It all came together when we signed up for a two-day conference at our church. Leading up to the conference, we prayed about how and when we should get married. We wanted to start our marriage off on the right foot, and we felt conflicted about living together before the wedding. On the first night of the marriage conference, Pastor John asked everyone to come up with a question they wanted answered by the end of the weekend. Ours was easy: we wanted to know when and how we should get married. The next day, during a giveaway for the most recently engaged couple, Derek stood up immediately, hoping to win—even though the pastor specified that he wanted couples who had been engaged for two months or less… John called on us and began asking us questions about our engagement, teasing Derek for standing up in the first place. One of his questions was about when our wedding was, to which we responded that we didn’t have a date yet. To our surprise, John said, “I can marry you right here, right now!” He encouraged us to consider getting married soon. We took that as a sign from God and an answer to our prayers. While we didn’t get married that day—we needed a marriage certificate—we did tie the knot just three days later! Our parents were very surprised to receive a phone call asking them to join us for our marriage ceremony on a random Wednesday. Our church community rallied together to help us put everything in place, and we were overwhelmed by the support and love we received. From Madison receiving her wedding dress just two hours before the ceremony, to the pastor’s wife using her wedding planning experience to create our beautiful floral arrangements, to our small group leaders throwing together a wedding reception, it was clear that this wedding was God’s plan for us. Even though our wedding was non-traditional, please know that you are all so special to us, and we love you dearly. On our wedding night, we prayed that all of our friends and family would understand our decision. We are currently in the midst of the homebuying process, which has our full attention right now, but we are so excited to share our story and celebrate with everyone in our own way! With Love, The Blomquists