Once upon a time, Adonias and Meredith met at The Life Church during a rehearsal for an Easter special. After two days of rehearsing and eventually singing for six weekend services, they decided to take a break in the auditorium and a conversation ensued. In a span of about fifteen minutes, they chatted about their jobs, how long they'd lived in Memphis, what led them to join the church and even how they both felt different and misunderstood at times. The conversation, while very brief, set the stage for friendship to begin. A few weeks later, Meredith received a text from a number she didn't recognize. It was Adonias, saying hello and asking if it would be okay to hang out sometimes. He had gotten her number from the group text for the Easter special. Clever guy!

One Sunday, while sitting in the green room between services, a few friends on the Worship Team began to ask Meredith about her "love life" which she assured them was inactive on purpose. They picked and probed and tossed Adonias' name into the ring. She politely told them that he was only a friend and quite young for her to date. In fact, she was secretly trying to set him up with other friends. She had no doubt that he was a great guy — she simply wasn't interested and was quite bothered that they would even consider him for her. They ignored her reasons and didn't let up. Meredith decided to text Adonias to warn him that he may get "interrogated" the next time he's around the team and, to her shock and surprise, he didn't seem at all shocked or surprised (or bothered) by the topic of them dating. In fact, he admitted that he had been interested in her for a while but elected not to say anything as he didn't want it to disrupt their friendship. she was shocked! SHOCKED!!! To give him an opportunity to share his heart in person (read: chu got some 'splainin' ta do, brother!), they sat on a patio at a nearby Starbucks to "spill the beans" - pun intended. As sincere as his approach was, she still wasn't interested. He spent the next couple of months pursuing her... and she spent that time avoiding him. Finally, he took a chance and asked her on a date. She turned him down (twice) and communication between them slowed down tremendously until...

The beginning of the year was a really tough one for Meredith as she faced some health and relational woes and lost her grandmother to cancer. She realized that her normal way to handle heavy matters by internalizing them and shutting down would no longer work so she prayed that God would send her a friend that she could confide in. At the same time, Adonias, as he often would, sent her an encouraging text and a reminder that he was praying for her. She responded to his text saying, "Aside from my dad, I think you're the only man who prays for me. I appreciate who you are, Adonias. I really do." It was then that she realized he had been a much better friend to her than she had been to him. She made a promise in prayer that if the topic of dating him ever rose to the surface again, she would handle him with more grace and tact and not avoid him or be rude as she had before. Later that day, he invited her (and a group of other friends from church) to see a play and, this time, in an effort to be a better friend, she graciously accepted the offer. Besides, he invited a group of people and months had passed since he asked her on a date. It was safe to assume that he was over her, right? Wrong.

Meredith arrived to the venue where the play would be held and, since she didn't know which building to enter, Adonias offered to meet her outside to walk her in. They met up in the parking lot and she asked him if the other guests he invited were already seated. He looked at her and grinned. She called him a sneaky snake, thinking this was a big ploy to get her to finally agree to hang out with him. He insisted that the other guests cancelled at the last minute (even showed her their texts), leaving the two of them alone. He considers this their first date but she refuses to agree. ;) When the play wrapped, they (very awkwardly) decided to grab a bite to eat. During dinner, Adonias shared that while he didn't plan for the two of them to attend the play together alone, he did pray weeks prior that God would give him another opportunity to share his heart with her... and that, this time, she would listen. He didn't know how she had prayed a similar prayer. At the end of dinner, they went for a drive to continue their conversation and he asked, "If I invite you to a play — and you KNOW that it's just going to be the two of us — will you say yes?" Reluctantly, she agreed. A week later, Adonias took Meredith on a lovely scavenger hunt of a first date that included cards and clues, a painting class (her picture was better than his lol), dinner and live jazz to follow. His only request at the end of the evening was that she agree to begin talking on the phone with him (which she loathes, btw). Hesitant at first, she complied. They found themselves texting all day and talking all night every day and entered an official courtship on Good Friday, March 30, 2018. 'Twas a good Friday, indeed.

Early that morning, Meredith (realizing she had left her umbrella in her car), stepped into the pouring rain to leave for work. As she ran towards her car, she noticed that Adonias' umbrella was on the ground, filled with water. She ran over, emptied it out and set it on the side of the house and figured maybe it had fallen out of his car during his last visit. As she ran back towards her car, she noticed her favorite flower and a card on the windshield. Adonias leaves cards on her windshield often so she thought nothing of it. She grabbed the flower and card and got inside of the car, drenched. As she was backing out of the driveway, she heard a voice say, "open the card". She put the car in park and opened the card to find what would be Clue #1. "Meredith, today is the day you've longed to see. Today is the day God revives a portion of your life from the grave that you had written off to die. Today is the day that you, my Dear, will embark on a journey that will exceed your wildest dreams." She made it through her work day as normal (though she smiled a little harder all day) and returned home early for Clue #2: "Meet me at the place where your worries fade, your thoughts subside and you are lost in the beautiful view. There you will find the man that has paved a pathway just for YOU! P.S. Your driver will arrive at 6:30p so GET DRESSED!" Meredith got dressed and waited for her driver — turns out it was one of her sweet friends who had recently gotten engaged! They drove to Meredith's favorite hideaway in Harbor Town to find Adonias waiting at the end of a candlelit pathway, flanked with flowers and framed cards that had special meaning throughout their courtship. He explained the significance of the dainty, beautiful rose gold morganite ring he had chosen for her, took her by the hand, expressed his love and commitment towards her and asked if she would honor him by becoming his wife. With zero hesitation — she said, " ABSOLUTELY, I WILL!" 💕