I first met Brooke on a humanitarian aid deployment in Ethiopia in July, 2021. I had just moved to Ethiopia permanently and was preparing to live in the Tigray region to support the aid work for displaced people during the ongoing civil war. Due to flight delays and a bout of food poisoning, my stay was prolonged just enough to overlap with Brooke for a few days in Addis Ababa! A work colleague of mine tipped me off that I should look out for her because he thought we’d have some things in common. He was right! I remember the first night we met, I found an opportunity to chat with her one on one on a long walk to get pizza at a local restaurant with a few coworkers. Topic after topic I was amazed just how alike we were in our interests and previous travels! I wanted more opportunities to get to know Brooke which fueled a several awkward encounters in Ethiopia and later on in our friendship. I specifically remember packing up my bags in the office on my last night in Addis and asking how late she was staying. I told her I was getting ice cream that night, hoping she would want to tag along. I nervously left out the invite and ate ice cream by myself the night before my flight to Tigray! Fast forward 10 months, I moved back to the US and found myself joining Brooke’s team within Samaritan’s Purse. As inconspicuous as I thought I was, I was quickly known as the guy that hung around Brooke’s cubicle to chat a few times a day. Part of Brooke’s job was to oversee the finances for the projects that were going on in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a place that I had lived in for 2 years while working for Samaritan’s Purse. We’d chat about DRC, upcoming trips, and we always seemed to have a tab open for Google maps to talk about where we would like to visit next. On the weekends we would spend time at a mutual friend’s house playing board games, going on group hikes, and occasional work retreats/dinners. I also found myself suddenly interested in making sourdough because of Brooke’s baking hobbies and would frequently text her to “check-in” and compare hers to mine and ask advice. Brooke and I started dating after spending nearly a year together as close friends two summers ago at Valle Crucis park in Boone, NC. Nearly a year later, I asked Brooke to marry me on a sunset hike near Grandfather mountain outside of Boone, NC. This engagement season has been busy! From our MBA classes, to experiencing a category 5 hurricane while on vacation, to my home flooding in Boone, to a few job changes, we have experienced a lot together these last few months! In all of this, I’ve never met someone as beautiful, patient, kind, funny, and as adventurous as Brooke is in my life. She is my best friend, and I am so excited for this upcoming chapter in our lives to see where the Lord leads us!

Jackson and I met in July of 2021 in Ethiopia in the capital city Addis Ababa. I was on a month-long work trip based in our company’s office in Addis and Jackson had just accepted a full-time position with the same company, but based in northern Ethiopia. We weren’t supposed to cross paths as Jackson had moved to Ethiopia and was supposed to take a UN flight from Addis to northern Ethiopia a few days before I would even arrive. Due to food poisoning and several days of canceled UN flights, Jackson remained in Addis for an extra week. Jackson and I walked together and sat next to each other during several group dinners and chatted quite a bit. I found him to be very interesting, kind, funny, adventurous and well-traveled. Most importantly he loved the Lord. He also seemed curious about me and asked a lot of questions, but I wondered if he was simply just being friendly and social. Everyone seemed to really like him. I didn’t read too much into our interactions though as he was moving to a conflict zone with no internet access and I needed to focus on performing well during my trip. But I did start to wonder if he was being more than just “friendly and social” one evening. After a long day in the office he slowly began to pack his things and asked if I was planning to stay late.. I said probably. I had a lot to do. He announced that he was going to go get ice cream. I wondered if the statement was an invitation. He continued very slowly packing his things and left the office. I discovered later it was. Oops. Fast forward one year later, a position opened up on my team. Jackson applied, accepted the position and moved to Boone, NC. Over the course of a year and Jackson and I became really good friends. We spent a lot of time together through game nights, bonfires and hikes. We were both interested in each other long before we started dating. Eventually the group hang outs became one on one hang outs which became dates which turned into dating for about a year until Jackson proposed at a stunning overlook in the Blue Ridge Mountains after a hike and a picnic. I knew very early on that there was something special about him and about our relationship. I had a deep knowing in my spirit that if we started dating we would probably get married. God had also spoken very clearly to me through his Spirit, through other people and through dreams to confirm this. We had so many connections that only God could have orchestrated. Even back in Ethiopia in 2021, I filed many of our connections discovered through conversations away in my mind and wondered if God would resurface them. They were hard to ignore. Our vision for what our life would look like as well as our values and love for the Lord were all so aligned. We are very excited for our marriage and all that God has prepared for us to walk through together with Him. Jackson is my best friend and one of the greatest gifts God has ever entrusted me with. I am so excited to begin our life together and so excited to celebrate with all of you!