I first met Izzy when.... well, I actually don't remember... that sounds pretty lame, but it's true. I don't remember the moment I met Izzy at all. There wasn't some magic halo around her head. There wasn't a slow motion, cinematic montage like the first time Toby Maguire met MJ. I know I met her at church, and I know generally when it was. I mostly just remember quickly becoming friends. Between the late night games in the basement and the overly-intense church volleyball matches, I grew very close with my friend group at Travis Avenue Baptist Church, and, although not romantically interested, I always thought Izzy was sweet, friendly, goofy, and mature- one of those girls who just radiates the joy of Jesus. Spring of my sophomore year at TCU I was invited to the Fort Worth Stock and Show Rodeo. It sounded like fun, so I bought a ticket. Upon arrival, it became clear that the friend group I was attending with was composed of two couples, myself, and Izzy. This seemed like a triple date to me. "How did get myself into this?" I asked myself. But there I was sitting next to Izzy. I accepted my fate and quickly developed a flawless strategy of love avoidance that was composed of two key parts: 1. Be ridiculously goofy and embarrassing and 2. Do not look her in the eyes. How could it go wrong? Well, it didn't take long for me to make a fool of myself, yelling at the rodeo clowns and jumping up and down out of my seat. To my surprise, Izzy seemed to be rather into it. She laughed with me and even yelled some too. Soon, I found myself laughing and talking with her. And then... oh no. It happened. I looked into her eyes. Cue Toby Maguire. A couple weeks later, I asked her out over a game a cribbage (very romantic). We went on a few dates, and she somehow she seemed to like me. I tried my best to show her a good time. I really liked this girl and was all in on pursuing her as best I could. Everything seemed great until, Izzy ended things. What? How? Why?... my question exactly! Things seemed to be going great. This one was tough. Her reasoning was something along the lines of "pursuing God's will for her life." That talk was quite a long conversation that is experts often go back and dissect to this day. Regardless of what was said, things were over. I lost. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that right before this infamous 'conversation' we had both signed up for a six-week, overseas mission trip with our church that upcoming summer... A few months went by. I was over her. No chance I had feelings for her. She said no, and so I respected it. I had moved on, and I had my eyes set on school, Army and all the thi- I had broken my rule again. I looked her in the eyes. I was about to board a plane that was supposed to fly to the Middle East. I was here because I wanted to tell others about Jesus. That was it. I wasn't here because of her. In fact, I would rather stay away from her as I had for the past three months. But, there in the airport, the feelings came back really quick. To go into detail about the Middle East trip would cause this story to consume multiple volumes of stories. To sum things up quickly, While there, I tried to respect her previous rejection and keep my distance. Being together that much, spending time with her was unavoidable. We renewed a friendship, and God was so faithful to allow the mission trip to remain mission focused and to prioritize furthering His kingdom throughout. But, at the end of the trip, Izzy asked me to go on a date with her at the start of school the next year. I was first reluctant try again with this girl. I was a little confused. Through a lot of prayer and after consulting wise people in my life, I purchased two tickets to a concert. That was a great concert. Apparently, she thought so too, and exactly one year and two months after, I asked Izzy to marry me. I did it in a rodeo of all places. Somehow she said yes, and I am forever blessed.