Most people are usually surprised to hear that we met each other in Japan. It was the summer of 2019, right after I (Abbie) graduated high school. For those of you who don’t know me, I grew up as a missionary kid in Tokyo, and was signed up to work as a camp counselor at a small christian international kids camp that summer. Meanwhile Josiah, who had just finished his first year of college, felt a strong calling to go to Japan to work for 3 months with a missionary family. And so Josiah being Josiah, was able to fundraise within a month and hop on a plane to Tokyo! And half way through his summer, he coincidentally got the chance to work at this very same camp! Now I usually knew everyone at this camp because most of us came from the same highschool and were all missionary kids together, so you can imagine my surprise when I showed up on the first day and ran into an unknown American! As we got to talking, I looked into his eyes and immediately knew I was in trouble. We instantly had a connection, and by the end of camp, Josiah and I had grown quite close. In the month that followed we sought advice from many people as we continued to text and call over the phone. Eventually the day came when Josiah came through Tokyo on his way to the airport and he asked for my help in getting there. On our way we decided to stop to take a walk in Shinjuku park, and as we sat in the grass, we got to talking about our interest in one another. In the weeks that followed, we both ceaselessly prayed for clarity on what to do, but through it all only one thing was clear. God was asking us to fully let go of this relationship, because somehow He had much better timing in store for us. Together we decided to trust God no matter what that meant, and go our own ways until He made it clear. Through the year that followed, Josiah went back to college in PA and I started my time at Wheaton College, during which we stayed in touch with only very occasional phone calls. Then the complete unexpected happened in March of 2020 when the Covid pandemic hit. Because I no longer could stay at my college, and my family was in Japan behind closed borders, I found myself stuck in the country with few options. It was in this chaotic journey that God made a way for me in radical ways, providing generous families that took me in for days or weeks at a time. After months of house hopping, I eventually found myself in Pennsylvania with a friend who was also placeless and staying in a temporary apartment (shoutout to Emily May!!) She explained to me that she could only host me for one week, but that I could use her home as a stepping stone. Gratefully I moved in, and asked again where I was, to which I was dumbfounded to hear “Lancaster Pennsylvania”. In disbelief, I called Josiah and we soon realized that we were only 10 minutes away from each other! The week that followed felt like a dream as I joined him and his friends in a blur of tubing, swimming, bonfires, board games, spikeball, cliff jumping, stargazing, picnics and movie nights. It only took us the first day to realize that this was beyond right and we fell for each other effortlessly in what kinda felt like a movie montage. After one week, the Hines generously took me into their home as another stepping stone, and even found another home near by for me to stay in for the rest of the summer! The months that followed held the adventure of a lifetime as we shared each day of that summer together. Looking back now it couldn’t be clearer that God truly meant it when He said He had the perfect timing in store. And the rest is history! We went on to do a year of long distance with occasional visits to Wheaton or Lancaster until the summer of 2021, when Josiah decided to move to Chicago so we could be together in person. We got engaged in march of 2022 and are now beyond excited to celebrate with you all God’s faithfulness in our lives and our lifelong commitment to one another, on July 8th 2023!

I knew from week two of meeting Abbie that I wanted to marry a girl just like her, but I never would've imagined that I would get to marry Abbie herself, the woman that blows me away, not only with her beauty, but with a heart for others and for God. As those who know her can attest, she draws in all those she comes into contact with with her kindness, love, and boldness. Sadly, even though I knew I wanted to marry her from the beginning, I had to wait a lot longer than two weeks to make it a reality. But somehow, even after all that time to prepare, I could not have been more excited and terrified to propose. Getting the ring was the easy part. Abbie had a Pinterest board I could only guess she had been putting together for years on what she wanted her ring to look like. Using Abbies grandmother's diamond, I went to the jeweler, and they put together the most beautiful ring I knew Abbie would love. With Abbie's best friend Brooklin's help, I planned to propose at Garfield Park Conservatory, the only place beautiful and warm that I could find in the Chicago winter. I planned with Brooklin to have her and her brother Josiah Rood, hide and take photos of the proposal. All went according to plan, considering that the plan was to make her believe it was just another day. It was March 27th, and we started out the day going to church. We ran into lots of her friends there, who all knew what was about to happen and excitedly came over to say hi. They were discreet though, and asked curiously what our plan was for the day, and she didn't have a clue! She then had a random sudden craving for ramen, as Abbie does sometimes, and we unexpectedly took a trip to H Mart. After lunch we drove out to the conservatory and enjoyed strolling around admiring the beauty of the trees and plants. As we walked around, I, a usually calm and put together guy, found that I could barely speak due to being more nervous than I have ever been before. I tried my best to act nonchalant, but I think she caught on. As we approached the spot I had planned, I prepared to start the carefully planned speech that would build up to me proposing! But when I started to speak, I ended up starting over several times, ultimately making no sense whatsoever. So, I just gave up trying to talk, knowing I was too nervous to get any words out, and suggested that we set up our phone to take a quick photo of us. While smiling at the camera, I got down on one knee and asked the love of my life to marry me. I will never forget her face when I got down on one knee. She was crying with her hands over her mouth as she said yes! I put the ring on her finger, we laughed, hugged, kissed, and cried. Then I whispered to Abbie to turn around as her brother and Brooklin ran towards us, excited to congratulate us. We could not have asked for a better hype team after getting engaged. We took lots of photos and enjoyed basking in the overwhelming joy of the moment. Abbie and I left to catch a reservation for dinner and continued to celebrate the occasion. I must say that I was right about the ring, she couldn't stop staring at it. After dinner we went back to her apartment where all her friends were waiting to celebrate us. The rest of the night was a blur of joy as we took lots of pictures, ate food and told the story of how we met and Gods incredible hand through it all, up until that very moment. We are so thankful even now for what God did to bring us together and are excited for what he has planned for us in the future.