July | 10 | 2026

The story begins during Emily’s first year of college in Oklahoma. In need of a roommate, she was connected to someone who would soon become her best friend, Maite Like. They met the very day Maite moved into the apartment, and over time, their friendship grew quickly and deeply. Travis is one of Maite’s older brothers. When he first came to Oklahoma to visit his sister, he didn’t even realize Emily was Maite’s roommate—he only saw her briefly in passing. Yet even in that short moment, Travis sensed there was something special about her. The next time Travis visited Oklahoma, he and Emily truly connected. Over a few short days, Emily tagged along with Travis and Maite, but it felt less like tagging along and more like going on dates. Emily’s first impression of Travis was that he was a true gentleman. She had never met a man with such genuine kindness, intentionality, and good manners. He was thoughtful, fun, and easy to be around. The entire time they spent together, Emily found herself laughing constantly. When Travis returned home to California, Emily waited—confident that what they shared meant something. Days passed, then weeks, and Travis didn’t reach out right away. Finally, one evening, Emily received an Instagram notification: Travis had slid into her DMs. What did he send? A reel about sourdough bread. Smooth—very smooth. After weeks of waiting, that was not how Emily expected the conversation to begin. On Travis’s end, he was incredibly nervous. He felt Emily was completely out of his league. After all, pursuing your sister’s best friend and roommate is a bold move. He had been praying, asking the Lord for perfect timing and a clear way to start a conversation. While scrolling through Instagram, he came across that sourdough reel—an odd thing, considering Travis usually only watches car videos. He took it as a sign and sent it. What he knew was that Emily had been learning how to make sourdough bread at the time. That reel sparked a conversation that lasted from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. Emily’s time—back-and-forth messages where neither wanted to put their phone down. It wasn’t even a phone call yet, just nonstop messaging. The only way to explain it is that it felt right. The timing was perfect. God was clearly at work. From that point on, they became inseparable—despite being 1,400 miles apart. FaceTiming, calling, messaging, and writing letters filled the distance between Oklahoma and California. Travis, a true romantic, made sure Emily received flowers often. He would even enlist one of Emily’s friends to surprise her with coffee and a bouquet. Within just two weeks, they knew they loved each other. One emotional night, they said “I love you” over FaceTime—tears flowing—having never hugged or kissed, but knowing through pure communication and connection that the Lord had brought them together. Three months after they first began talking, they finally saw each other in person again. Both were nervous. But the moment Emily picked Travis up from the airport, it was clear—this was someone she would spend the rest of her life with. That week together was filled with dates, laughter, and intentional pursuit. Emily saw firsthand the love Travis had been wanting to show her all along. It was the best week, filled with love made tangible. Then, once again, Travis had to fly home. After six months of long distance—only seeing each other for two weeks total—the distance finally came to an end. Travis felt the Lord leading him to attend the same Bible college as Emily, pursuing both ministry and a future together. From a passing glance to a sourdough reel, God wrote a love story far better than either of them could have imagined.

One week before Travis got down on one knee, Emily was told she’d been invited to a wedding. According to Travis, he had been “last-minute invited” by someone he barely knew—a friend of his brother-in-law, Matthew. Emily had never heard of this person or the couple getting married. Travis explained that he met “Brandon” while branding cows at Matthew’s ranch (ironic, right?), and since Emily loved weddings, he knew she’d happily go as his plus-one. In her mind, it sounded like a fun double-date with Matthew and Maite. Emily was a little skeptical at first and asked Travis a ton of questions, but he had thought everything through. They even had a fake wedding invitation made. For every question she asked, Travis, Matthew, and Maite had smooth, believable answers. Eventually, Emily was fully convinced that she was going to a wedding that Saturday at 1 p.m. Then Saturday morning came—and so did the rain. Pouring, storming, nonstop rain. The day Travis planned to propose outdoors suddenly looked impossible. He quickly scrambled to come up with a new plan. He told Emily that the wedding had been pushed back to 3 p.m. because of the weather. Emily didn’t think much of it and actually felt bad for the poor couple whose big day was getting rained out. She and Maite stuck to their plan to get ready together at Maite’s place. They spent the morning drinking coffee, curling each other’s hair, and doing their makeup. Just as they were finishing up, Matthew told them that he and Travis had been asked to go early to help “set up the wedding.” So Emily and Maite left a little later and headed to the venue. Travis and Matthew arrived at the venue and met up with Travis' two brothers; Jon and Austin and Austin's girlfriend, Erica. The rain had calmed down a lot since they got to the venue, but the sky was still dark and the sun wasn't out. They got all together and began to pray over the weather. About 5 minutes later, the sky completely cleared up! Just in time for the proposal! Praise God. When Emily and Maite arrived, they saw wedding vendor trucks, a bridal party, and a team of people setting up flowers. The venue where Travis planned to propose happened to be a popular wedding location—and a real wedding was actually taking place that day. Emily had no reason to doubt anything; she was completely convinced the wedding was real. She and Maite walked inside and headed down toward where “everyone else” supposedly was. As they rounded the corner, Emily spotted Travis standing alone. That’s when Maite looked at her and said, “Em, there’s no wedding. Look at Trav.” Emily was in complete disbelief and in pure shock. What. A. Day.