We’re getting married!

If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it’s this: we need people in our lives that care about us. Not only do we want those people present in our lives, we want to be those very people in the lives of others. And we feel there’s no better opportunity to put those convictions into practice than our wedding. In accordance with Illinois and Chicago’s latest public health guidelines, we’ve decided to limit our in-person celebration to our wedding party and select guests in the Chicagoland area. Sadly, this means we won’t be able to physically host everyone we planned to invite when we started putting together a guest list earlier in the year. However, we still want the people we love to participate in some fashion, so we will also livestream our ceremony on YouTube. Please visit the Schedule page of this website for details. While it truly saddens us that we can’t have all our loved ones gather with us bodily in October, we feel this plan will allow us to make the most of our wedding day in light of the circumstances. More importantly, though, this plan enables us to care for you by taking every precaution we can to keep you safe. Once this pandemic inevitably recedes, we want the people – and the community – that we love to remain as unscathed by COVID-19 as possible. It’s not the wedding we might have envisioned, but it’s the best way we know to love and care for our neighbors as we celebrate. "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” – John 15:13

Our story begins as all the great love stories begin: on the internet. Harrison and Maggie were first introduced by that esteemed digital matchmaker, OkCupid. All Maggie needed to do was to name-drop Tim Keller in a message, and Harrison was besotted. It wasn't long after we began talking that she knew she wanted to meet in person, so rather than spend days doing the dating-app mating dance, Maggie took the initiative to suggest getting together – a move that served both to surprise Harrison and to woo him all the more. On March 10th, we met for our first date at The Victor Bar in Chicago's North Center neighborhood. Our reactions upon first meeting in person were honestly so cute, it's a little gross. When Maggie saw Harrison walk in wearing his navy topcoat, she was so overcome she nearly swooned. (Ok, that's a bit of an exaggeration…but she did think he looked real good.) When Harrison saw Maggie flash him a big smile, he had the same feeling you get when you walk up to your front door after a long day and sigh, "I'm home." Fortunately, we were able to snag the last open table in the cozy little place. (Having never been to The Victor Bar before and not knowing how tiny it is, this was very fortunate. Who knows how things would have gone otherwise?) We proceeded to toss back a good number of fancy-schmancy cocktails while Harrison remarkably avoided scaring off Maggie with his impression of Christian Bale as Batman. Three hours in, Harrison suggested relocating to the Golden Nugget for greasy diner food and Maggie heartily accepted. At that point we both thought this might be the start of something special.

Though Harrison popped the question on Valentine's Day of this year, we had been discussing plans to get married for a long time beforehand. Over nearly three years of dating, we'd experienced many moments of happiness and many more challenges that tested and eventually strengthened our relationship. (In fact, many of our married friends encouraged us by saying how fortunate we were to face these challenges prior to marriage!) Through it all, we grew together in our shared faith in and reliance on Jesus as we looked forward to a future together.

It may sound trite to propose on Valentine's Day, but Harrison chose the date for a few important reasons: 1. Valentine's Day also happens to be Maggie's birthday. 2. Harrison's parents got engaged on Valentine's Day 1985, exactly 35 years prior. 3. Harrison proposed with the same ring his father had given his mother on that day. (Long story but don't worry, his mom OK'd it!) In the months leading up to the proposal, we developed a shared love of liturgy. For those who aren't familiar, liturgy is ordered, purposeful worship of God that helps to establish rhythms of living and mark occasions by reminding us that our lives are shot through with sacred purpose. (Check out the book Every Moment Holy by Douglas McKelvey!) With the help of liturgically-inclined friends, Harrison laid out a custom liturgy to pray with Maggie as a birthday gift to celebrate her birth and life. As we prayed together in Maggie's apartment on Valentine's Day, Harrison bowed his knee and concluded the liturgy by asking her to marry him. Maggie was so surprised and dumbfounded that she could hardly finish reading the prayer with him! Fortunately, after a moment she was able to recover from the shock enough that she was able to say, "yes."