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Engagement Stories: Keena & Sean

My name is Keena, and I’m engaged to be married to Sean in July 2010. We met through our involvement with Campus Crusade in greater Boston when we were both college students there.

Given that I’m from California originally and he is from Boston, we spent a great deal of time during our multiyear courtship apart, with summer and winter breaks and my studying abroad. This strategy was great for helping us maintain our physical and emotional boundaries, but it made it difficult sometimes to assess where we would end up and whether to consider engagement and marriage as potential outcomes for this relationship.

Last fall, we were very encouraged by going through a pre-engagement counseling process with a pastor and his wife from our Boston area church.

After much prayer and thought, Sean decided to move to California to be closer to me and my family. God has been so faithful — we’ve found and joined a local church, Sean has been living with Christian guys around his same age, and we’ve both been able to find work.

I have consulted Boundless for several years to help me build and encourage a worldview that values family, marriage and Christian ministry during the tumultuous 20s. I’ve passed along your resource to many of my friends, many still attending Wellesley College. Anyways, the actual proposal is below:

I had plans to meet my mom, brother, and sister at Disneyland at the end of a work day. I parked in some random parking lot far from the park. When I got on the shuttle, I looked out the window and spotted Sean’s car in the parking lot. I immediately realized why Sean would be at Disneyland, and wanted to call someone to talk, but didn’t want to blow the cover of anyone in on the surprise.

When I got off the bus, I found my mom and the kids. She directed me inside the park, where a family friend, Judie Ben, was waiting. Judie handed me a small envelope decorated with a sticker of a diamond solitaire, and inside was a card with small pictures. Bob Dole, a pine tree, an apple, a whip? Ahhh….off to the Tiki Room, where you get Dole Pineapple Whips, my favorite dessert.

When we got there, I find my Aunt Nancy. She hands me a similar card. The card is clearly for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. When I get there, I get a third clue, from my step-dad Craig. This time, the “Bayou” and “Bling” indicate the jewelry store in New Orleans Square.

I finally arrive at the jewelry store, and get my last card — a picture of a castle with Sean’s handwriting — “You know where to go….”

>I fight my way through the crowds towards the castle — and see Sean standing alone in front of it. Sean gets quickly to one knee and says (something like…), “Keena, being with you for the past three year has been one of the best things in my life. I can’t imagine any other person causing me to grow so much as an individual and with the Lord. Will you marry me?” I kind of nod, and he opens a ring box!

I was just really happy that Sean had gone to such great lengths to surprise me and include my family and friends. After all the excitement, we went to the nearest shop and picked up “Just Engaged!” pins. At the end of the evening, we watched fireworks. It just felt as though the whole evening was wonderful even to the last detail.

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Do you have an engagement story of your own that you’d like to share? Send your photo and narrative to [email protected]. Please note that all stories that are selected for publication may be edited for clarity and privacy and become the property of Focus on the Family.

 

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