Drew and Elizabeth met in the fall of their freshman year at Western Michigan University. Both of them were struggling to find Christian community and were introduced to an RSO group on campus called Fellowship of Christian Athletes. They both were living in Smith Burnham Hall and first met in the lobby on a Wednesday night in October just before heading to FCA together. Neither Drew nor Elizabeth were searching for a relationship at the time, but began getting to know each other more throughout the fall. Because they were both athletes, they began seeing each other often in the dorms, at the dining hall, FCA, the fieldhouse, study tables & attending Radiant Church together! What had started as a friendship began developing into something deeper.

Drew was ready to formally ask Elizabeth to be his girlfriend and they began dating January 29th, 2019. The next year was smooth sailing! They spent lots of time supporting one another with hockey, tennis & school. They also were enjoying leading at FCA together, eating lots of chick-fil-a (their favorite), golfing, playing tennis, watching sports and the Office of course, and just enjoying falling in love together. Then as we all know, in March 2020 the Coronavirus hit. Drew had to go home to Canada for his brother Brett’s wedding and hoped to return 2 short weeks later to America. Little did he know the US-Canada border would be shut down while he was in Canada, preventing him from returning. Because classes were online, Drew had no “essential” reason to travel to the United States anymore. Over the course of the next 4 months, Drew tried to cross the border 3 separate occasions and was denied all 3 times. It was hard to be separated and forced into long distance without warning. It was also hard having absolutely no idea when they would reunite or when the border would open again. After months of prayer, some tears, lots of border research & quite a few facetime calls... Drew found a loophole in the closure and was able to finally fly to Michigan on July 13th, 2020!

Now let’s get to the proposal!!!! In June, while Drew was stuck in Canada, he had bought the engagement ring for Elizabeth. Drew brought that ring on Elizabeth’s family trip to Colorado in July in case he got the chance to ask permission from her dad & have even a chance to propose there. He brought it on all the mountains they hiked together and Elizabeth was clueless. He did not get the chance to propose while in Colorado but after the school year started, he came up with a new plan. Elizabeth’s roommate had tested positive for COVID-19 in September so Elizabeth was placed in quarantine in her house for 2 weeks. To celebrate getting out of quarantine, Elizabeth and Drew went on a date in downtown Kalamazoo at Olde Peninsula Pub and shared some burgers together. After dinner, Drew walked Elizabeth to the top of one of her favorite parking garages in downtown Kalamazoo to “watch the sunset”. Little did she know this is where the proposal was beautifully set up (with some help from his roommates Jared & Mikey, & my roommate Emily). Drew got down on one knee that night on September 25th and Elizabeth said YES! After the proposal, there was two people on the parking garage next to them singing/playing the guitar worshipping Jesus. They both knew that was not a coincidence but rather a special moment they felt the Lord watching over them & their future together. We cannot wait to celebrate our wedding day with all our friends and family together on July 9th, 2022!!!