This story and the fact that you're reading this on our wedding website is evidence of Jesus's kindness to us. If it hadn't been for Him, we would not be here at all. Many people try the relationship thing so many ways but in all honesty, unless one knows Christ and is living for His purposes and glory through and through, relationships with anyone, not just romantic are nearly impossible to do well. We believe that our lives are for God's glory alone and that includes our marriage and future. God is the God of mercy and we know that He is a Father to all and He responds to all who come to Him just as they are. But His love is so vast for us to not leave us as we are in our messes and He loves us further into Himself and keeps us on the path of righteousness for His name's sake! Jesus is love and He is forever to be praised. When you read this story, bless God on our behalf for how it is evidence of the goodness of God!

I met Lydia for the first time at a church event in LA. The night before we met, I was hosting my brother and his wife, who were also in town to attend the same event. That night, they randomly happened to ask me what I was thinking about marriage. I wasn't really in a place of looking, so my answer was something like, “just bring me a wife the day of my wedding” lol. Looking back, I think what my heart really meant was that when God brought a woman into my life, I wanted quick discernment and also wanted someone ready for marriage. I met that woman the next day :) I saw Lydia for the first time at a beach worship night the next day, which was a Friday. The event was all weekend and we ran into each other some, but not much because it was packed with group activities. There is a longer and funny story of several little interactions we had throughout the weekend, and we still don't agree on the details lol, but one that really stood out for me was on Sunday afternoon. The whole group went to eat lunch, and Lydia and I somehow got paired to serve people lunch and drinks. We were serving together so smoothly that I remember thinking something like, “it would be nice to do this for life.” A very random thought that I didn't make much out of at the time, but left me wanting to get to know her. She went back to DC that Sunday night, but we both found creative ways to keep the conversation going (who initiated what and how is another detail that remains contested lol). The following weeks were when I started to really get to know her. I got to see how we were aligned on a lot of things, starting from our value system to our outlook on life and family. Seeing how often we were talking and how I was starting to like her, I knew I had to be intentional about where things were going, and also started praying about it. I also communicated my intention to our church leaders to keep us accountable. The turning point was when I found out she had done the same, after which we officially started our intentional pursuit of marriage. The rest is history!

I know many of you have been eager to hear this story ever since we surprised you with an engagement before knowing I was even in a relationship but I promise-there was a good reason for that! Anyways, here's the story. I'm not normally one who travels just for fun. But after I came back from a life-changing trip to Ethiopia in August 2022, my friends and I planned a series of conferences called Revival is Now to share our heart of what we believed God has for this generation. We held these events in three cities: LA in October, Nashville, and DC in November and I participated in all three. To understand this story a little better, you should know my thought process on relationships after August of 2022. I did not want anything to do with A-NY-ONE because I was in my senior year of college and I planned to graduate, pack my things, and move to Addis for at least a year to grow in the vision that I am serving. I was hyperfocused on accomplishing the purpose that God had for me and I wanted to grow and become who I was destined to be with no distractions and paying the necessary sacrifices to do so. In addition to this, LA's event was mostly college students so there was no way for me even to anticipate what could have happened when I got there. I met Baslu on my second day in LA and it was quite brief to the point that all I caught onto was his name, age, and that he was Barok's brother- which was nice because I knew him already! Although we didn't talk much during the three-day conference, by the time it was time for me to fly back to DC, I felt sad about us not having had more time together and we said bye to each other like four times before I left! However, I wanted to guard my heart and thought maybe this was a distraction and so I began to pray and ask God to help me navigate my thought process and feelings. Once I was able to admit to myself that I caught feelings, I decided to talk to my pastor Joye about it to gain wisdom. The nice thing is, Joye is more like a father to me and I can talk to him about anything so I knew I would find some clarity. Upon talking to Joye and hearing his advice I was on my way to a worship night when, Babi, another one of my spiritual leaders, called me and asked what was new which was funny because he was always updated on my life! But it turned out that Baslu had called him to share his feelings about me two days before I talked to Joye! I had no idea that he was interested in me as well but that was the last confirmation I needed to know that this was from God. And so two weeks after we met, we began our relationship and the rest is history!