We are getting married!!!!! kinda...

It's amazing how you can take a step back, fear not, surrender and see exactly how the Lord works in your life. We never know why things happen in the moment and we may never know at all, but when God lets you in on His plan... it is glorious. "fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10 Daniel and Danielle met on a dating app. (the conventional way of meeting) Both of these single parents decided to browse without expectations. Danielle went on the site for one last time with boundaries of being pursued knowing that a foundation of any sort started with Christ and a friendship! Picture this... *swipe no... swipe no.... swipe no... oh wait! Who is this man? Nothing in here about Jesus.... about to swipe no* The pull on Danielle's heart was odd and real that she decided to like a photo expecting never to hear from this man. Not even a day later, Danielle received a message from Daniel. Pursued, check! His first ever conversation with Danielle was about faith in Jesus. Pursued again, check! He did not compliment her on her looks, and went straight for the things that mattered like her faith and her commitment to her daughter. This man had a love for Christ and was raising a wonderful son! It is like God knew exactly what He was doing! PURSUED... CHECK! They started talking on the phone for about two weeks and about 5 hours each night before physically meeting. Pursued, check! They finally met in person on May 4th, 2019 as Daniel drove up to Danielle's apartment. (If they do not explain this story correctly, it looks like they met in an Uber) They went to Universal City Walk to talk about faith and life and Danielle fell madly in love... then the journey began. Pursued and locked down forever! Check! They both sharpen each other with a fervent love for Christ. This is the beginning of their story and just a piece of God's larger story.

The leading of the Lord comes on strong and with conviction. On the day that Daniel decided to propose, he understood that he needed to follow the leading of the Lord first and foremost, trusting that a plan would have to come later. He walked into Danielle's salon on 10.16.19 with only one goal in mind: to step into the role that God had laid out for him to fulfill as a husband and father in the life of another. As he rounded the corner he spotted Joy, one of Danielle's best friends, sitting outside. They prayed together over the unfolding events of the day and got to work planning out the unplanned proposal itself. There were several obstacles, Danielle was busy with clients and then she left very suddlenly with Joy to pick up her daughter from school only to take her to an untimely dentist appointment. How do we get Danielle back to the salon?! There was only one hope! JOY! There was an internal struggle of telling a white lie within Joy as Danielle played a podcast about witnessing to truth and to not lie, but she she lied anyway. Joy told Danielle that she left her keys at her salon and needed them. Joy proceeded to try and take Addison into the salon with her, to lure Danielle in, this was not the mother's first rodeo. It would have taken 10x longer if Addison went in. The plan blew up! Now what?! Another lie! Joy told Danielle that her sink was leaking. Danielle, frustrated, pulled her Jeep over and jumped out with Addison to go into her salon. As she walked in, Daniel was standing there. The hurricane of emotions that had filled the week prior seemed to silence itself in the realization of what was unfolding. Joy and Addison left as the couple took some time to themselves in Danielle's new salon; a beautiful representation of the new season that the two were stepping into. Daniel poured his heart out and told Danielle that he wanted to love her like Christ loved the church, got down on one knee, pulled out a ring and popped the question. Yes! Done deal!