen centuries since, would not to remain as he was, be a commendable course for those who are waiting for the coming of the Son of man, unless evidences were unquestionable that they were bettering their condition, and making Heaven more sure by so doing? When so much is at stake, why not be on the sure side every time?” Signed J. White, and E.G. White {RH, March 24, 1868 par. 7}

I knew what qualities to look for in a prospective spouse from reading books like Adventist Home and others. And I saw so few people who had those qualities. I had a pretty long list of things I was looking for, and for two years I watched for anybody who had those things, and there was almost nobody who even came close! ……Except for one young lady named Megan. But she was courting someone else at the time. So I kind of resigned myself to staying single like Paul talks about, for the sake of doing God’s work.

After about a year and a half I learned that Megan was no longer courting anyone. I watched her from a distance for awhile (on facebook) and then we started talking occasionally. I was more and more impressed with her character! I started to pray about whether God might have some plans for us.

I would never want to do anything that was not according to God’s will! The only safe path in life is the one chosen by God for us. I think it is summed up well as follows:

“Marriage is something that will influence and affect your life both in this world and in the world to come. A sincere Christian will not advance his plans in this direction without the knowledge that God approves his course. He will not want to choose for himself, but will feel that God must choose for him.” {AH 43.3}

During that time two different people wrote to me and suggested that I really should get to know Megan. Unknown to me, several people suggested to Megan the same thing – that she should get to know me. Apparently people really seemed to think we would match well.

I believe in having my parents very much involved in helping me wisely consider a future companion. So I wanted to talk to them about Megan. Just about the time I was planning to do that, my Mom called one day and very happily told me that she had found someone on facebook to help her with the Diet and Foods curriculum she had been working on. She said this person had studied dietetics and they had started communicating on facebook and my Mom thought she seemed like a really nice person, who could really be a big help with putting together the curriculum. My Mom said, “You may have seen her around on facebook before. Her name is Megan.”

I was smiling to myself because I had indeed seen her on facebook before! I didn’t say anything about it though; I decided to just left my Mom get to know her for awhile.

As the weeks went by Megan and I started talking more and more. (And Megan and my Mom were talking at the same time too.) I continued to be very impressed with her character! And so were my parents!

One evening during this time I was really praying and telling God that I needed to have some direction on what His will was. I really needed to know more about Megan so I could know more of what her character was like. The very next morning a mutual friend, who I hadn’t talked to for quite awhile, messaged me on facebook and asked if I had ever considered courting Megan. He said he thought we might be well suited for each other – that we really had a lot in common. I said I had been praying about it, and I asked if he could tell me more about her. He wrote a very nice description of her character and personality from what he had seen of her.

That was exactly what I had been praying for the night before – to somehow know more about her character and personality. From the description she really did sound like a great person!

I decided to go to GYC about this time, and I was really wishing that Megan could go too and I could meet her in person. I had been considering trying to get an exhibit booth there to share the Virtual Tabernacle project. So I was wishing she could come and help me. But I didn’t know how that would happen! And then a few days later my Mom called and suggested that I should ask Megan if she was going to GYC. I had not told my Dad and Mom yet that I was praying about Megan and was wishing she could go to GYC.
I really didn’t think there was much possibility of Megan planning to go to GYC, so I didn’t say anything about it for awhile. After about a week I finally decided to go ahead and ask Megan if she might happen to be going to GYC. She said she had not planned on it, but would pray about it. Unknown to me my Mom was talking to her on FB at almost the exact same time. My Mom was in a totally different state. But she messaged Megan just a few minutes after I did and asked her about GYC too, and offered to help with some of the expenses. So Megan messaged me back and told me what my Mom had just said to her. So within about 15 minutes of me asking her about GYC it was all said and done and the plans had been made for her to come. The timing of how it all happened was very interesting. 🙂

So we both started making preparations to go to GYC.

When I got back to my parent’s place I talked with them about Megan. They said they had been very impressed with what they had seen of her on facebook. My sister had seen her once at a camp meeting before and she had a good impression of her too.
My youngest sister had also gone to look at Megan’s facebook wall and thought Megan would be a good match for me as well. So my whole family was positive about it.

I talked with my parents a lot about it and they thought it seemed like God was leading too and they really thought well of what they knew about Megan.
Megan seemed to enjoy talking to me on the phone and so I was glad for that! We talked at least once or twice a week and we really found that we had a lot in common. The more I talked to her the more I saw what a wonderful person she seemed to be – just the kind of person I was looking for! After searching so long it was really amazing to find someone who seemed to match what I was looking for so perfectly. I was really looking forward to meeting her at GYC!

Just a few days before GYC, a relative passed away and the funeral was less than 4 hours from where GYC was going to be held. And my parents were going to the funeral. I was really wishing that my parents could go to GYC too and meet Megan. But that didn’t seem like it was possible because my dad thought he would have to get back to work immediately after the funeral. But I prayed about it anyway. The very next morning my dad got a call from his employer saying that they would not be working until the beginning of January, so there was no longer any need to get back quickly. And my Mom was praying and suddenly felt strongly impressed that they should go to GYC too, even though it would cost a lot. So we quickly packed everything up and we all headed to GYC together.

So we met Megan at GYC and I was so glad my parents were there to meet her too, because I value their counsel very highly! They really liked her and so did I. Over the few days we were at GYC we spent a lot of time together, and with my parents. Megan did indeed seem like exactly the kind of person I was looking for!

The very last day of GYC I was praying that I could spend some time talking with my parents by ourselves so I could ask them if they thought I should ask to court Megan. And then I was praying I would have the opportunity to spend time with Megan after that if I was going to ask her if she would be interested in courting. But GYC was so busy and so I didn’t know how things were going to turn out. But it happened exactly the way I prayed! I had a good amount of time to talk with my parents first, and they said they believed God was leading and that I had their approval to ask to court Megan. And then Megan and I had a nice opportunity to talk for awhile and I asked if she would be interested in courting. I was already pretty sure she would say, “Yes”, and she did! 🙂 She believed God had been leading too and she had actually been hoping for quite awhile that God might lead us together. But she had not tried to make it happen herself. She had just quietly waited for Him to arrange it if He saw it to be good.

So next we wanted to figure out a way that I could go up and meet her parents, who lived in another state. It all worked out and I was able to go meet them. And after awhile I asked them if they would approve of me courting Megan, and they said I could.

So that’s where I am right now, staying with a church member and visiting with Megan and her family in between work.

I just keep being more and more amazed at how Megan is just the kind of person I was looking for. As far as we can tell at this point we are really perfectly matched! So we are courting now, and I wanted to put this story on facebook to let everyone know what’s happening in our lives and also as a testimony of what amazing things God can do for us if we surrender our lives to His leading and guidance! Sometimes we have to wait for what seems like a long time before our prayers are answered, but it is well worth the wait! 🙂

We believe that courtship is a time to get to know each other for the purpose of being sure we are well matched, and to be sure that it is indeed God’s will for us to join our lives together in marriage. We don’t want to play the “dating game”. Hearts are delicate and need to be treated with great care and gentleness. The dating game brings so much hurt and scars into people’s lives. By the time they finally find the right person their hearts have usually been hurt so many times they really have a hard time fully bonding like they need to. It just creates a lot of problems. So neither of us wanted to do that.

We take this relationship very seriously. It’s not a time for love-sick sentimentalism or mushy emotionalism. It is a time for clear, level headed, thinking, and much prayer and seeking God’s will! It’s also a time for counseling with parents and other wise people who understand what makes a good marriage.

And as we see more and more that our lives are compatible and that God is leading us forward, it is also a time for beginning to build a strong and lasting relationship that will be a help and blessing to both of us for the rest of our lives.

Our Engagement Story:

This whole summer has been one of fast action and intense activity for me! It started when I accepted the call to go to India to do mission work. I had to prepare really fast. Everything fell into place so fast and within a few weeks I arrived there and began making videos. I thought maybe sometime in the future our programs we were making could go on TV. But the way opened up within just a matter of days after we started filming. And two weeks later we were signing our first cable television contract. Just a few weeks after that we signed another contract and went on satellite. It was non-stop action, from morning till night! 🙂 In four months we filmed a years worth of television programs that are now being broadcast to hundreds of thousands of people!
The rapidity at which things were happening and God was throwing open the doors ahead of us gave me a strong feeling of urgency. It seemed like He wanted His work done FAST! The rapidity of it left my head spinning! But I tried to keep up. 🙂 It reminded me of the quote, “The final movements will be rapid ones.”
After four months I returned to America and almost immediately calls started coming in to travel across the U.S. and into Canada for speaking engagements. And at the same time I was asked to become the director for a new ministry that was starting, in addition to the ministries that I already had going. I hardly had time to prepare my talks for each new place I needed to speak at!
There was a temporary lull of sorts when I spent several weeks working with my brother-in-law on the virtual reality Sanctuary project (www.VirtualTabernacle.com). But even before that project was finished I had to be off again for the next appointment!

During all this time I was very much enjoying the ministry work that I was doing. I felt like life was just about perfect. I loved what I was doing! And I even enjoyed the non-stop action and continuous travel.
But there was one thing missing. I was very lonely for someone special to share my life with – someone to be my friend and companion, and ministry partner. But for the past two years I had been looking to see if there was any young lady who had the right combination of characteristics that I was desiring and there didn’t seem to be anybody. There was only one young lady named Megan who I had met on FB who seemed to have a lot of the characteristics I was looking for, but she was courting someone else at the time.

(Here is a list of the qualities I was looking for, for anybody who is interested in reading it 🙂 – www.goo.gl/6QPG2a)

So I decided I was probably just going to have to live with the loneliness and be single for the rest of my life.

But then things began to happen. I learned Megan was no longer courting anybody. And through a series of amazing providential workings we began talking on the phone and getting to know each other. (You can read the whole story here – www.goo.gl/pVUo0H.)

Right away when I started talking to her I felt very comfortable with her. We had so many similarities on so many things that we just “clicked” immediately. We started talking more and more, for longer and longer periods – sometimes 3-4 hours!

The more I got to know Megan the more I thought she was just the kind of young woman I had been looking for! I felt so comfortable with her, like we had known each other for a long time.

I was really praying a lot about whether I should ask to court her. We were becoming really close friends really fast and I was almost certain she would say yes if I asked to court her. But I really wanted to meet her in person. But I didn’t know how that was going to happen. We were a very long ways away from each other – 3,000 miles round trip. But God had plans. Within a very short time everything worked out for us to both go to GYC and meet there. That was kind of a surprise! I hadn’t expected to have an opportunity to meet her that soon. But I was glad it did because our friendship was becoming very close and it was getting time for it to transition to a courtship. But I wanted to meet her in person first before taking that step. So God’s timing was perfect!

And at the last minute the way opened for my parents to also go to GYC and meet her too. I was really glad for that because I really valued their wise counsel and I wanted them to be able to meet her. They were Family Life Skills Facilitators for many years and have a lot of knowledge of people and relationships. So I was praying that they could go even though that seemed impossible, but at the very last minute the way opened up for them to go. So I was very glad for that! I really wanted them to be able to meet her and get to know her a little so they could give me their opinion of her, before I started a relationship with her.

They very much approved of Megan and agreed that I should ask to court her before leaving GYC. So I did, and she said Yes! She had been earnestly praying about it too and was eagerly waiting for me to ask. 🙂 But I wanted to go meet her parents and give them a chance to get to know me and ask them if we had their approval for courting too. Previous to this I had thought maybe I could make a trip to where they lived sometime during the next year. But that seemed too far away now! But the way opened for me to travel up there after GYC to meet them immediately. I didn’t expect it to happen that fast, but it did. The next morning, instead of going back with my parents like I had been planning, I headed up to meet Megan’s parents.

I thought I would spend a couple weeks visiting her family and then go back home after that. I knew we needed to spend more time getting to know each other, but I didn’t know how that would happen. But Megan and I were really praying that the way would open for me to extend my stay to at least a month, because we felt like we needed more time to get to know each other in person; there is only so much you can learn about someone over the phone. And then the people I was staying with invited me to stay as long as I wanted to. So that was a big blessing!

We spent every spare minute together! Most week days we were together 6-7 hours every day. It still seemed too short because a lot of that time had to be spent taking care of the daily things of life, like cooking, cleaning, shopping, etc. But at least we could do it together. On Sabbath and sunday we spent about 11-12 hours together each day. We tried to maximize every moment we had! 🙂
We also spent a lot of time studying Adventist Home together. For anybody who hasn’t read it, it’s a wonderful book about marriage and family life! We also spent a lot of time praying together. We prayed together several times every day for 20-30 minutes or more. And of course we spent a lot of time just talking and getting to know each other. We tried to just consider our relationship using logic and reason, and the Bible and Sister White’s writings. For quite awhile we avoided most of the romantic emotional stuff because we wanted to keep our heads on straight to be able to think clearly about what we were doing and whether we fit well together. 🙂 We also did not show any physical affection to each other during our courtship, like holding hands or hugging. We wanted to be able to think clearly and look carefully at our relationship to see if we would be well matched or not. We watched each other carefully and considered everything we saw about each other. We are both very open and transparent about our lives and who we are; we’re like those transparent glass figurines. 🙂 And we purposely tried to make sure the other person knew us as we really were. We didn’t want to hide anything or pretend to be something we weren’t. We talked about our faults and weaknesses and any problems we thought we might have. And we found we could communicate very openly and easily. So we were able to get to know each other very quickly! We’re both pretty discerning about understanding people’s character’s too, so that helped a lot too. We tried to analyze everything we saw about each other from every angle, and we spent a lot of time praying about our relationship, both in our private prayers and when we were together praying.

We also talked to other people who knew us and saw us interacting with each other. We were around Megan’s parents a lot and they were very happy in how they saw us relating to each other. They thought we fit very well together too. It seemed like everybody who we were around thought we seemed just perfect for each other. 🙂 The more we got to know each other the more we thought so too!

I remember a couple times the thought crossed my mind, “What if I ended up staying here all the way up until we got married?” But I didn’t figure that was going to happen, because that would be quite awhile…..right?

But as the weeks passed and we got to know each other more and more we were just amazed at how perfectly we matched! It was like God had been specially preparing us to fit together so perfectly that there was hardly anything that needed to be adjusted! It was kind of like when they built Solomon’s temple – the stones had already been prepared to fit together just right and all that was necessary was for them to be set in place.

When I wrote down the list of qualities I was looking for in a prospective spouse it ended up being almost four pages long, in size 12 font! And I was amazed at how well Megan matched what I was looking for. I told my parents that if I were to “custom order” a wife I could hardly ask for anything more. Megan was just what I was looking for, and she even had a lot of the little characteristics that I didn’t think were even important enough to put on the list! 🙂

You know how when you see a design, it must mean there was a designer – like when you look into the human eye and you see how perfectly all the minute parts fit together, you know that it didn’t just happen that way by chance, right? Well, that’s kind of how it was for us – even our little characteristics fit together so perfectly! We were both convinced this didn’t just happen by chance! This was Divinely arranged! I was especially convinced because for two years I had been searching to see if there was anybody who came close to what I was looking for, and I could hardly find anybody who came even close!

I consider myself to be fairly discerning. Usually I can tell a lot about a person within the first few minutes of talking to them or watching them. I think a lot of it came from colporteuring, where you have to learn to read everything you can about the person within the first 10 seconds that you meet them. I had studied human behavior a lot through the years too and I had gone through the Family Life Skills classes as well. I had also studied extensively in sister White’s writings about human behavior. So I knew exactly what I was looking for and I could tell very quickly that most of the young ladies I saw didn’t have the right combination of characteristics that I was looking for.

When I met Megan the first time on FB a year and a half ago I was very quickly able to tell a lot about her, just within an hour or so of talking to her. And later when we met in person I found that I was right on almost every detail!

So the only reason I am saying this is to show that we weren’t just moving blindly. We knew what we were looking for and we were not moving under the influence of emotions like most people do. It reminds me of the Bible story of the merchant man, seeking goodly pearls. He was well educated on analyzing pearls. He knew what he wanted! He knew what to look for and he didn’t want to settle for less. He wasn’t being moved by emotions. He probably passed by a lot of pearls that didn’t match what he was looking for. But when he saw the Pearl of Great Price, he knew it was incredibly valuable! He probably spent some time looking it over to make sure it actually was as valuable as it appeared to be on the outside. And it probably didn’t take him long to see that this was the great pearl he had been looking for for so long! He thought it was so valuable that he went and sold everything he had to buy it!
Incidentally, Megan’s name means “Pearl”! 😀 And I believe she is exactly the Pearl I’ve been looking for! I’ve watched a lot of others and they had good qualities, but not the right combination of qualities I was looking for. And now to find Megan and see that she has basically every quality I was looking for is just amazing! I had looked and looked and could hardly find anybody that came even close, and then to find someone that had everything in exactly the right way to match with me so perfectly is nothing short of a miracle it seems like! I wasn’t sure any such person existed in the world.

Now I know that nobody is perfect. And I know that we will very likely have things to work out in our relationship in the future. But I think we are well equipped to do that. We are both walking the same road in life and our lives are both orbiting around the same center – Christ. So as long as we stick to that we will be able to work through any difficulties we may run into.

So as we have gotten to know each other better and better we have also both become more and more convinced that God has been planning for us to join our lives together in His service. This has become a stronger and stronger conviction that has come through getting to know each other and seeing how perfectly we fit together and also through our many hours of prayer, together and separately. Everybody around us seems to see the same thing too. A few weeks ago someone said, “It seems like God made you both from the same mold!” And another person keeps telling us, “You two are just like two peas in a pod!” 🙂

We would agree! Part of the reason our relationship has grown so fast is because we don’t hardly have any differences to keep us apart.

So as our relationship grew more and more, we began to wonder how long a courtship should be in a situation like ours. We counseled with several older couples who knew us both. And we also counseled with my parents and Megan’s parents. My parents said they had been praying a lot for us and had confidence that God was leading us, and in a case like ours thought it might be God’s will for us to get married a lot sooner than would be recommended for most people. They too had seen God’s providence working in leading us together, and said we had their approval and support if we felt like God was leading us to get married quite quickly.
A few nights later we brought up the subject with Megan’s parents. They were kind of surprised that we were already thinking about getting married, but seemed very happy about it too. Megan’s mom almost started crying she was so happy! 🙂 We asked if they thought it was too soon to be thinking about getting married already and they said that for most people it would be, but since they could see that we had the same faith-based foundation for our lives they thought we would be very compatible as long as that remained as the foundation of our lives.

We continued to pray about it for awhile after that, both privately and together. I really wanted to be sure we were following God’s will! Marriage is to last a lifetime and it’s not a step to take without being certain you are doing the right thing! Normally I would advise people to have a long courtship and engagement vs. a short one, because most people have a lot of rough spots in their characters that are going to have to be worked through first. But as we prayed we felt like that wasn’t the case with us. We’ve both been through some really fiery trials that have helped to smooth out our characters. We still have a few rough spots I think, but we are aware of them and have talked about them together, and we’ve had some experiences working through them together already. But for the most part our characters and personality blend amazingly well and we both have a pretty clear understanding of what we are doing and what makes for a good marriage. We have also seen a lot of God’s providential workings leading us together and moving us forward in our relationship. And we’ve counseled with our parents and other older people who know us and can see our how our relationship is going.

So we’ve put the safeguards in place and gone through the right steps in our relationship. And we found that our lives meshed so smoothly and beautifully that it was not very long until we felt more and more certain that we were ready to get married!

So the time came when I was thinking it was time to ask Megan to marry me. 🙂 I talked to my parents and they said they were praying for us and they believed God was guiding us, and if we felt the time had come for us to get married they were supporting us.

Next I wanted to talk to Megan’s parents of course and ask if I had their approval and blessing to ask Megan to marry me. I felt like the time was coming soon when I should propose to her, but I didn’t know exactly when. But I was quite sure God would work it out. I had a feeling it would happen in the next two days. I really wanted to talk to both her parents alone at a time when I knew she wouldn’t be around for a little while. That’s a hard thing to arrange because we were together every spare minute, but I had a feeling it was going to get arranged soon, just like happened at GYC. I suspected it might happen the next night, although I had no idea how. And sure enough, it happened just like I prayed for! Her dad was making food and then they sat down to eat. Just then Megan said she needed to go take her shower. Her parents offered me food and her mom said I shouldn’t wait to eat because Megan was going to be gone awhile. That was exactly what I needed to know! 🙂

Pretty soon the conversation turned in the perfect direction and I was able to ask what they thought of us getting married really soon. They were fine with it. Then I asked if they approved of me, and they heartily said they did. Her mom said she is usually very distrustful, but she had no doubt or hesitancy about me! Then I asked if, when the time seemed right, if I had their approval and blessing to ask Megan to marry me. They very readily said yes! And I was very happy!

So next I had to decide when and where to propose to Megan. I had a feeling it would be that weekend but didn’t know when. I still felt a little hesitant lest I should make a mistake. I wanted a little more assurance. I fasted and prayed Friday, and kept praying very earnestly through Sabbath. I felt like I couldn’t ask until I had that last bit of assurance. Sunday morning I was praying earnestly. I was trying to think of any examples in the Bible or sister White’s writings of people getting married quickly. The general rule is to “make haste slowly”. So I was trying to think if there were any examples of exceptions to that rule. Suddenly the story of Isaac and Rebecca came to mind. I thought I had seen even more evidence of God’s leading in my situation than they even had in theirs. I had had a lot more things happen to show God was leading than they had. And in that story Issac and Rebekah had never even met each other! But they went forward in faith that it was God leading. And that wasn’t presumption, because God was indeed leading them. So I decided that I too needed to step out in faith too that all the things I had seen God doing were indicators that He was guiding the affairs of my life. So that story gave me the last little bit of needed assurance! And I decided to ask Megan to marry me at the next opportunity!

Later I found out that the same weekend my mom, who was 1,500 miles away had been praying very earnestly for us, for God to continue to guide us, and she had also been desiring some more assurance that this was God’s leading for us to get married soon. Very shortly after that she was listening to the Patriarch and Prophets audio book and it happened to get to the story of Isaac and Rebekah! She felt like that story was the answer to her prayers and gave her the extra assurance that she needed. That was the very same story God used to give me assurance that same weekend when I was praying for the same thing. And I hadn’t talked to my mom or dad for several days! I didn’t even know about her experience until later the next week, but when I did it gave me even more confidence that God was leading.

There is a lot more I could tell at this part of the story, but I think I will abbreviate it for now because it is getting late and I want to post it this evening. 🙂 So if you want to get the full end of the story you will have to read the updated version later. But for now I’ll just give a summary. 🙂

God arranged for us to have a beautiful setting by a little snow covered water fall and I asked Megan to marry me there. 🙂 Of course she said yes! 😀 She had been feeling like the time had come for us to get engaged too just like I did. And she was so happy when I asked her.

I gave her a beautiful, golden, heart shaped “tiger eye” stone as a symbol of our engagement. (There’s a story behind how God arranged for me to get that stone just a few days before, so I would have it just in time for our engagement!)

We both felt like it was the perfect setting and God had arranged it at just the right time and in just the right way!

We are so happy to be engaged! I think Megan is the most wonderful person in the world! And I’m very happy that she thinks the same of me too! We are looking forward to our life together working for God. He has already arranged everything for us and we have our ministry work already waiting for us.

So last year was a year of fast action and intense activity for me. And if the recent events are any indicator I think this year is going to be the same! 🙂 Sometimes when God sets up things, they can suddenly all come together very fast! Before that time we may feel like we are waiting “forever” and God’s not doing anything! But in reality everything is lining up behind the scenes, and when His time comes to make things happen, it can really happen fast! I’ve been experiencing this a lot over the past year. 🙂

Once again I want to say that I do not advise anybody else to have as short a courtship and engagement as we are having…..unless you are in the same situation and have taken the same steps to ensure your safety and know for certain that God is leading you!

There are more things I would like to write about the different workings of Providence that we’ve seen, but I’d better write that later since it is getting late. 🙂

To end with I wanted to share a beautiful poem Megan wrote for me. 🙂

Together for Life

Together at last, my beloved and I,
The storms of life to weather.
Through trials and pains, losses and gains,
We promise to walk together.

In the years that have passed we have waited,
Just hoping our paths would soon meet,
We watched and prayed, but the answer delayed,
As we made straight paths for our feet.

And now, my dear beloved,
Our Father has ordered it so,
That our lives might unite together,
Their waters to mingle and flow.

You are all fair, my beloved,
In you no spot I find!
Your love is strong and tender,
Your eyes are gentle and kind.

Together for life, my beloved.
Forever – for good or for ill.
My heart to be yours, and until the last,
I promise to cherish you still.