In August of 2018, JP invited me to go to a graduation party that was going to be a surprise for a girl. So it was interesting because neither JP or myself knew this girl, but he said that it would be a great place to meet people and hopefully share the Gospel. Shortly after we arrived, I saw a really gorgeous blonde girl coming in. Kelcie came in surprised and super happy. I remember her coming over and starting to talk to me for a brief time. Although it was short, I could see that she was a really nice person but I did not have any feelings at that time. Later on, God put her in my way again through Evie, who is one of my good friends from the Hispanic Congregation at Brook Hills. In October of 2018, Evie asked if I would help her move into a big house with three other girls. To my surprise, Kelcie was one of those roommates. Kelcie and I started to grow closer through our mutual friendship with Evie and began to spend a lot of time together. I quickly saw that Kelcie was beautiful, genuine in heart, and true to herself. I could also see her priorities in life and her passion for Jesus which led me to start admiring her a lot. I started talking to her intentionally and asked her to go on some dates. The more we got to know each other, we began to fall in love with one another and to fall in love with our differences. I love diversity and I love celebrating differences. Although we are so different and I love that so much about her, we have a middle point of Jesus that brings us together. Fred

It wasn't until January of 2019 (while eating unlimited pancakes at IHOP), that I spent an extended amount of time with Fred. During this dinner, Fred told me the story of how the Lord had brought him from a path of destruction to one of eternal life. It was so clear that intimacy with the Lord was Fred's biggest priority. Over the rest of the spring, Fred intentionally pursued friendship with me as my brother in Christ. Fred brought a lot of laughter in my life during a season that was very dark and hard for me. I knew that I could always count on Fred--whether it was him listening while I cried or accompanying me to Taco Mama so I didn't have to eat alone. He was always there to encourage me in the Lord. Over these months, people began to question whether or not we had feelings for each other but I assured them that we were just friends (which I really believed BTW). On May 25th of 2019 was when I found out that we weren't just friends. After a night of dancing (which I hate but did anyways because I wanted to spend time with Fred) and learning Arabic from an Egyptian mechanic at Gip's Juke Joint (RIP Gip), Fred confessed his feelings for me. Not only did he tell me (while we were counting the stars) that he had been praying the past few months about pursuing me in marriage, but he also told my little brother over snapchat that he was going to marry me. I was very impressed (and slightly intimidated) by Fred's boldness. He asked me to pray for the next seven days to see if the Lord was revealing the same future to me. Since this night, Fred and I have had many ups and downs. We have had to work through many cultural and personality differences (because we are literally the complete opposites in every way). Through it all, the Lord has held us fast and grown a deep love within us for each other. I am so excited to see the Lord's continued faithfulness with Fred until the day that we meet Jesus face-to-face. Kelcie

After dating and getting to know her more, I was sure that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with this woman. The incredible woman that everybody calls Kelcie. The next step was to try and decide the right time and day to do the proposal. Since there is nothing better than incorporating a little bit of my culture in all of this, I decided to propose to her in typical Brazilian fashion--New Year’s Eve. As many know, Brazil is notorious for their fireworks so I was looking for a similar experience in Birmingham to make that moment as special as possible. Upon arriving to the 1920's party that she invited me to, I began to feel very nervous since I hadn't done this before. I began to feel many weird feelings but it was good. Evie, who was there with us, began to ask me if I was going to propose at the party but I denied it in an effort to not ruin the surprise (sorry God, I lied). I decided to tell Evie moments before the proposal and she got so excited that she began to scream and slap Kelcie on the back. Kelcie was very confused. I knew I had made the right decision in not telling her earlier. We stopped dancing moments before midnight to go outside and watch the fireworks. To my surprise, there was not a single firework. Whether there were fireworks or not, I knew in that moment that I was going to ask her. I got down on my knee and asked, "Do you want to marry me and spend the rest of your life with me?" No response. As I waited about 3 to 4 minutes, I thought, "Is this normal?" But then I understood that she had become speechless due to how happy she was. After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, she finally said yes. So now this new journey begins. I am so excited to grow together spiritually, emotionally, and in knowledge. I love her so much. She is the one that I choose to be my wife and partner in life.