I'm engaged!!

If you have facebook, you may have already read the story of how I got engaged. If not, enjoy!

Piet came down to Port Elizabeth on Friday April 23 to help me close up my time there and help me move to Johannesburg. We had lots of things planned for that week, one of which was a whole day in Jeffreys Bay. Jeffreys Bay is such a special place to us because it was there where we met.

We arrived early April 27 (Tuesday) in Jeffreys Bay and went straight for horseback riding. It was a group of 5 or 6 plus two tour guides. We rode through the hills and the grass for the first half of the ride and it was beautiful! The whole time we kept trying to get the horses to walk side by side, but they were so stubborn! My horse didn't want to stop moving, and Piet's horse didn't want to go. So for pretty much the entire time we were riding about 15 meters apart. I had to turn around to look at Piet. And whenever I would turn around, he had such a serious look on his face. He said he was enjoying everything, but was looking so serious! Little did I know, he was looking so serious because he was trying to figure out how to get the ring out of his pocket!

The second half of the horseback ride is on the beach, and the horses literally walk through the water. So we crossed through the sand dunes and arrived at the beach. It was gorgeous and so romantic! By this time, we were way behind the entire group. It was nice because we were just enjoying it together. The only thing was that the tour guide kept staying just in front of us. I kept wondering why he wouldn't just leave us to be by ourselves.

Eventually, the tour guide asked if he could take some pictures of us. Again, the horses were very stubborn so it took a while for us to get side by side. But the tour guide jumped off his horse to help even us out. We took lots of pictures and suddenly Piet pulled a ring box from his pocket. He asked if I wanted to marry him and showed me the ring! I said "YES!" and couldn't stop smiling! I was so excited and happy! The horses walked side by side for a while and we just enjoyed the moment hand in hand. It was perfect! I wanted to go faster and feel the wind in my hair, so we made the horses run for a bit. I wanted to shout, "I'M ENGAGED!!!" but I resisted. :)

We took so long, that by the time we got back to the stables, everyone else had already dismantled and even gone home!

That night, we had a "surprise" engagement party. It wasn't actually a surprise because I figured it out. I knew Piet was scheming something with my friend Jody, and it made sense that it would be a surprise party. So, we arrived at Jody's house later that night and all the people that I love most (in Port Elizabeth) were waiting for us. It was wonderful!

I can't believe I'm marrying the man of my dreams and ministry partner. I couldn't be more satisfied!

-Leah Rush

Come meet Leah on May 23rd Lunch at Bechelli YAKS @12 noon. $5 lunch available.