We're getting Married!

Mallory's Point of View: On an ordinary October morning in Boston, I received a random Facebook message from someone I had never met: "Hey Mallory. Have we met before?" Curious and noting that we had a number of mutual friends, I thought "Okay sure! I'll respond...it seems harmless." What followed was a conversation that led to meeting up at our local Panera Bread to discuss a ministry opportunity Johnny shared with me. Johnny's Point of View: I saw her first at Hope Fellowship Church. She looked cute and definitely single. Meanwhile, Facebook kept "recommending" we become friends, so, after casually stalking her profile a bit, I worked up enough courage to send her a message. When she responded and agreed to meet me at Panera, I thought it was obviously her way of telling me that she was interested in dating too. Mallory: "Definitely single"?!? What's that supposed to mean?!

Mallory: We continued to hang out after our Panera Bread meeting. For me, it started as a ministry opportunity (Johnny asked me to volunteer with the youth group he was leading). We also hung out as friends and with our mutual church friends. For me, friendship was the only thing I thought of and wanted! I wasn't looking to date - I was in my 2nd year of graduate school with a job and an internship. Who had time to date?!? What I really wanted was a solid friend. A safe, brother in Christ I could trust. And that's what I got in Johnny. We hung out, did fun things together in Boston, had deep talks about life and God, and served together. We seemed to connect so naturally. I knew I had found a great friend in Johnny. Johnny: For me, I was conflicted almost immediately. I was sincerely seeking support with my youth ministry and Mallory was literally the perfect person to help. But I was also instantly and hopelessly attracted to her the moment I first saw her and pretty much couldn't hold it together. From our very first meeting at Panera (which I thought for sure was a date) to our first REAL real date at Christophers (which Mallory still insists wasn't even close to a date) we both shared openly, connected deeply, and discovered that we shared a common life purpose to love God and serve others. Mallory agreed to help mentor two sweet girls in my youth group and I was instantly smitten. Every subsequent interaction from that point on reinforced my romantic feelings for Mallory. I knew early on that this was different than anything else I had experienced.

Mallory: Then, I was traveling to Minnesota for Christmas with my family, and Johnny offered to help me to the airport. It was here he shared his romantic feelings for me. It was so sweet, brave, and precious, and I was truly touched! But I couldn't reciprocate. I just didn't desire a dating relationship with anybody...but I definitely didn't want to lose Johnny as a friend. So I turned him down in what I hope was a nice way and expressed sincerely that I wanted us to be friends! Johnny: After 2 months of unexpressed infatuation, it literally hurt how much I liked Mallory. I knew she was leaving. Maybe I had been watching too many “Friends” reruns, but I felt like I had to put it all on the line at the airport or risk losing Mallory forever. I stayed up all night pacing and praying about what to say. I made her a Mix Tape. I poured my heart out at Logan Airport. She let me down sweetly and sincerely. I was devastated to hear that my feelings were not mutual, and conflicted whether I should keep trying or give her space. But Mallory really did seem to care about me, and made it clear when she returned that she wanted to keep spending time together.

Mallory: In the several months following Johnny's airport confession, we continued to minister together and connect. I could see our connection deepening, but I was still not open to dating. I was truly enjoying his friendship and didn't want to lose it. One day, in a way that blew my mind and blessed me so much, Johnny and I met up on the Boston Common to talk. He shared with me that He felt that he had to let go of his romantic feelings for me in order to truly love me just as a friend and sister in Christ. Although I had never heard anything like that before, he vowed to truly be my friend and "give his romantic feelings for me to God." As a result, the tension between us completely released! This allowed us to enter into a pure, sweet, platonic friendship without any interference or complication. From then on, our friendship was truly blessed. Johnny: Although Mallory rejected me at the airport, I couldn't give up hope that she would change her mind. So I tried my best to be "only a friend" in hopes she would eventually come around. But it became impossible to get my true feelings out of the way. Alas, I came to the painful realization that if I was truly aiming to love Mallory, the most loving thing I could do was to "let go" of the pursuit of romance and give her the space and friendship she was asking for. So, after 4 months of hopeless infatuation, I asked God to take any feelings for Mallory that were interfering with my ability to truly care for her and promised to be her brother and friend. Our friendship got real that day, and the romantic feelings I had for her vanished from soul. I felt a deep sense of peace and clarity. It was truly healing to us both.

Mallory: After our breakthrough on the Common, Johnny became my dearest brother in Christ and one of my best friends. I grew to trust him in a way I never experienced before. It was something, by God's grace, I actually really needed and it was healing to my heart. And for SIX years, across different states, we were able to stay close, trusted friends. Johnny became someone I could share just about anything with. When I was hurting or experiencing heartache, Johnny was the person I turned to. It was so encouraging how God continued to use our safe, clearly-defined friendship to care for and love one another like Christ and experiencing healing of past wounds. We truly enjoyed each other's company and had fun too! Johnny: A weight was truly lifted after our breakthrough. We basically operated like brother and sister after that and entered into a season of open, fun, deep and non-complicated friendship. We were able to share, pray, connect, minister to others at even greater depths than before. We even dated other people and would call each other for advice, praying that God would bring a spouse into our lives at the right time. Lol.

Mallory: In October 2021, as a leap of faith, I moved to California. One of the perks of my move was being close to one of my best friends...you guessed it: Johnny! After six months of hanging out like we did in the old days when we both lived in Boston, I felt so glad that I had my friend in my life and that he wasn't seeing or dating anyone (so that I could spend time with him!). THEN, one day, I felt something I hadn't felt before...like deeper feelings for Johnny (plot twist!). Confused, I prayed earnestly that God would give me clarity on these feelings. That same day, Johnny said to me that he had been thinking and praying about us dating and asked me to consider it. I was SHOOK. I am not used to God answering me so soon. But I knew, that this was from Him. I was nervous and scared - not because of Johnny - I felt that way about dating period. But, our deep reservoir of trust and loving friendship, as well as Johnny's godly character, made it safer for me to take the chance and date. We had our first date (in my opinion) March 17, 2022. And from that point on, it was a done deal. We had six and a half years of sweet, deep, trusted friendship that gave us a wonderful foundation to build a relationship. It became so clear that God had intended us for each other, and He was in the timing of our relationship that resulted in the most good for the both of us. Johnny: When Mallory moved, we basically picked right back up where we left off, only this time in Newport Beach, CA, about 10 minutes from where I grew up. Often, my mind would entertain the notion that she could be more than a friend, but I would dismiss it. She was a sweet friend who trusted me and I didn't want to lose that. But then one day, everything changed. I was having a tough week and Mallory offered to come over to cheer me up. We ate dinner, drank wine, walked around the Balboa Peninsula, talked and prayed about life. After she left, I felt amazing. My depression had lifted, there was joy in my heart and I felt like Johnny again. And then I realized, “wait a minute… I ALWAYS feel this way when Mallory’s around.” And, in a moment I realized that Mallory was my favorite person in the universe and I couldn’t imagine living my life without her. I also realized that it would probably get pretty serious if we were to date. But I had no idea how she would react. When she mentioned she had already considered dating and, despite her fears, was willing to take a step, my heart just about jumped out of my chest. It was as if God gave me back all of the feelings for Mallory that I had asked him to take away 6 years prior, only with compound interest. It was so healing, so beautiful and the timing so perfect. I knew instantly that Mallory was wifey material.

Mallory: It was clear to me early on in our courtship that Johnny was set on marrying me. This also had me shook. I had deep reservations about marriage that came from past experiences of hurt, and I couldn't believe someone would actually want to marry me. But Johnny was so patient. So kind. And so gentle with my heart. He waited to make sure I was ready to be engaged. A careful and thoughtful observer, Johnny realized his initial plans to propose were not in my best interest. Instead, he rerouted and prepared the sweetest proposal to me while we were in Costa Rica for his family's reunion. In Costa Rica, I woke up every day to a love letter, gift, and a chapter written by him detailing our story. Each letter contained precious insights and a behind-the-scenes look at our story from his perspective. And in true Johnny fashion, it was bullet-pointed, color-coded, and coordinated with a theme. Each day I got the next chapter in our story until we were caught up to the present day. On day two, I realized that this is definitely going somewhere, and I was certain it would be a proposal! Johnny was preparing my heart in this way, and I felt so loved by it. July 3, 2023: We were in Puntarenas, and Johnny prepared a scavenger hunt for us (also in Johnny fashion) that tied together each chapter of our story. I knew that this had to be the day, and I emotionally prepared for a proposal around dinnertime. When we set off for dinner though, the weather shifted from sunny to down-pouring rain! At this point I thought "Okay, with this weather, maybe it's not going to happen." So I put the proposal off in my mind and throughly enjoyed our meal and feeding the stray cats that came to the table. Toward the end of dinner, the sky cleared for like 10 minutes. Johnny ushered me from the table to the beach, and because I put the proposal out of mind, I was like "Okay!" We got to the beach. And he proposed. And I said yes of course :) Words are not enough to describe the immense wonder at how God works and His goodness. Every day, I am amazed that He gave me this incredible man to be my husband. Johnny: And now, we’re getting married! 😀🙌