Who would’ve thought we’d be here? Not us. We consistently say, “Can you believe we’re getting married?” The next thing out of our mouths is usually “It’s wild.” We’ve been in each other’s lives for years but the idea of being a couple wasn't the slightest thought until about a year ago. We met through Claire (Jason’s sister) as she and Lauren were friends in college. For years, that’s all we saw each other as, the friend of a sister and the brother of a friend. Over the years a friendship grew for its own sake. In 2016 Jason joined a small group at our church that Lauren was in, and we began to see deeper sides of each other. That friendship grew until summer 2019 when I (Jason) saw Lauren anew and said “huh.” I was quickly brought back to reality thinking there’s no way Lauren could see me like that. That thought came back up over the following few months until one sleepless night in November 2019, I was praying and got to the point where I felt God was at least calling me to be honest with her. The next afternoon, I drove to her house to share my feelings, fully expecting her to say “thanks, but no thanks.” After 45 minutes of small talk, I eventually asked her on a date, and her jaw hit the floor. She asked for time to think about it and after a few days said yes. After a couple months of dating, a global pandemic changed everything. Instead of going out on dates, we found ourselves staying in and experiencing great depth of conversation over dinners made by Lauren and egg sandwiches made by me. Those conversations led to laughter and to conflict, but all of it led us closer to each other and to greater confidence in our relationship. We'd talk about marriage years in the future and suddenly that timeline moved all the way to where we are now: getting married in December! 2020 has brought more than its fair share of hardships, but it has also brought us here. We’re so excited to get married and for all that marriage will bring in the years and decades ahead.