"I have thrust myself into this maze...

...Haply to wive and thrive as best I may."
(W. Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew, 1.2.56-7)

Attention, loyal blog readers! As of last Saturday afternoon, I am engaged to be married to the lovely Andrea Ruffner. I asked her to marry me on the grounds of the National Cathedral in Washington, a beautiful place that has become rather special to us. To my delight, she said yes.

Andrea and I met last fall when she began attending Capitol Hill Baptist Church, where I was serving as a pastoral intern for the semester. I had the opportunity to sit in on her membership interview with the pastor, and was immediately interested as I heard her testimony of God's grace in her life. We found shortly thereafter that we had a number of interests in common, including literature, theology, education, and more. Our friendship developed over the next few months, and we began dating in May.

It didn't take me long to realize she is one of God's greatest kindnesses to me, and I've fallen deeply in love with her. As some of you are no doubt thinking, it's true, I'm rather overmatched. She's smarter, better-looking, better-educated, and in every other way outclasses me, but please have pity on me and don't try to talk her out of this.

We look forward to a life spent learning to love one another, serve one another, and live together as an image of Christ and His Church.