The beginning of our future

In the summer of 2004, I had just moved to Houston, TX and into the congregation Briana attended. From the moment I met her, I quickly discerned she was not your ordinary teen. She displayed a spirit, maturity, and kindness well beyond her years. One example was when she invited the young ones in our congregation over for breakfast one morning before service. I was touched at her hospitality as she prepared everything by herself, a meal that included waffles, fruit and more. One of my favorite memories was when I was a senior in High School. Because my school had a late start on Thursdays every week Bri, myself and two others would do early morning before the school day started. This took a lot of preparation for Bri as she had to get up early to get herself ready, pick up a sister, then get me and another brother. The thing that impressed me the most was that not once did she complain but rather continued to encourage us to reach our goals spiritually. As I got older, I kept Bri in mind. Although I had given thought to a possible future with her, I didn’t know exactly if or how that would come about since she moved away from Houston and I had gone off to Bethel. In 2013, I received the news that Briana was accepted to Wallkill of all places to serve as a nurse. We would serve 3 years together at Wallkill in which our friendship would begin to flourish convincing me that I had found the one! Now I just needed the courage to make a move. Jan 2017 was a month to remember! I was visiting family in Denver and my mom had invited Bri to visit as well. From the beginning the family loved her. The icing on the cake though was when Briana became the first person in our family history to not only be in the same kitchen with my Grandmother, but to actually help her prepare the meal! At the end of her trip I expressed my interest in pursuing a relationship with her and to my surprise she said “Yes“. On December 29th 2018 she said "Yes" again when I asked her to marry me.