From the moment I met Liv, I knew there was something about her. I had heard her cousin praise her spirituality, and I was definitely intrigued when we chatted at a church conference in 2018. However, I was definitely not ready to date yet, but she was officially on my radar. For the next three years, we slowly built a friendship, and I was always intrigued by her. But because I was a passive young lad, and I was thinking about living a life like Paul, solely devoted to ministry, I didn’t do too much to intentionally get to know her. In early 2021, a brother in my campus ministry asked me if there were any girls in my life. I told him, "Not really, but I've always kind of been intrigued by Olivia Geyer." He promptly challenged me to go to Columbus and take her on a date. I was initially taken aback by such a forward move, but I ended up going for it. We went on a date a couple of weeks later, and started talking for about a month. After that, I felt like she was being a little overly reserved and polite instead of authentic, so instead of talking to her about my feelings, as any reasonable person would do, I just ghosted her to communicate that I didn't like her. Classic. We didn't really talk until a year and a half later, when we were both on staff in our campus ministries. I kept bumping into her, and was drawn to her service to the church and her humility. I thought about pursuing things with her again, but felt like it would be awkward. Until a very well timed session of spontaneous free therapy from Angie Mack, a mutual friend of ours, where I was essentially exposed for withholding my heart and being unwilling to love vulnerably and bravely. She challenged me to sincerely go after Liv and really learn her authentically and deeply, and not use the minimal, self-protective amount of effort I had given before. And so I took Liv on a couple dates and began a new friendship, which was both terrifying and exciting to me. Through tons of prayer, encouragement and advice from many trusted spiritual advisors and family, we finally started dating in February 2023, and the rest is history.

In my memory, I met and became friends with Mitchell the summer of 2019. We both found ourselves at a camp through our church fellowship after our freshman year of college. I remember laughing a lot with him and thinking he was someone I could have a lot of fun with. My feelings for him didn’t begin until he came to Columbus, Ohio in January of 2020. He was visiting a friend in town and we were all playing soccer. It was on the field, and after seeing him do a juggling trick, my attention was turned. For the next year I tried to suppress my feelings for him, but he was all I could think about. From a distance I saw the leader he was. During COVID he organized a fundraiser that raised over $60K, and he was someone who loved serving people and putting God first. I remember telling my friends, “Mitchell is going to do amazing things someday, and I just want to be there to see it.” As Mitchell said, the timing just wasn’t right in Spring 2021. I was shy and insecure, and definitely reserved my heart despite my feelings for him. It was hard to lose our friendship and that summer I really leaned on my faith and security in my relationship with the best man I’ve ever met! Jesus! He became my security and I learned to love singleness! It’s also when my dream to move to South America was reawakened. In 2023, I was applying to a ministry program in Miami, Florida that would send me to South America. As a passionate Latina who’s very proud of her Mexican heritage I was so excited for the opportunity to practice my hard-earned Spanish. And at this point, I was convinced my heart would land in the hands of a Spanish-speaking Latino man who would travel the world with me. However, as He often does, God had other plans. Somehow, this Wasian guy who doesn't plan to leave Ohio, completely captivated me again. He apologized for what had happened a couple years prior and simply asked for my friendship. I couldn’t resist how safe I felt being led by someone who had such an incredible walk with God. On a leap of faith and some nudging from my friend and mentor Brooke Snell, we started dating. Two months later we were internationally long distance. As I traveled from Mexico, to Argentina, and Chile, I would ask all sorts of people, “¿Cuándo sabes que estás enamorado?” Or “When do you know you’re in love?” With so many different responses, I had to answer this question for myself, so I flew back early to surprise him. That summer, I fell in love with Mitchell’s crazy, adventurous faith in God. After dating long distance for a year I moved back to Cincinnati, Ohio to do campus ministry with him. Though to some it might seem I’ve given up on my dream for South America for a guy, I’m grateful that God has shown me that it’s not about the crazy places and adventures you go on, but the people you go on them with. I’ve found my person, my best friend, my life partner, and the man who's going to help me get to heaven. I can’t wait to start forever with him this April! P.S. in less than a year Mitchell re-learned Spanish for me, and spoke it for the entire proposal. And now we speak it together! ¡Dios es bueno, los milagros ocurren!