Although they can’t pinpoint when they first met in person, Noah and Rachel grew up in the same small community and were friends for at least six years and close friends for three years before they ever acknowledged that their relationship was something special. It turns out that they both secretly liked each other for at least two years, but were convinced that the other couldn't possibly be interested in anything more than friendship. Afraid of ruining the special bond they had, not only with each other but with mutual friends and Sunday school class/church members, they both tried to repress their feelings. They prayed for each other to find a godly spouse and watched as they both dated other people. Finally, in early Spring 2024, Rachel’s sister Abigail and her husband Kyle realized what was going on and made it their personal mission to get Rachel and Noah together, hosting bonfires and movie nights that turned into deep 2 am theological discussions in attempts to get them to spend more time together and realize that they liked each other. They were successful, and after one late Friday night at the Ingrams’, Noah sent Rachel a dm asking if she would like to go to Waffle House for dinner the next week. According to Noah, he felt like the Lord wanted him to ask Rachel out, so he typed out the message, told God, “Here I go ruining a friendship,” and hit send before throwing his phone across the room. Rachel immediately agreed to the date, with only one request: they agreed to keep this a complete secret between the two of them, hoping that if it didn’t work out, they could move on and pretend it never happened. Fortunately, no such precaution was needed. By the end of that first Waffle House date, both Rachel and Noah knew that they would get married, although they didn’t say so at the moment. By the second date, they verbalized it and said “I love you.” Within two weeks, they knew it was time to tell their families and tried to plan how to drop what they thought would be shocking news. However, none of their family was at all shocked. In fact, the first words out of Rachel’s mom’s mouth were “About dang time!” The lack of surprise extended to their closest friends and church family, with almost everyone claiming to have seen this coming for a long time and that the two were made for each other. Noah officially proposed in front of a gorgeous sunset on May 11th at Okatibbee Reservoir, only a few hundred yards from where his parents first met. After years of friendship blossoming into love, Noah and Rachel’s next chapter has begun.