The Proposal

While she was in Kenya

A Dinner with Her Parents

Lydia travels annually to Kenya with Straw to Bread. Luke used the window wisely.

He set up dinner with her parents, Mike and Valinda, and asked for their permission and blessing to propose. They gave both — happily. That same evening, he began the process of designing the ring.

The ring

Designed Around the Number Seven

He ordered it through Etsy — built specifically around what he knew Lydia would love. The theme threaded throughout is the number seven: the biblical number of completion and perfection.

It was the right theme. To both Luke and Lydia, faith is not a label, a hashtag, or a cultural preference. It is the foundation everything else is built on. Their relationship doesn't acknowledge Jesus with lip service — their faiths have been built throughout their lives, and it has been central to who they are to each other from the very beginning.

The setup

Getting Her to Eagle Creek

Months of planning had gone into this — recon documents prepared, a full briefing distributed to the team. Luke asked Lydia about her week. She wanted to have dinner with family Wednesday, and they already had plans Friday. He suggested a short hike at Eagle Creek on Thursday.

Then, on Tuesday, Lydia texted asking to go to Eagle Creek — she wanted to get outside and into fresh air. Luke thought it through immediately. With the heat index at 106° that day and 108° forecast for Thursday, she probably wouldn't want to go back again the same week. He made a few calls, moved a few things around, ran home to pick up the ring, and picked her up.

Eagle Creek

The Bench

He tucked the ring box into his CamelBak and made a small show of his empty pockets on the way in — just to make sure the surprise was locked in. They walked under the canopy of trees, a breeze off the reservoir keeping the heat bearable.

As they approached the bench — the same bench where Luke had asked Lydia to be his girlfriend, where they had shared their first kiss — the song "Only Girl" by MacKenzie Carpenter came on.

He hadn't planned that. He couldn't have.

They sat down. From the corner of his eye, Luke watched for his recon team — his parents, there to photograph the moment — and waited until they were ready. He asked Lydia if she remembered being there before.

She did.

He took the ring box from the CamelBak and got down on one knee. He proposed in French first — the same language he had used to ask her to be his girlfriend. She said yes before he could finish the English.