First week at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA and there were a lot of nerves and excitement. We had both just left home and now we were freshmen in college. Unbeknownst to us, we would not just come and study for a bachelor’s degree at Liberty and learn to love Jesus more intimately, but we would also find our life partner to spend our lives loving forever… The car door opened and we both got in. We both had decided to go on a hike with some friends and now we were riding in the same car. In hindsight, this was a moment orchestrated by Jesus. He was kindling a love that could never be put out. First week was over and there were still a lot of unknowns, but the beautiful girl in the backseat soon become one of my best friends. The girl that I wanted to know. Over the next two years we both grew in our friendship. Our personalities and strong wills clashed, but those were the very things that caused us to respect one another. To love one another. Our love grew as time passed and through the trials we remained by each other’s side. We couldn’t let the other pass through our hands and escape into another’s. We soon consumed each other’s mind. Life could go on no longer without the expression of this love.

January 1, 2017 was the day I was handed a letter that would change my life forever. I was written a note that said, “You were my first... The first I have ever loved.” Never before had my heart melted like it did in that moment. I knew that I loved her too. And everything that followed from that moment was a desire to express that love back to her. All I had was a letter of love and a heart overflowing, but the time had to wait. Jesus took me away to the desert and far from the one I loved, to prepare us both to love our lover forever. I returned after six months to the one that overwhelmed my heart. I knew it from the very start. I knew I was supposed to marry this woman adorned with beauty and godliness. A woman clothed in righteousness. We entered into a courtship two days after my return. June 26, 2017. Looking forward with marriage in mind because we knew that Jesus wanted such a covenant. January 1, 2018. One year later from that first love-stained note that I did receive, did I finally get to respond. After three-hundred and sixty-five days, I could hold it in no longer. “Will you marry me?” was my plea, but not because of her matchless beauty or relentless love. We will not build a marriage on characteristics so fleeting. We wanted to commit to this God-ordained covenant because, “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.” Romans 8:29. We want to build our marriage on being conformed to the image of Jesus. He orchestrated it. He has blessed it. And now we will spend the rest of our lives making his Name known to the peoples of the world. We are so convinced that we will be more about His kingdom together than apart. I love you!