Garrett likes to say we met in college, but the reality is that we have gone to the same school since we were in elementary. We didn't really know each other or become friends until much later, and now it is sweet to look back and see how God was present and preparing both of us in every season.

Garrett was a senior when I was a sophomore, so our paths didn't really cross. We both did musicals/choir, spell bowl, and FCA. I became good friends with his sister, Mykayla, and so I always just knew Garrett as "Mykayla's brother." She would tell me that I could date her brother, and I would tell her no- I thought he was completely out of my league. He was super popular, good-looking, and athletic. Me, I could barely catch a ball and fell much more on the introverted and artsy side of things (he was literally voted Most Athletic and I was Most Artistic our respective senior years.) But I still noticed him as a great guy. Even though he was really well-liked, he was friendly to EVERYONE- not just people who were friends with him. He really saw people, and I remember thinking, "Wow, I want to marry someone like him." Garrett graduated in 2019 and fully surrendered his life to the Lord, and he began praying for his future wife. Mykayla and I were extremely close by the end of my senior year in 2020-2021, so I spent more time at their house and with their family. One afternoon, I came over to play games with their family (so of course, Garrett was there.) I thought he was SO handsome. I felt like I couldn't form my words right, and my face would get hot every time he looked at me. But it was just a crush- he was at Liberty, and I was in high school.

Garrett and I both went to Liberty University- he from 2020-2022 and me from 2021-2024. This is when things really began. When I decided in 2021 that I was going to LU, many, many people reminded me that Garrett Couchenour went there, and many, many people told me I was going to marry him. Garrett graciously (his parents forced him) agreed to give me rides back home for breaks. Despite speeding tickets, court dates, and his reckless driving, I fell head over heels for the guy. He was a lot of things- funny, adorable, a great singer- but above all, he LOVED the Lord with everything in him. I had never met anyone like him, and I was completely sold. Our families began hanging out more, establishing traditions like Christmas Eve at the Couchenour's and Black Friday game night at the Hays's. Garrett and I started hanging out with the same people. But despite all of this, he really just wasn't interested, and I left it in the Lord's hands, praying that if it was supposed to work out that we would end up at the same school when I did my student teaching.

Garrett and I went our separate ways for the rest of college, and I was pretty confident we wouldn't cross paths again. He was teaching at a school back home in 2022, and then he was off in Texas/Mexico building houses with a missions organization from 2023-2024. He was adamant that he was going to move away from our hometown. I finished school and left the States soon after for an internship in Uganda, Africa. I was set to come back in August and finish my degree with my student teaching at North Knox. I was in Uganda when Mykayla, my best friend, called me. "Yeah, Garrett got the job teaching P.E. at North Knox," she said. My stomach dropped. The prayer I had prayed years ago immediately came to mind. This couldn't be- Garrett was supposed to move away, not come back home and teach in the same school district as me! We were both dating different people at the time, but our friendship continued to grow as we taught some of the same families, attended the same church, played pickleball with our friends, and had countless other interactions. Things ended with the people we were dating, and in November of 2024, I realized I still had feelings for him. That it was more than a crush- I seriously wanted to be with this guy. So I prayed about it. I prayed that God would put it on his heart to ask me out if that was His will. Garrett and I started talking more at Bible study, showing up at the same events for school, and more people started commenting on the fact that we should date. Finally, in December, Garrett realized he had feelings for me. Instead of directly asking me out, he planned a group hangout in which nobody could come except for me. We watched a movie at his house and talked for hours after. Later that week, after watching the elementary Christmas program and eating dinner together, he told me he had feelings for me. We started dating a couple of days after that, and it was pretty much the best Christmas present ever. God's timing is truly the best timing, and our story is just a testament to how faithful He is. He is so kind to us, and He really is a Father who gives good gifts. God brought us together, but He first brought us to Himself. I am thankful that God sees the whole story and that He is the One who writes it. I am thankful that He brought us together and that we get to spend the rest of our lives pointing people to Jesus, together.