The first time I (Abby) attempted to write this, I read '4,000 character limit' as '4,000 word limit.' You can imagine my shock at having to narrow my 8 pages down to 1. When people ask about our story, it's hard to know where to start. September 21st, 2025 was the official day we met. We also went to college together, spanning the years of 2014-2017. More than that, though, I truly believe our story began long before we knew of the other's existence. Someone recently told us we were "made for each other," and, on the outside, that's just a worn-out cliché. The more we thought about it, though, the more we saw the truth to that statement. I genuinely believe when God was knitting each of us in our mothers' wombs, He was weaving in strands of love and care specifically for the other person. The way Nick loves me (and I him) is so personal and specific to core parts of me that there is no other explanation but God. Speaking of God, I can say with full confidence that I need no greater proof of His love and existence than how He has orchestrated all of this. After the gift of salvation and eternal life through Jesus, Nick is God's greatest gift to me. I cannot overstate how grateful I am for the ways in which He has worked through countless people to bring us together. 4,000 characters is simply not enough to tell our full story (so please ask, if you'd like to hear more), but I will try. I have always believed life is more than mere coincidence and all things happen in the Lord's timing, but this experience has cemented that belief tenfold. You see, though Nick and I were existing in the same sphere for the last 10+ years, there were certain things both he and I needed to go through and grow through in order to be ready for one another. Although Nick and I went to college together, we didn't officially meet until last September. This meeting took place because of two praying women: Carol and Ginger. While working at Serendipity & The Brew in downtown Marshall, I got to know these two wonderful women, as they were regulars. On two separate occasions last summer, they had brought up the idea of Nick to me, saying they thought we'd be a great fit. I didn't think much of it, at first. Unbeknownst to me, they had been praying for Nick to find his person since February. I had come to mind immediately for both of them. However, it wasn't until that summer that they mentioned him to me. The Sunday after I officially got offered my job at KCC (another working of the Lord), my mom offered to visit Woodland Church with me. After service, I introduced her to Carol, knowing where this may lead. Carol had all but shaken my mom's hand before she was dragging me down the aisle at the church, where Nick was standing in the back sound booth. With a crook of her finger and a single, "Nick," she commanded him over. He obediently came to us, and after a brief introduction and a "Oh, this is perfect!" from Carol as she flitted away, Nick and I proceeded to talk for the entire 45 minutes in between services. I should have seen the foreshadowing. After some Facebook messaging that next week, we decided to go on a coffee date, grabbing lattes from none other than Serendipity and walking around Marshall while we talked. That walk turned into a 4 1/2-hour, 12 mile walk around the streets of Marshall, during which our conversations spanned several topics: family, work, health and fitness, church, passions, friends, and - maybe most importantly - MOO-Ville ice cream. Throughout that walk and talk, though, I saw beyond what Nick was saying. I saw glimpses of who he is as a person: someone who is observant, considerate, kind, understanding, humble, attentive, and caring. All specific traits I'd been praying for in my future husband. Since then, those traits and our conversations have only deepened. I could go on for hours, but I will end with this: a while back, my dad asked me, "So, Abby. Was he worth the wait?" The answer? A resounding, "Yes!"