If you know us, you likely know we first saw each other at basketball games in late 2023, where Anna assistant-coached, and Bret supported his co-workers. After seeing each other in the gym during workouts for several weeks following and working up the nerve to introduce ourselves, we had our first conversation on February 20th, 2024. Bret had been briefed on things he might ask about (thanks to a now-sister-in-law), and the conversation that felt like 5 minutes (but was actually 30+ minutes) sparked a pretty strong mutual interest in learning more. Regular conversations became the norm after our workouts each night... and we owe many thanks to the younger siblings who stuck around for that as we learned more about each other :-) March 19th marked our first date, a chilly soccer game with one of Bret's coworkers and his wife to cheer on their son. Our conversation afterward got deep quickly, and we realized how much we enjoyed talking together about the Lord and our personal walks with Him. As early on as it was, we both consider that night to be a moment that we wondered if God might be bringing us together. The following weeks seemed to both fly by and feel like forever. We learned some challenging lessons, and admittedly struggled a bit with communication, time management and relationship building. The people around us were so gracious and supportive, and the intentional conversations we were able to share truly shaped who we are today and how we love each other! As we waited on the Lord’s timing to get married, we’ve been able to support each other through life and career changes, growing closer to our church community, developing spiritual disciplines, and learning how to be each other's help-meet. Although we "fell in love" quickly, so to speak, it was built on a love for the Lord and a mutual learning from one another about faith, theology, the drastically different life experiences and challenges God has brought us through, and goals for the future. Not a day has gone by that either of us has questioned that God fashioned our story and has brought us together for His purposes.