Providence Engagement Session: Vivian and Ben

Sometimes you just get lucky and work with amazing couples and these two set the bar pretty high. In wanting to share a little bit about the couple, Vivian sent me a beautiful write up about the two of them. Through out the post I’ve shared her words with you, starting with a little bit about how the two first met:

Ben and I met at our church as acquaintances of different life stages. But I think we really met on stage many years later. Me behind a microphone and him behind a guitar. The language of music seems to speak to us intimately though in different ways. I was drawn by the words of songs, and Ben was drawn to the sounds those words can make. I loved that the act of worship, the act of serving, of giving ourselves, was what brought us together. I think it speaks to the intricacy of God’s sweet plan. I love that our relationship is marked by these very acts of giving and serving others whether through food, music, or conversations. The more we gave, the more we grew.

Ben surprised me one weekend when I went to visit him for his birthday. He lived in Connecticut at the time, and he cleverly orchestrated a seemingly normal evening. I walked into the apartment that Friday night, and to my very slow surprise, Ben had turned his apartment into a restaurant with string lights. He sat me down at the table and gave me the menu. The personalized menu indicated that the restaurant is named Rhombus One. I immediately smiled. Rhombus One was a play on words from our beginning conversations because we had agreed Rhombus One’s cousin, Square One, lacked creativity. And now here we were years later, reminiscing about past conversations, back to rhombus one. He made me squeal with the intricate details of the night. I soaked it all in. From the smell of vanilla lavender to the taste of the delectable home-made three course meal, each named and described with thematic significance shared between us. Incredible attention to details. His actual proposal came first though when he gave me the menu and pointed to the top course named “Going out on a Wymm.” Puzzled, I turned to Ben with that look I give him when I get stuck, and I quickly learned this was an acronym for “will you marry me?” when he handed me the tiny dutch oven and himself on his knees.

Being engaged has been a lot of fun. We’ve taken on the task of learning to cook together though cooking has long been a passion and gift of his. Ben has generously shared with me his passion, and we are learning the art of doing things together. Its the process of making the meals I love the most. Like figuring out how to dance in the kitchen.