We're getting married!

I don't even know where to start or which details to put in here. There are so many weird, funny, unusual ... things about our relationship. Especially about how we even got to the point of committing to date. When I first saw her in November 2020, I thought she was one of my students. I thought that because she worked on her DBS homework in the classroom of the school I came to staff, sitting at the table of the only female student we had. Her first impression of me was slightly different. She thought I was my school leader’s son & potentially not interested in women - lol. For the first month of knowing each other, our relationship was one-sided - for some reason I had a huge need to talk & probably process with someone. (& let me tell you, there is no one better to process with than her) At some point, we became something like friends & started hanging out more frequently, which lead to me being put into quarantine because of her & her leaving – potentially for good. We stayed in more or less frequent contact while she was back in San Diego. Being quarantined at the same time definitely helped. Fun fact: During quarantine, we did workouts together through FaceTime & I tore my quadriceps during one of those, which almost killed me. About 4 months later, she came back to join staff & we became closer friends. From there, things got a little bit more common/usual. We had shared friends & because of that we hung out often. At some point, we started hanging out without our friends more frequently. We got very close, like best friends. A few months into that 'intimate' friendship, I realized I had more affection for her than just a friendship. After some nerve-wracking days & weeks of Harley suppressing her feelings for me, and me being afraid she'd say 'No' if I asked her out on a date, I finally took the first step. I told her about my feelings, only to find out she didn’t want to give me an ultimate answer until 3 months later. Thank God she didn't pull through with it!!! She snuck into my office at around 8 pm while I was in a meeting, exactly 1 week after I opened up to her. I dismissed myself from that meeting, and she asked me to drive 'somewhere', because she needed to tell me something. After a 10-minute drive - which felt like 30 - we finally decided to start dating. At that moment we were still in the car, parked in front of Home Depot in Rosarito. (I actually love that, because every time I see Home Depot I am reminded of the night that initiated our romantic relationship.) We sealed the deal with some Dairy Queen & went back home. DQ has played a big role in our relationship - bigger than I'd like to admit. Ok, but all jokes aside: The fact that we started dating & are still dating is an absolute God-thing. His hand has been so evident in all this time we’ve had together so far. That doesn’t mean it has been all pink clouds & rainbows, in fact, without Him we wouldn't stand here together. But every day so far has been worth it! Harley and I have struggled a lot, and we still are. But in every struggle, God was there! Like, He would literally give me words of knowledge about how to approach her in order to initiate a conversation in which she could open up, so that healing can take place. I have never experienced the Holy Spirits’ guidance & power so clearly. And there is a lot more! So much healing has taken place, so many walls & strongholds have been broken down, and past experiences redeemed... Seeing God’s investment in our relationship gave us a lot of confidence to commit to a lifelong covenant. And ever since we've gotten engaged, He hasn’t stopped confirming His heart for us. Before we were engaged, God lead us both to go study in Hawaii together. When we got engaged, God spoke to both of us separately about moving to Ensenada & continuing our missions work there for a season. It is evident that he is planning a future for both of us together & we are more than excited to dive into that.