"Trust in the Lord with all your heart And lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths."

Andrew met his future spouse, Esther, when they were placed in the same group at NYTS 2012 in Hillsborough. While Andrew’s intention for attending NYTS was to spiritually prepare himself for the rigors of university life, Esther caught his attention when she led the morning Bible study. Andrew’s impression of Esther was that she was a thoughtful and diligent sister who had a peaceful presence. In the following years, Andrew met Esther at various church events. Apart from greeting her, Andrew did not try to interact with Esther outside of church. At the time he had the simple faith that God would bring his helper to him, and therefore, Andrew "slept". “The LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.” (Genesis 2:21-22) At the start of 2020, Andrew was approached by a marriage coordinator to introduce Esther to him. Being unemployed, Andrew did not think it was the right time to start the process of courtship. However, after receiving encouragement from a preacher and support from parents, Andrew agreed to the introduction. God blessed Andrew with a job shortly after.

After the courtship started, Esther struggled a lot with feeling comfortable with herself and had a hard time believing that someone would like to spend time with a person like her. That insecurity, along with the busyness of Andrew’s job, pushed Esther to earnestly cast all of her cares before God everyday. As the months went by, Esther began to realize that God was guiding them, even if it was imperceptible to her at that time. In her journal, she wrote: “Living by faith means clinging to Him, praising, and thanking Him even before we see the seeds of His work budding in our life.” This was the lesson that God wanted Esther to learn first. As the months passed, Esther admired more and more things about Andrew. She noticed that he was a very patient and gentle person who was straightforward and a logical thinker. He was also very dedicated in fulfilling responsibilities to the best of his ability, even if it meant sacrificing time and energy. As they spent more time together as spiritual coworkers and friends, Esther and Andrew both saw how amazing God’s arrangement was. Even though it was a difficult lesson to learn, they experienced the truth behind the verse, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” (Prov 3:5-6) “Wonderful are Your works; my soul knows it very well... In Your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand...” (Psalm 139:14b, 16-18a) We earnestly pray that our future marriage be a continual testimony of God’s wisdom, faithfulness, and steadfast love.

“I waited patiently for the LORD; He inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD. Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie! You have multiplied, O LORD my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.”