She said, “Yes!” ~ Aaron Brooks and Hannah Ward, Clarkesville, GA
On July 24, 2015 Aaron Brooks proposed to Hannah Ward in a romantic setting in the Blue Ridge at the site of their first date. Here, Hannah shares the story of the journey that led them to that memorable moment:
“My family has only lived in Habersham for a little over two years now, so Aaron and I have not known each other for a very long time. When we first moved into our rental house in August 2013, our hot water heater had gone out and my dad called Mr. Boyd Brooks to come fix it for us. That would be the first time I would see Aaron. Mr. Boyd and Aaron came to the house soon after Dad called and that’s when the harassment started coming from my siblings and my father.
“You know you and Boyd’s son are about the same age, Hannah.”
“He’s a cute kid! You might really like him.”
These comments continued for days after the hot water heater was fixed. At the time, I just thought my family was being ridiculous, so I ignored them in an honest effort to avoid frustration.
I hadn’t heard from or even thought about Aaron in several months. The only time I saw him was in passing on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights.
Finally, in April 2014, we officially met; of course “officially” meeting for us was via text message. We started texting more throughout the week and we both agreed that we needed to do something other than communicate over the phone. One Sunday afternoon in April, Aaron took me to Black Rock Mountain on a picnic. Our relationship continued to progress in the weeks to come.
In May 2014, we decided that it would be better for us if we went our separate ways because something just wasn’t right in the relationship, so, that’s exactly what we did. What we didn’t know was that God was already preparing us and maturing our relationship with Him so that His will for us would come through in the end.
Aaron and I kept in contact throughout the next year, but things weren’t the same. Neither of us were ready to even look for a serious relationship. We went several months without communicating at all, but at the end of March this year, Aaron decided that we should try again. He started texting me more frequently and again asked if we could do something one weekend when he came home from school. I was very interested in him at this point, so I accepted. On our second “first date,” I could see that this time, things were going to be very different. Both of us had grown up some throughout the past year, and now we were ready to approach our relationship with a different mindset.
From that night on, our relationship has seemed like a complete whirlwind. From the start, Aaron and I made it clear to each other that we were going to keep God in the center of our relationship so that the only way we could grow closer as a couple is to continue to grow closer to Him. That’s exactly what we’ve done and God has blessed us for it. Both of us knew that we were going to get married a month into our relationship.
On July 24, 2015, Aaron asked me if I would be interested in going back up to Black Rock with him for a date night, and, of course, I accepted. That night he picked me up, took me to dinner, and then we made our way up the mountain. When we got to the top, we walked down to the overlook and Aaron asked if he could pray with me. In the weeks leading up to this night, Aaron had asked God if He would be with us as our relationship progressed, but in this prayer, he asked God if He would be with us as we take the next step in our relationship. Right after he said that specific phrase, I opened my eyes, and he was on one knee with a ring in his hand asking me if I would marry him. I said yes! Our families then jumped out from behind cars at the top of the hill cheering and congratulating us on our engagement. It was perfect.
We both are praying that God opens doors for Aaron to begin a Co Op in civil engineering soon. Because that Co Op may require him to relocate, that is when we will look at getting married. After school, he is going to begin looking for a career as a civil engineer, and I will be an elementary school teacher.
Aaron and I are so excited to see how God continues to move in our relationship and, then, how He moves through our lives together.”
