Nate and Emma first met when they were just 14 when they were freshmen at Hudsonville High School. During their sophomore year, they were chosen as homecoming representatives, and little did Nate know, Emma had a crush on him. They were both very awkward in relationships. Emma had barely talked to boys, and Nate was deathly afraid of girls. After homecoming, Nate casually suggested, “Maybe we should add Emma to the friend group.” In reality, she had caught his eye, but he didn’t know how to express it, so this was his way of seeing her more. On April 1st, 2019, Emma texted Nate and told him she was moving schools. Nate nearly had a panic attack and called her right away. APRIL FOOLS! While it was a mean joke by Emma, it made Nate realize that he liked Emma more than he thought. Even though neither of them had ever been in a relationship, Nate realized in that moment that he needed to lock her down. The second Nate got his driver’s license, he asked Emma on their first ever date. Was it a nice dinner? A romantic walk in the park? Not even close. Nate brought her to the worst mini golf course West Michigan has ever seen. Even though Nate sweat through his shirt on the way to the date, he somehow felt calm the second Emma got in the car. It was the first time he had ever felt comfortable with a girl. They ended their date with ice cream, and talked for hours. To this day, Emma carries around the mini golf punch card from their first date. After a few more successful and low-budget dates, Nate struck up the confidence to ask if she wanted to “go out with me.” She said yes, thinking this meant they would go on another date. Meanwhile, Nate left thinking he officially had a girlfriend. After a couple of days of Nate telling people they were dating, Emma realized that they were in fact dating. After that, they never looked back. Whether it be Homecoming, Summer Science, COVID, or various sporting events, Nate and Emma were together through it all. With college around the corner, they made the tough decision to do long distance. Emma played basketball at Cornerstone University in Michigan, and Nate flew to GCU in Arizona. These two decisions led them to very different college experiences with different time zones and different friends. All of the change was difficult for Nate and Emma, as they had previously been inseparable. This tested their relationship and made them decide whether each other was worth it. This decision and sacrifice, while difficult, was the best thing that could have happened to Emma and Nate’s relationship. Long distance led to a maturing in their relationship as well as their individual walks with Jesus. Thankfully, through hundreds of FaceTime calls and thousands of dollars spent flying across the country, Nate and Emma fell more in love each day. In July of 2024, Nate asked Emma to be his bride and if she wanted to spend their lives together. She said yes! Since then, Nate has graduated, moved home, and is now working full-time in Holland. Emma finished basketball, graduated nursing school, and is working as a nurse. God’s grace is silently and consistently woven through every season of Nate and Emma’s six years together. He has challenged, pruned, and strengthened them both individually and as a couple. These high school sweethearts are so excited for a life led by and devoted to the Lord. They ask each person reading this to be prayerful for their marriage and supportive of God’s beautiful design for them to be devoted to each other for life.