Brennan and I met our first year of college. MuKappa (the missionary kid student group at Moody) takes students on a "camping" trip during the second weekend of each school year, and I went along freshman year. I was super excited to keep getting to know all my MK/international friends I had met during orientation, so when I first saw Brennan on the camping trip with us, all I could think was, "Who is this American guy and what is he doing here?" Great first impression. But I kept hanging out with him throughout the weekend as we played group games of capture the flag and sang songs around the campfire. My first impressions quickly faded and I enjoying getting to know him along with all the other students there. The longer we hung out, the more fun I had and the more I came to respect his character and friendship. Eventually we started hanging out in a friend group together. Brennan kept coming to MuKappa events, and my presuppositions about Americans were proven wrong. As I adjusted to life at Moody, I settled into friendships that I hoped would last the next 4 years of college, including my friendship with Brennan. Brennan and I didn't hang out a ton, but whenever we did, I always came away encouraged. He continually pointed me to Christ and challenged me to pursue deeper maturity in my faith. I grew to appreciate him as a friend and brother. Amidst all the drama of Bible school dating culture, I was relieved to find a guy friend who I could be myself with and not worry about him taking things the wrong way. Or so I thought...

The first time I asked Rachel on a date, I was sure that she was going to say yes! I really liked her, she was really smart, super friendly, and one of the most genuine people I'd ever met. I respected her a lot. We'd gotten to know each other as friends during our Freshman year, and I was sure that she liked me too. Apparently, we were not on the same page. She said no, much to my surprise. Although I was disappointed, I tried to take it in stride. There's a risk in asking someone out, and sometimes you strike out. I told her that if anything ever changed, she would need to talk to me, because I was going to respect her answer and not try to pursue her any further. This happened during the Spring of 2017, and the rest of 2017 was equally as confusing for me with women. By the time Winter rolled around, I was totally flabbergasted and couldn't understand what in the world was happening between Rachel and I. I had been trying to respect her answer and treat her as a friend. I had been trying to keep a healthy distance between us, but she kept trying to hang out with me, talk to me, and it felt like she was flirting with me. Of course, I had already thought once before that she liked me, so I knew that she wasn't trying to flirt with me, she was just a nice girl! But, as it turns out, Rachel was indeed wrestling with her feelings towards me, and she had become increasingly attracted to me. Before we left for Christmas break, Rachel pulled me aside one day and told me that her feelings had changed. She liked me! I was very surprised to hear this, but I was thrilled to hear that she wanted to go on a date with me now! It had been a roller-coaster of a journey, but we began dating in January of 2018, and I couldn't have been more thrilled for a second chance! Our relationship taught me so much about love, and it also taught me so much about God. As I knew her more and more, I couldn't help but think, this is a woman I'd like by my side for life.

Like any relationship, ours had its ups and downs, but it became increasingly obvious that we were serious. We'd been dating for about a year, and we began talking about getting married. At a year and a half, Rachel knew a proposal was coming, but she still didn't know when exactly it would happen! (Brennan kept his secret well.) When Rachel picked up Brennan after church one Sunday and drove to Montrose Beach, she had no reason to believe we were going to do anything other than a picnic. Little did she know Brennan was planning to pop the question, and he had picked out the exact spot, too! Brennan managed to stay calm, even though parking took forever and Rachel asked for a bathroom stop as dark clouds crept over the horizon. It was not until we reached an isolated spot and Brennan reminisced about different times in our relationship that Rachel started to suspect. Hugging him, she felt his heart racing and realized what was happening as she exclaimed, "Why is your heart beating so fast?" She couldn't stop beaming as he continued to share his love for her, and then Brennan asked Rachel to marry him! This time, there were no surprise answers. Brennan could not have been more relieved to hear her "Yes" and slide the ring on her finger! We took a few minutes to enjoy the moment before fleeing from the impending storm to the car. Over the next couple of hours, we called close friends and family to share the exciting news. We are excited to be able to share our story with you and look forward to the future God has for us. We can't wait for you to celebrate our special day together in December! Please take some time to explore the rest of our site. See you soon!