The first time I remember meeting Lucas was while moving his sister, Cassidy, and her husband into an apartment in my home town. We didn’t really talk much then, but as he would come visit his sister, we began to strike up a friendship. Fast forward a couple years, and I’m moving to Memphis to be a campus missionary at the University of Memphis. Lo and behold, my friend lived there as well. And that’s all we were for a while. But it was refreshing seeing a familiar face and knowing they know all the names and faces from home. Stories are easier, conversations flow, and before long, our friendship had grown. We liked many of the same things. We listened and laughed and learned about the differences. Eventually (too slowly according to those around us), we realized we liked each other as more than just friends, so we prayed and prayed and prayed some more (still too slowly according to some), and we asked one another a multitude of questions about what we wanted from our lives and wanted to see in the world. Then we began dating… That part wasn’t all that climactic, but it was a change and such a special one. Life started looking like conversations of ‘us’ and ‘we’ and ‘our future.’ It was a lot to take in, a lot to adjust to, but it was so beautiful. Since then we’ve experienced many firsts and changes. Getting engaged was not a surprise, as we’d talked about it quite a lot. And honestly, I think that might be something I love about this life, love about our future, love about Lucas: we are always talking. He is my best friend, and I can’t wait to see where the Lord takes us in this life as we continue to walk together. (P.S. Sometimes the guy you fall in love with happens to be the guy who laughs instead of checking on you when he witnesses you trip up some stairs at church while you’re both separately visiting family in a town neither of you live in… this was before we realized we liked each other. 😂 You could say I fell for him… Gosh, he’s probably shaking his head at me. Lucas, I hope you love that joke!)