Jonathan and Natalia met for the first time during a study abroad trip in Costa Rica two summers ago. Jonathan was interested in getting to know Natalia early on in the trip because he knew she was from Poland, the place of his first mission trip. He still vividly remembers their first conversation walking down a sidewalk in San Jose under their umbrellas (it rained a LOT while they were there). Although their interactions in Costa Rica were sparse, they were significant in memory. The two spent the remainder of the summer apart and only communicated casually through social media. When the fall semester began, Jonathan worked up the courage to ask Natalia about New Life's Spanish service. He suggested they should go together to "brush up on their Spanish" when in reality he wanted to get closer without scaring her away! Within the next month, they went on several dates and Natalia even met his parents. Depending on who you ask, you will get a different answer about the exact time they began "dating." Natalia didn't believe Jonathan was interested for the first several dates! One thing they will both agree on is that God worked everything out in his perfect timing. Neither one expected to find themselves in a serious relationship this early in life-- much less engaged before graduation! God is so good and the couple is excited to serve each other and their Heavenly Father from now until forever!

On October 12, the couple's friends Olivia and Keon joined them for a double date photo shoot at the pumpkin patch in Mayflower, AR. Natalia loves sunflowers so Jonathan planned to pop the question in the pretty yellow field. With the help of their friends Jonathan was able to lure Natalia into the perfect sun-lit patch of flowers to ask the biggest question he would ever ask. Natalia was surprised (which is a BiG deal--she had no clue) at first, but then her smile spread from ear to ear and she wore it for the rest of that evening. Our close family and friends were waiting to celebrate that same night in Conway!