You may be wondering...

Question

Why on earth would they choose to get married in the middle of nowhere in the desert? This is such an inconvenience and so random—neither of them are even from Twentynine Palms!

Answer

Believe it or not, there’s a deeper reason behind our choice of location. As we entered this season of life, Nadia was reading through Exodus in her personal time with God, and the church we both attend, Southlands Brea, was studying the book of Joshua.

Question

Okay… but why is Exodus relevant to this?

Answer

In Exodus, it’s on the road—between Egypt and the Promised Land—that the Israelites are invited to become God’s covenant partners, the people among whom He dwells. It mirrors the idea of getting married and moving in together. God and Israel “marry” at Mount Sinai, and then God chooses to live with them right in the middle of their camp, in the tabernacle. What’s striking is that this covenant doesn’t happen once they’ve arrived in the Promised Land. It doesn’t wait for the moment when everything is stable, abundant, and secure. Instead, the marriage and the dwelling happen in the wilderness—in the in‑between, before anything is figured out, before they have a home, before they have resources, before they feel “ready.” What’s presented as permanent is God’s partnership and presence with His people even while they are wandering.

Question

So… how is this relevant to the wedding?

Answer

As you probably know, we are quite young. And in today’s world, there’s a lot of discouragement and pushback against getting married young—concerns about identity, finances, stability, and whether you’ve “figured yourself out” yet. But this picture of God forming a covenant with His people in the wilderness—before they reached the Promised Land, before they had everything sorted out—captures exactly why we’re choosing to get married now. We know who we are because God tells us who we are. We believe marriage is a commitment to love one another through every season, including the ones that feel uncertain. We don’t have everything figured out financially, and we definitely don’t have every detail of life mapped out. But we trust that God will provide, guide, and sustain us as we walk in His ways. We’re choosing covenant in the “in‑between,” believing His presence is what makes us secure—not our circumstances.

Question

Okay… but why specifically Joshua Tree?

Answer

As we began having more serious conversations about marriage—and throughout the first months of our engagement—our church was teaching through the book of Joshua. Week after week, we felt God stirring us through this series, encouraging us to “Live Brave” for Him. Joshua became a source of strength and clarity as we prepared to enter a new chapter of life together. So choosing Joshua Tree wasn’t random at all. It became a symbolic way of honoring what God was already doing—through His Word, through our church community, and through the courage He was calling us into. Getting married in the desert, near “Joshua” Tree, is our way of saying: we’re stepping into this covenant the same way Israel stepped into theirs—still young, still learning, still a little broke, still figuring things out, but fully trusting the God who meets His people in the wilderness and leads them faithfully into every promise He has for them.