You know that feeling of divine intervention, confirmation & it's WAY too good to be true? That is very much what the beginning stages of our relationship felt like. Now, if you know anything about our story or have heard us yap about it, you know that the intertwining of our lives was a complete God thing & to be quite honest, neither of us were looking for this or expecting it. You know who was looking for & hoping for this? My dad. As crazy as this may seem, probably a year or two before we had ever even officially met and interacted, Raphael had caught my dad's eye and my dad asked me about him. I said I didn't know who he was besides he is Micah's friend. LOL. And I thought that was the end of that but apparently, my dad had been praying about it in secret. Low & behold, when I mentioned that Raphael & I had been talking and had become friends, my dad already had a feeling. First of all, me telling my dad in the first place said a lot about how I felt because I did not just tell my dad about any & everyone. No, it was a rarity. I remember having such a huge crush but having no idea what to do about it & a friend spoke a word over some of us at a worship night we were at & she read "Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart's desires." Psalm 37:4. So as any sane person would do, I prayed for this man to be it for me. I knew there was potential that he'd show up that night but I didn't count on it. Like as soon as I was done praying that prayer, you'll never guess who walked in. I laughed and told the girls that my silly little crush was there. The Lord knew what he was doing, everything so divinely orchestrated. Truly we bonded off of bible studies and prayers & with that came one of the most confirming pieces of our story. If you have ever heard us talking about or referring to Galatians 5, this is why. Unbeknownst to me, Raphael had asked the Lord to speak to him and reveal whatever it is he needs to reveal to him through Galatians 5 one night. The next day when I was sharing my bible study with him, I explained that I had read a chapter from Proverbs, Revelation & I had read Galatians 5. He literally freaked out on me and I was so confused because to me, it was just the next chapter of one of the books I was reading. He sent me a screenshot of the prayer he had typed in his notes app from the night before asking the Lord to speak to him through Galatians 5. We were both stunned but at that moment there was no denying or knocking what the Lord was doing. We shared our insights from that study and together have chosen to intentionally live by & remember Galatians 5:16 which reads- "Walk by the Spirit & you will not gratify the desires of the flesh." In Jesus' name, this relationship has been built & founded upon him. In our marriage he will be the center of our entire lives & families lives. We are blessed beyond measure to embark upon this journey with one another & with each of you. - Lauren