It all started with a book. A close friend of mine (Jamika) had written a book a few years back. Joseph and one of his close friends were a part of a discipleship group together and reached out to my friend for the book for their group. My friend sent copies of the book and Joseph and his discipleship group took a picture holding the book. My friend happened to repost the picture and I asked my friend "who's that tall guy holding the book?" My friend replies " I don't know him, but I know the other guy in the picture. Hold on." My friend then comes back and messages me and asks me "how do you want to be connected to the guy?" Me in shock like "what!? how did we get here??" played it cool and replied " well, I don't know him so following each other on Instagram is cool." That one follow on Instagram, without realizing it, would be the beginning of our love story being written. We connected via Instagram through mutual friends in June 2023, but it wasn't until October 2023 that our story really began. He noticed I had gone on a mission trip, and reached out to me, and from there, the conversations started flowing. Conversation was really easy and we both quickly discovered we had a lot in common! From the beginning, we both had the same thought: " I like this person." It was the mutual cool, down-to-earth, and intentionality that made it refreshing. Casual chats were short-lived for us. Our faith, values, and shared vision sparked deep and purposeful conversations rooted in, first friendship and then a meaningful love. By the fall of 2024, we knew we were in love and where we were headed. One day, during a phone call, Joseph 'unofficially' proposed to me- it was sweet, simple, and sincere. The official moment came on April 25th, 2025- my birthday- when he totally surprised me and set up the most beautiful proposal with family and friends. Through long distance, life changes, and lots of prayer, we've seen God's hand in every part of our story. From the first follow to this very moment, it's been clear that this love was written with purpose. And we can't wait to walk into forever hand and hand.