Some days are a gift. They hold more meaning than words can describe.
I’ve been struggling to put this photo into words for three days now, I’m not sure I will do it justice. What I can say is this day represents all the kinds of love the Bible teaches us: romantic, family, friendship, and selfless love.
Josh proposed to Ashley in the woods where the birds eat out of your hands—romantic love.
I think this is the love we search for the most as girls. We feel seen with romance. We feel chosen.
On January 11th, one year after they were engaged, I felt it important to share what I witnessed that day. It is a beautiful testimony to God’s goodness. But again, I couldn’t find the words.
I searched for a scripture that matched the date—1:11—and came across Ephesians, the very first book I ever studied. It will always hold a special place in my heart.
“In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,” Ephesians 1:11 NIV
Pure joy isn’t just the snapshot we are lucky enough to capture in a brief moment. To me, it represents all the struggles and sacrifices that led up to it—a glimpse of hope of what’s to come.
To see this smile on this girl after everything she and Josh went through—all the sacrifices and years of waiting—that is where pure joy comes from.
I prayed for Ashley before I ever met her. I once read a book that encouraged parents to pray for their children’s future spouses from the day they are born. Josh was already in high school, so I had missed many years, but I prayed diligently for his future wife.
I figured it would be years and years before we met her, and that he would go through many girlfriends along the way. But I was praying for whoever God had chosen for him.
During COVID, his junior year of high school, Josh asked me if he could go to a bonfire with some kids. I asked who would be there, and he said, “Some girl I’ve been talking to.” When I heard the name Ashley Hite, I screamed.
You see, I had met her grandma, Colleen, several years earlier at a volunteer event, and we connected instantly. We joked that we should fix Josh and Ashley up for homecoming since they both had no dates. We laughed, and I hadn’t thought about it again—until Josh said her name to me that night.
Had this been the girl I had been praying for? Surely not. They were still in high school.
But a few months later, Josh asked me, “What if she’s the one, Mom?” I told him that if she was, he would have to love her more than me. I wasn’t ready for that—but I knew that’s how a healthy marriage needs to be. Your spouse comes first, after God, of course.
They made it through COVID, the unexpected passing of Ashley’s uncle, three and a half years apart while attending schools in different towns, and all the struggles that came with it.
So when Josh told me he was going to propose at their graduation party, I wasn’t surprised.
Ashley and I went to pick up cupcakes at Walker Farm the morning of the party. They just so happened to be trying to find homes for kittens. Ashley and I both love kittens, so when we were handed this beautiful half–Siamese, half–tiger kitty with clear blue eyes, we were in love. We were told her name was Opossum, with the emphasis on the “O.”
I was the first to hold her. She hissed, but I didn’t care. I pulled her close to my neck. She had the silkiest soft fur. For a brief moment, I wanted to say she was mine—but I knew Josh was proposing later, and I knew this kitten was a gift from God to them.
A few minutes later, “O” was in the backseat alongside the cupcakes. I told Ashley we’d better pray that the boys weren’t mad we were bringing home a kitten without asking.
After we left, Ashley began to pray out loud. She prayed in a way I had never heard her pray before, and I silently thanked God for a praying wife for my son. Pure joy.
A red cardinal flew in front of our car. Pure joy.
We both prayed. We gave thanks for the cat and the cardinal and the delicious cupcakes. We prayed for the party and for those who were coming, and for safe travels as the snow began to fall heavily. The ground and trees were blanketed with a beautiful, fresh white snow.
And then, out of nowhere, a red heart-shaped balloon danced across the snow. And I knew—beyond a shadow of a doubt—that this was the girl God had chosen for Josh, the one I had been praying for long before I ever met her.
Pure Joy.
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