Silly thing! We actually met because I walked straight into Joshua in the kitchen at a Super Bowl Party for the college students at Northside. I stopped and apologized, totally embarrassed, and walked straight back into the game room to watch the game. We never really talked after our brief introduction, LOL. Fast forward to August, some of our friends from college ministry all went and played beach volleyball at ABAC, and then went to hang out at a friend’s house afterwards, one of the guys invited Joshua and we ended up all hanging out until about 3AM. Joshua and I became fast friends, and our relationship grew from there! Joshua and I spent a lot of time getting to know one another at different church events, and time out with friends and quickly began to fall head over heels! We started dating in December, our first official date being December 7th, and we were so excited to grow more!! We are so thankful for most importantly how we’ve both grown closer to the Lord, and also how close He has allowed us to grow to one another in the relationship He has given us! We are so excited and thankful for the support, love, and encouragement from our family and friends as we’ve walked throughout this journey, and are so glad you’re here!!

It started off as a routine day trip to our favorite place, St Simon’s Island, Georgia. We ate some wonderful food, saw great sights, and got to enjoy some time together relaxing by the beach! As we finished getting ready for dinner, I (Joshua) decided that we go a little early and take a drive over to Christchurch, on the North side of the island. It was my Nana’s favorite place to go with her sisters growing up, so I wanted to show Raylee the sights my Nana experienced. Little did she know, I had an ulterior motive! As we pulled up to the church, I sneakily grabbed the ring box in the door of my truck and slipped it in my pocket. We walked around the church grounds and took in the sights for a few minutes, when suddenly we were greeted with a small guest! A tiny fawn walked out in front of us, not even 10 feet in front of us! We were shocked at how quiet and calm she was as she walked by. We felt the Lord was present, right in that moment because of the peace we felt as the dainty deer walked by. For me, knowing what I was about to do, this was a supernatural sign of the Lord, telling me, “Yep! You’ve got my blessing to move forward!”. As we made our way back to the truck, we read a sign on the gazebo at the entrance that read about the history of the church, and asked us to say a prayer for the local church and its people. I took Raylee by the hand, said a prayer for the church, God’s people in the church, and that Raylee and I’s future together be involved in a local church. As I concluded the prayer, I said, “speaking of continuing our future at church, why don’t we take the next step now!”. I got down on one knee and asked her to be my wife, she said yes (after she took a moment to catch her breath haha), and we went on to dinner to celebrate our engagement! It was perfect, and I cannot be more thankful to God that He allowed it to happen just how it did!