Some of my earliest memories consist of being on the boat, on the water, on lake Brownwood in Texas. In fact, perhaps my earliest memory is being put down to nap under the steering console and falling asleep with the smells and to the sounds of being on the lake. We spent a good deal of our summers out on the water. It’s a special thing in the Boone family. I remember studying for and taking my boaters safety course exam in order to ensure my love for being on the water was recognized legally by the state of Texas. This also meant some coaching would take place from father to son. Over the years my Dad would teach us the ways of the lake and how to safely take friends and family out on the boat. He would often tell my brother and I, “Don’t you ever teach a girl how to drive the boat unless you’re ready to marry her.” I’m not sure if this was an official family policy, but I followed his orders.

Fast forward, Lindsay and I fall in love in Kenya and we get the chance to see if this thing is going to work out. Let’s be honest. I knew I was going to marry her, barring some crazy issue, before we started dating. I think in a way, I had to know, and I had to fight for her. You see, I not only fell in love with Lindsay, but I fell in love with the story the Lord was writing. It took His penmanship to bring me out of my self-indulgent, adventure as an idol, calloused perspective to show me to this younger yet sweet, compassionate, pure hearted Lindsay who would bring me “home” to love again for the sake of love and the glory of God. So I found myself in Abilene, Texas dating her for about 7 months before I moved to Costa Rica. During this time Lindsay would pledge a social club, work 2 jobs, go to school, be a Young Life leader, a World’s backyard leader, and in her free time come to see me at my parent’s house! I worked with my friend Ben Gibbs delivering furniture while also going to vision trips to Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. Somehow, we made it through all that knowing that we loved each other and that our time would come. Then came the move.

In April of 2013, Bradyn (my brother) and I moved to Costa Rica as the recent founders of the Pro2G Mission. I would say goodbye to Lindsay, asking her to trust me and to let me prepare a place for us. Then I would say hello again on Face Time every night over and over and over again. We dated long distance for over a year sometimes going more than 100 days without seeing each other in person. However, this time was good for us to really communicate and dream of what God would do in our relationship and someday marriage. She also came to see me several times as she saw the progression of our lives in Costa Rica grow and flourish into a place I was proud and thankful to invite her into. We watched as the Lord connected all the dots and wrote a beautiful story of our community and mission here in Costa Rica. Now if she would only graduate, I could finally get her down here.

After Lindsay’s Junior year, the 16^th of May, 2014 everything would change. After two years of dating and preparation it was time to ensure that my love for Lindsay was greater than my love for the water and it too should be publicly recognized by the state of Texas. I had talked to Brad and Cara Lee (Lindsay’s parents) and bought the ring during a very intense fake fight I had to stage to keep Lindsay in the dark. The mission was a “go,” and all the pieces in place. Lindsay and I got to the lake and my parents “unexpectedly” showed up early to ruin our plans of dinner alone when really they had all the supplies in the car and roles to play themselves. At this time, across the lake, the Cranfords and several of Lindsay’s closest friends were waiting at some friends’ house for the call to come over. I told Lindsay that we would just go into town for a fancy date somewhere. So Lindsay begrudgingly started to get ready while we all scrambled to get everything in place. When she was ready we took a picture, got in the car, and tried to decide where to go eat. When Lindsay responded with the typical, “I don’t know, you pick,” I parked the car in the driveway again and said, “well fine, let’s just eat something here.” Confused and upset, Lindsay followed me in where my Mom had all the things to make sushi (one of our favorite things to cook) out on the table. Running a little behind schedule, I made the quickest and messiest roll of sushi in history, preparing and placing all the ingredients in the time it took Lindsay to cut 1 cucumber! (she is a perfectionist and was making conversation) We threw it in a cooler and grabbed 2 wine glasses and went out the back door to where she thought we would eat on the porch. We kept walking down to the dock and there I had the boat ready with a table set up on the back, a hidden camera, and a playlist on the stereo. We drove out to the middle of the lake and turned the boat off to eat while we drifted across the water. Again, being nervous and behind schedule, I ate the sushi, chugged the wine, and skipped several songs and moments on the coordinated speech-to-playlist program I had in my head. The sun began to set and the sky lit up with beautiful colors over the bow. Lindsay asked to take a picture and as we walked up to the front of the boat, I hit record on the hidden camera. I then got up and asked her to sit in the driver’s seat. When she sat down I said, “I think it’s about time you learned how to drive this thing.” I took a knee and grabbed the ring as Lindsay awkwardly, but so cutely, fumbled with the steering wheel and buttons on the helm. She eventually turned around and I asked her to marry me. She said, “Yes!” A lot of kissing ensued followed by her actually turning on the boat and driving back to the dock. She looked up and saw someone taking pictures from the shore and asked, “Is that Caleb? Is my family here?” Of course her family was with mine waiting on the porch lined with candles. We hugged our parents and siblings and prayed together before my Dad invited everyone inside to celebrate. When Lindsay opened the door there was screaming on a frequency so high that every dog in Brownwood started barking. Her friends were all there to surprise her and celebrate our engagement. I had never had so much fun, until I got to marry her. That was even more fun!

-Jason