the daniels

It all started during Hayley’s sophomore year of high school, when her principal, Dr. Daniel, casually asked what her “dream man” looked like. Hayley answered, “Kind, a strong Christian, outdoorsy, tall…” and from that moment on, Dr. Daniel was convinced her son, Britton, was the perfect match. There was just one small problem: Britton was already in college, and Hayley was still in high school. (“Yeah… weird,” they both agreed.) That didn’t stop Dr. Daniel from trying her best to play matchmaker. She invited Britton to football games where Hayley was cheering, made them take awkward videos together, and dropped hints every chance she got. But despite her efforts, nothing ever really came of it, and eventually the idea seemed to fade away. Fast forward a few years: after reaching back out to Hayley and discovering she was still single, Dr. Daniel decided it was time to pester Britton one more time. After years of hearing about Hayley, he finally gave in and reached out — mostly, as he likes to say, “out of spite to get my mom to stop asking.” The two started talking on social media, texting back and forth for a few months before finally planning their first date. Then, on a Sunday in November 2023, Britton picked Hayley up for church and took her to brunch afterward. Somewhere between coffee and conversation, he found himself thinking, “Dang it… she’s actually really cool. Maybe my mom was right.” And they’ve been inseparable ever since.

I had no idea it was coming. All I knew was that Britton had the entire day planned for Valentine’s Day — but honestly, that wasn’t unusual because he does thoughtful, romantic things like that all the time. That morning, he picked me up with flowers and a blindfold (which really should have been my first clue). He put me in the car and surprised me with breakfast at the same place we had our very first date. After breakfast, the blindfold went back on, and he drove us to a park where he had brought our Bibles and planned an entire Bible study for us. We spent the morning talking about faith, life, and our future together — which somehow still didn’t make me suspicious. Later that day, he blindfolded me one more time and drove me out to the state forest, a place that had always been really special to him and where we had shared so many conversations about faith, marriage, and the future. He helped me out of the truck, still completely blindfolded, and when I finally took it off, the entire area was covered in flowers. Then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him!