...Elsie is on a work trip in San Luis Obispo for a regular board meeting. During that trip, some friends take Elsie into a store to try on dresses for fun. She pulls out a white dress; and, trying it on, realizes that it’s actually a wedding dress! She moves to put it back on the rack, but for some reason, she hesitates. In theory, she will need it one day… But, no. She puts it back on the rack and walks away, though not without the image of that particular dress firmly stuck in her mind. Four months later, Elsie feels led to move to SLO, and while driving around with her new roommate shopping for assorted cups and bowls to fill their empty cupboards, she remembers the wedding dress and asks to make a detour. Her roommate obliges and when they arrive at the store, Elsie finds the wedding dress waiting on a rack in the very back room. She tries it on again, says a little prayer, and buys it. Three days later, on August 8th, 2018, Aaron and Elsie meet. Aaron had been living comfortably in Seattle until he felt led to move to San Luis Obispo in 2016 to plant a church. One of the small groups meets at his place, and as Elsie rides up to visit the group for the first time he turns to his friend and asks “Are we expecting a cute blonde on a bicycle?” Few brides meet their future husband three days after buying their wedding dress, but Elsie did!

...had their friends not, serendipitously, invited both of them to try rock climbing. Over the following weeks, they spend a lot of time at the climbing gym, though whether for interest in the sport or interest in each other it’s hard to tell. After about a month (during half of which Elsie was out of the country) Aaron decides to ask Elsie out. By that point, Elsie guessed it was coming, but had been uncertain as to what she would say. In the moment when they’re walking out of the climbing gym, he asks if she would like to go on a date sometime. All her hesitations go out the window, and she says "yes". Over the next three months, they somehow have occasion to meet both families, travel, serve, have hard conversations, and struggle through difficult circumstances together. They fall in love like they never have before. Overthinking types by nature, the speed is a surprise, perhaps to them most of all. But by February 18th, Aaron is ready to propose. It takes two more months for Elsie to get there, but she does. They can’t wait to celebrate what God has done in bringing them together with you. See you on August 24th!