Twenty years ago, in 2004, Reese went on a mission's trip to New York City with the youth group from her church, Calvary Chapel O'Hare. On that trip, she met Jonathan, a boy from the Bronx, who was working alongside their mission team as a tour guide, to help navigate them around the city. As different of worlds as they came from, Reese and Jonathan immediately connected in some of the most important ways: their shared love for Jesus, for people, for practical ministry, and for New York City. But at the end of a life changing week of ministry, Reese returned to Chicago and Jonathan back to his borough. Over the next year or so, they kept in touch over AIM, MySpace, and very long phone calls. They talked about anything and everything. But life happened, and distance grew. And before too long they lost touch. In 2008, Reese had another opportunity to visit NYC for a mission's trip with her college, so she found her old best friend on MySpace and told him she was coming back. Four years after they initially met, they reconnected and spent another week together traveling around NYC, doing ministry. But like last time, the trip ended after a week, and it was back to reality. Life once again happened, and within a few months, they lost touch again. But this time, it lasted a lot longer. Thirteen years passed. In 2021, Jonathan and Reese reconnected once again. This time on the other side of marriages, divorces, miscarriages, abusive relationships, trauma, depression, loss of family relationships and friendships, and a whole lot more. And while they were no longer the same kids who stood on a beach in Coney Island, way back in 2004, when they took their first picture together, they were very much the same friends. Picking up right where they had left off, they spent hours upon hours on the phone together; talking about everything from Jesus, to family, to baseball, to hundreds of "This Or That" quizzes. In January of 2023, Jonathan made a trip to Chicago to finally see Reese again, and to meet her kids, Braelyn and Kyler. In June, he made the move to Aurora, IL from Atlanta; and in March of 2024, nearly exactly 20 years after they first met, they got engaged in New York City. Had they been able to hold the pens that wrote their stories, both separate and together, they probably would have written most of it differently. Yet, at the same time, they both know that they would not be who they are today, had they not walked the roads they walked. Nor would they have the opportunity to share with people the goodness of God, His redemption, or their faith, in the ways they now can. While there will always be things to grieve in the years that were lost, there is so much more to celebrate, in all that has been gained. GOD IS GOOD.