Hunter and I met, a year and a half ago at Fuge Camps in Mississippi. We often laugh about the fact that it was not love at first sight. We were in the middle of camp, we were gross and sweaty and preoccupied with the task at hand, which was sharing the gospel with the wonderful students around us. Over the next few months after we left camp a quiet but strong friendship began to emerge between us. We shared our stories, encouraged each other and spurred one another on well in these first few precious months of our friendship. Hunter was the one who first initiated anything more than friendship. He asked me on our first date date in January of 2017 to a wedding of two of his friends. We officially began dating soon after, Hunter and I endured the hardship of 7 hour long distance dating for 8 months. It was a long and tiring process and it really did test our relationship. But through it, we grew stronger than we ever would have otherwise. In September of 2017, Hunter took a Youth Pastor position at FBC Water Valley in Water Valley Mississippi and was finally able to do what he loved, which is teaching and guiding students. That job placed us only a little under two hours from each other, the closest we had lived yet. We often joke that FBC Water Valley made us as good as neighbors. Two months after his move to Mississippi and ten months after the very beginnings of our relationship, Hunter and I find ourselves setting out on a new adventure. We are so incredibly excited that the Lord has brought us to this day, where we get to share our joy and our love with all our friends and family. We want to thank you all for your constant love and support. Without each and every one of you, we never would have made it this far.

I proposed to Sarah on October 12th, 2017. The original plan was to A) have her sister-in-law have car problems at the city park and need a ride where I would be waiting to propose to my beloved and to B) do it much much sooner! I left work on Thursday afternoon to parade of cheers and encouragement from the fine folks in the office at FBC Water Valley and began my journey to pledge my love to my girlfriend trying to stay calm all along the way. When I arrived at her house I was met by Sarah’s dad and niece who helped me devise a new plan to really surprise Sarah. Instead of having the proposal at the city park (where we might or might not have run the risk of being arrested) we would have it in the front yard gazebo. So we set forth decorating the front gazebo to look as Disney as possible. We started digging up Christmas lights from the attic to line a walkway which complemented my thousand rose petals and million tea candles (bought on Amazon for $10.96. Thanks Amazon!) and had the gazebo decorated in time for her arrival. When she arrived we joked about the volleyball game that I was obviously not attending as she stepped foot into the gazebo. As the light hit her face she looked more beautiful than I had ever seen as she sported her scrubs after a long day of work. I took her hands in mine and told her the story of how I ended up working camp at Mississippi College that fateful summer that we met and began our friendship which would quickly blossom into the relationship we share today. After I promised my love and my life to her I got down on one knee looked into her beautiful eyes and asked, “Sarah will you marry me?”… “Is that okay?”… “Are you sure?”… “Alright then”. She answered yes to all four and my hand trembled as I tried to place the ring meticulously on her beautiful hand. That was it. The deed was done. And I was promised to the love of my life forever. And I’m not looking back.