Ironic enough, our story starts at a wedding. In the early Summer of 2025, Karl traveled to Anson, Texas as a groomsman in his roommate’s wedding – the very same wedding that Madi attended as a bridesmaid in her roommate’s wedding. And in a very rom-com, cliché, if-it-wasn’t-real-I-wouldn’t-have-believed-it kind of way, we were paired together to walk down the aisle. Always eager to make new friends and fascinated by all things Texas, Karl began peppering Madi with questions. Questions became stories. Stories became laughter. And laughter became…Whataburger? It’s a story as old as time; guy attends wedding, guy meets girl, guy and girl order honey butter chicken biscuits, guy and girl live happily ever after. Despite mutual interest throughout the wedding weekend and some post-wedding text messages, Karl concluded that he made a new friend. Madi, on the other hand, had other ideas. Although Madi will forever claim that Karl ghosted her not once, but twice (I’d like to think of this as a simple miscommunication), Madi initiated her interest to Karl through mutual friends – which led to Karl’s phonecall – which led to a first date. Both Karl and Madi would spend the following couple weeks discreetly plumbing the depths of the intelligence community to uncover each other’s true identity; friends were interviewed, Pinterest boards were reviewed, podcasts were consumed, Linkedin pages were evaluated, and Venmo purchases were accounted. No stone was left unturned. What did we get ourselves into? Is this the world’s most expensive first date? With someone I barely know? Halfway across the country? But in the following weeks and months, God replaced each fear and concern with mutual love and affection. On Labor Day Weekend of that year, Karl and Madi decided to commit to a relationship. The days that followed were filled with excitement and adventure and challenges and growth. In early 2026, on their six-month anniversary, they discussed possible engagement. That Spring, both Karl and Madi completed Pre-Engagement through Karl’s church. That Summer, Madi would spend six weeks in Washington, DC to experience life together with Karl in the same city. That July, during a trip to London, Karl proposed to Madi in the archway of St Dunstan in the East. And in January, Karl and Madi will marry. Time and time again, I am reminded that this relationship is not the result of our best efforts. Rather, there are so many challenges that could’ve so easily hindered our relationship; the vastness of distance, the annoyance of time change, the inconvenience of different communities. Yet, every step of the way, God has shown that He is sovereign, He is eager to bless His children, and His timing is always perfect. It was God who initiated our relationship, it is God who sustains our relationship, and it is God who gets the glory for our relationship. And just like it began, our next chapter starts at a wedding.