José and Amanda first met about three years ago, when he showed up at Amanda’s church for the very first time. He noticed her right away… and she noticed him noticing her. (Classic.) But Amanda kept her cool, stayed cordial, and gave him space. At the time, José didn’t know much English, so their conversations were short, sweet, and limited to Amanda’s “extensive” Spanish vocabulary: “Hola, ¿cómo estás? Dios te bendiga.” (She really peaked there.) Over time, José made Amanda’s church his home and they got to know each other a little better through Hyphen. Still, they stayed in the “friendly acquaintance” zone—that is, until spring of 2025. One day, during a casual chat, José's Hyphen pastor threw out a simple question: “What about Amanda?” José didn’t think much of it, prayed about it, and moved on. Meanwhile, Amanda still wasn’t thinking about José at all. (Sorry, José.) But God clearly had other plans. In the weeks that followed, José began to see Amanda in a new light and started being more intentional—chatting at church, striking up conversations at Hyphen outings, making sure she noticed his effort. Amanda caught on and suspected something might be brewing. That is, until José made his interest obvious in a way that even Amanda couldn’t overthink. After José finally reached out to her, she spoke with her hyphen pastors, who simply said that if she was curious, she could meet him for coffee, chat, and see if there may be something there. With this in mind, a few days later Amanda—cautious but bold—casually invited José to join her for mangonadas. José politely declined (on their first FaceTime call, no less)… but only because he'd already planned to talk to their Hyphen pastor first to get “official permission” to take her on a proper date. (Classic José.) While Amanda admits she was cautious at first, it didn’t take long for both of them to realize this wasn’t random—it was God’s timing. In fact, they both were sure within the first 3 dates. Every detail, every twist, every little nudge had been leading to this. Even in the “new and uncertain” stage, there was peace—and plenty of laughs along the way. Fast forward to September 7th: José, with the help of Amanda’s friends, planned a beautiful sunset proposal. She said yes, and here they are—excited, grateful, and ready for the next adventure!