On Monday, September 25th, 2006, at the beautiful “Eighteen Foot Falls” near Pembine, Wisconsin, I asked Sarah Lynn Zimmerman to marry me.
And she said “yes.”
In fact, I asked her to repeat it because I was secretly recording the whole proposal with my mini digital voice recorder and she simply did not say it loud enough the first time! Thankfully, I have her affirmative answer forever emblazoned in mp3 format. I may need to pull it out from time to time! (Not for my sake, but for hers!)
HOW WE MET
Sarah has been working for the past 3 years as the program secretary at Northland Camp under Trevor Gearhart. I first saw Sarah a few summers ago as I was ministering at Northland Camp. We did not meet at that time. She seemed to be a “behind the scenes” kind of person with a true servant’s heart. She also seemed kind enough. She wasn’t flashy or splashy. Mostly what I knew of her is that she worked in the camp office and appeared to be very good at whatever it was she did. I also remember now thinking she was cute. This was back in 2004.
Fast forward to this summer, 2006.
Being slightly aged and very single, people try and “fix me up” wherever I go. Tirelessly. Mercilessly. It has been a key ingredient in my sanctification, for sure. My time this summer at Northland was no different. Everybody had that special “somebody” already picked out for me and they were just sure it was God’s will for my life. Phooey.
I sat with my dear friend Will Galkin one afternoon pondering all this. If I remember correctly, Will and I were talking about my singleness and my lack of desire to date anyone. Will was never a guy to try and set me up, but I do think he mentioned a couple likely candidates in that geographic locale. Again, phooey.
I honestly figured that marriage for me was several years off (if ever), as I was mostly content with devoting my time to the Kids 4 Truth Ministry. I had comfortably and contentdly resigned myself to this future and in my heart I felt like I did not even want a “relationship.”
And then as Will and I sat there, I saw Sarah Zimmerman walking by. I asked Will about her. Nobody ever tried to fix me up with her. I didn’t even know her name at that time.
Will thought about it for a few seconds. I saw a look spread across his face that belongs only to Will Galkin. It’s a somewhat prophetic look filled with all the intuition of a godly, gifted man that grew up as the youngest in a house with two older sisters. He said: “You know, that might work. I can see that might work!” His face now obviously expressed the thought: “Why didn’t I think of that before?!” Nobody thought of it before.
Except God.
Will asked: “How about I invite her over to my trailer and we’ll play some Rook.” To my amazement, I heard myself quickly reply: “Yes, I’d like that.”
So, Sarah and I officially met and got to know each other a bit one Friday night at Will & Christy Galkin’s trailer. The date was July 14, 2006.
NEXT STEPS
After spending some time with Sarah at the Galkins, I thought to myself: “She’s a great girl. She’s mature, she’s godly, she knows how to handle herself in public. I’m glad I made this new friend.” But there were no real hopes beyond that. I thought I made a new friend and that’s all. And she felt the same way.
But as the weekend wore on, I began thinking about Sarah and her fine qualities more and more. I determined in my heart that I would try and spend some more time with her. I let Saturday blow right by and I didn’t ask her out. About 11PM on Saturday I decided that if God brought her along that night, I’d ask her to go on a date. Yes, at 11PM I decided this (what a goober!). I didn’t see her that night and I figured I’d probably better let the small flame of hope in my heart die out.
The next morning, I went to a church I had not planned to go to and Sarah was there. During the service I began thinking that perhaps the fact that God did not bring her across my path between 11PM-midnight the previous night was not a direct sign from heaven that God did not want me to pursue this wonderful person! So I prayed: “Lord, if you want me to get to know Sarah some more, please have someone invite me out to a group lunch after church and have Sarah there, too!”
Immediately following the service, Brett Ingles came right up to me and invited me out to lunch with a group of singles/couples. I asked him who would be there. Sarah was on the list. Wow. Specific prayer answered specifically. I said that I would go. In fact, I was so ecstatic about this direct answer to prayer I asked Sarah if she would like to ride over with me to the restaurant. She agreed.
We were the first to arrive at the restaurant, so we walked around the Goodwill next to the restaurant for a while. This was a huge test in my book, because if Sarah didn’t like Goodwill—that was an automatic dealbreaker! I’m still not sure if she really likes Goodwill. 
We finally got around to sitting down and eating lunch. It was a buffet, so I got my plate of grub and sat down. She came back with her dish of food and sat down directly in front of me. As I looked up at her, an overpowering thought hit me with full force: “Bob, meet your wife.” This thought startled me and I found it hard to make conversation for a minute or two! Was this thought from God? I think yes.
After lunch I asked Sarah if she would like to spend the rest of the day with me as I visited some friends up in the Keewenaw Peninsula area. She agreed. And if you know Sarah at all, you’ll understand that this was a very big deal for her to agree to this. I praise God she said “yes!” We had a wonderful day. I discovered that day that Sarah was bright, witty, fun, and a woman that fears the Lord (Proverbs 31:30). I knew by the end of that day I wanted to spend more time with her. And so I asked her if I could. And she said “I’d like that.”
ENGAGEMENT
Less than 3 months after formally meeting Sarah, I asked her to marry me. Our relationship has progressed rapidly to say the least! But there simply have not been any big issues to work through. We are confident God is in it. God has given us the ability to communicate with one another on a deep level. Folks, it’s just plain worked. Everything fits perfectly. We want the same things in life. We think similarly about our Creator. It’s as if God made Sarah for me and me for Sarah. I feel as if God created me to love this woman for the rest of my days and I’m happy to do so!
A few days after we met, we prayed together at a large rock at Eighteen Foot Falls. I prayed first. It was a pitiful, short little prayer that probably started: “Dear Lord, thank you for this day…” And then Sarah prayed—and I was profoundly impacted. I knew I was in the presence of a woman that loved her God and walked with Him daily. She prayed deep, meaningful, Scriptural things that stirred my heart. She prayed for me and my ministry. She prayed a long time. She prayed with knowledge, sincerity, and passion. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Sarah was the kind of woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.
On Monday, September 25, I told Sarah that she was not only the “kind” of woman I wanted to marry—she was the woman I wanted to marry. I told her this on bended knee at the same rock where we first prayed together. Our engagement day was truly blessed. God gave us wonderful weather as we travelled to several different spots all packed with meaning. If you would like to download some pictures from that day, please click HERE.
WEDDING PLANS
Sarah and I are planning to be married at Tri-City Baptist Church on Saturday, April 14, 2007 at 3PM. You are invited.
April 14 happens to be my birthday and it was the only date that worked for both us and the Tri-City facilities to have our wedding. What a birthday present! Sarah is proof of God’s graciousness to me. I am marrying far out of my league on many, many fronts. I am thrilled that God has chosen Sarah to be my life’s teammate and I hope these next 7 months fly by! Praise the Lord with me. God is a most wonderful Matchmaker.