Tracy Lawrence helps Valley man propose to girlfriend

There were “Stars Over Texas” on Thursday night. The skies over Las Palmas Race Park became clear and the rain stopped in time for country artist Tracy Lawrence to take the stage.

Lawrence set the scene for heartfelt words with his hits “I See It Now,” “If the World Had a Front Porch” and “Used to the Pain.”

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It was also the backdrop for an important question for Bianca Renteria, 20.

Halfway through his set, Lawrence invited Renteria’s boyfriend Christian Martinez, 20, to the stage. In the crowd were the couple’s parents, and Renteria’s sister, aunt and uncle.

It was the moment of a lifetime — at least a month in the making which began with a phone call to KTEX DJs Jo-Jo and The Patchman, led Martinez to Lawrence’s management and ended with a positive response from the country great.

An on-stage proposal.

Martinez admits, “My heart was racing a hundred miles a minute.”

Martinez called Renteria to the stage, where to cheers and saluds, he began the speech he’d rehearsed: “My unconditional love cannot be described in words. It can only be described through my actions. We’ve been together already for four years. We’ve had good times and bad. The good has always outweighed the bad. Through it all, you and I have always stuck by each other. Now I truly understand why God put you into my life. With that said, I just have one question to ask you …”

Lawrence pulled the ring from his pocket as Martinez took one knee and asked for Renteria’s hand in marriage. She said yes.

The couple shared their first dance as future bride and groom on stage as Lawrence serenaded them with “Texas Tornado.”

As students at the University of Texas-Pan American in Edinburg — where Martinez studies sports medicine and Renteria is a dance major — their schedules are busy.

“She’s a girl that’s hard to surprise,” he said. But, he said, when his soon-to-be mother-in-law told him about the show, it made sense to use the opportunity. “(Bianca’s) a huge fan of him, and (the family has) always gone to his concerts.”

Martinez said his future in-laws were instrumental in planning the engagement. He also had her father’s blessing.

“I talked to her dad a week before. He said, ‘That’s my baby girl; she’s in good hands. I know my baby’s going to be protected by you. I love you as a son.’”

Lawrence put in his two cents about popping the question as well

“He said, ‘Before you go up there, I have a bad record with this,’” Martinez said, adding two of the three previous proposals on Lawrence’s stage had received negative answers.

The singer asked Martinez to point out his future bride in the crowd, and joked that Renteria was too pretty for him. “Let me see the ring,” Lawrence said playfully, before giving his full approval. “Oh, you’re good, you’re good, you’re good.”

Monitor Copy Desk Chief Tami Cupples contributes reviews of country music concerts for Festiva. You can reach her at tcupples@themonitor.com.