I first met Matt way back in 2014. I was 15, helping my brother move into college, and Matt—18 at the time—was the guy who happened to share an apartment with him. We didn’t interact much at first, mostly because I was a teenager and he was too cool and too old for me to notice properly. But little by little, I started hearing stories about Matt House: my brother’s best friend who laughed easily, thought deeply, loved the Lord, and had a heart for worship (and apparently survived living with my brother). Over the years, Matt and I watched each other’s lives unfold from a distance, connected by Josh long before we ever realized where it would lead. We saw each other occasionally—polite hellos, easy conversations—and I even developed a slight crush on Matt when we were both in Josh and Shay’s wedding. At one point, we plotted to steal a mini horse in 105-degree heat. Life moved on. I moved, and moved again, and moved again. When I finally started preparing to come back to Virginia, every single member of my family—individually—called to inform me that Matt House was in town, single, and definitely someone I should consider. After one interaction with him at church, I decided they were absolutely correct. I began looking forward to seeing Matt every Sunday and Wednesday. We talked at church, laughed our way through midweek meals, and once we reconnected, the laughter never stopped. Soon, we were going on coffee crawls and watching movies together—maybe accidentally, maybe with a little help from Josh, who had clearly been playing the long game. Then Matt told me he was moving to DFW—the exact place I had just left. Perfect timing, obviously. I thought it was ironic and a little sad, like we had finally found each other only to miss our chance by a few hundred miles. But we took a risk. We liked each other enough to try long distance. Flights were booked as often as possible, FaceTiming once a week turned into hours-long calls every single day, and distance slowly became just another obstacle we laughed our way through. Matt is the most amazing man. He loves deeply and lives intentionally. He is strong and disciplined, yet willing to be vulnerable and do the hard work of becoming a better man. He is truly the best man I know. I am so grateful that God brought us together—that He wrote such a beautiful love story and continues to knit us together.

Even though I had known Leah and her family for over a decade, I didn't realize there might be something here until she made a beeline for me that day at church in May of last year. Its hard to fully explain but in that moment I felt seen, felt her kindness, and immediately the thought entered my mind that there might just be something here. Of course I had to wrestle with the complications of me moving to the place she just came from and also had to wonder if I really could just ask out my best friends sister. I remember there was a Sunday where I was going to ask her out, but decided not to. She came up to me that same day and asked if I wanted to get lunch with her, Josh, and Shay... at the same restaurant I was planning to ask her! It was just like the Lord wouldn't let me miss her. He used to tell me in my prayers for my future spouse that He wouldn't let me miss her and I think He was good on His promises that day. After wrestling with all the complications and talking with her brother I knew I had to at least tell her how I felt and give her the option to allow me to pursue her over long distance. She did and I cannot express how much love and kindness I felt in that decision. My time dating Leah has been the best time of my life. She is so kind, radiant, beautiful in every way, and I have felt like our souls were kindred from the beginning. She makes me laugh, she makes me want to be an even better man, and I've known for a while now if my life was just endless days with her, it would be the best life I could imagine. Really, I knew when she said yes to dating me long distance that she was going to be the one. I just had a feeling. But it was Christmas of last year, with her family, that I decided there was no use in waiting any longer to buy a ring and ask her to marry me. I bought the ring in February, around Valentines Day. I spoke with her parents and plotted the initial plan of proposing to her when their whole family was in town during April. Leah is a hard girl to surprise, so I knew I couldn't hide the when, but I could keep her guessing on the how. I decided to propose to her in the church where we reconnected and where if I'm being honest, fell in love with her. I of course drove her around all day to a lot of places she thought I would propose, just to keep her guessing, but ultimately she was so surprised when I walked her in that church. Josh and Shay once again played their crucial role in our story by setting everything up and taking lovely pictures and video. I asked her to marry me and of course, like any good romantic who is also a little musical, I wrote her a song. I will always remember the look on her face as I played it for. The love in her eyes. You could see she knew in that moment just how loved she was and that is how I hope she always feels with me. I can go on forever but I'll end with saying that I love this woman and cannot wait to marry her and spend the rest of my life with her! So looking forward to celebrating with you all!