The Future Peickerts

From Sam: "When Leslie Garrison gave me Suzi's number I wasn't quite convinced. 'I'm not really interested in any developments right now but I'll take her out' was my thought process. Little did I know how much of a delight our first conversation on the phone would be. Setting aside 30 minutes to talk to Suzi, it was all the more shocking when I realized 3 hours had already passed. And yet it went by so quick... It wasn't long after I sent a text to Leslie, my only words 'Alright you got me... I'm interested.' " From Suzi: "Valentine's night 2021, as I walked around Target grabbing discounted candy with my roommates, I got a call from a random number in North Carolina. 'North Carolina?, I thought to myself, who the heck would be calling me from North Carolina… Also who the heck even lives in North Carolina?'. I picked up the phone and quickly said 'Hello?'. A voice answers me on the other end of the phone 'Ummmm, hi. Is this Suzi?'. I replied offhandedly, 'Yes…'. 'Oh hi. My name is Sam and I promise I'm not a telemarketer….Im actually a brother from the Church in Greensboro North Carolina. Leslie gave me your number and I would love to take you out on a date. But, before we go on a date I would love to get to know you more.' I left the call thinking, who does this man think he is, calling me on Valentines day, asking for not one date, but TWO! And on top of that I was totally not looking for any serious relationships. I prayed that Sam was ugly, that he was not interesting at all and that we didn’t connect. I am so happy that God had a different plan than what I thought! :) "After Sam sent me a picture of himself and a list of things he liked to do I was already curious about him, even if I didn’t want to admit it. Not only is he such a looker, BUT we had so much in common. I still was holding out hope that we wouldn't connect on our phone call and that he wouldn't be as cute as your picture because I wasn't quite ready to let go of the tight grip I had created around my heart. Yet, after the first conversation we had, I slowly felt the grip I had tightly held on my heart getting looser and looser as I wanted to get to know him more. He intrigued me, surprised me, and amazed me. I left the phone call confused. I wanted to get to know Sam more and I couldn't wait to talk again, but there was so much fear, confusion and contradictory feelings. I prayed for God to make it clear what all these feelings are and to hold my heart close to his as I figured out what was happening!"

From Sam: "Obviously, I had to take Suzi out. She were too cool of a girl to be nonchalant about it, and yet we lived so far from one another. How would it happen? Well, turns out my grandmother who lived in NY had some moving that needed to be done. And so as any good grandson would do, I traveled to NY and the entire time up there thought about Suzi! I was so excited to take her out on a date. With every piece of furniture I moved and every click of the hallway clock I thought of the couple hours I would get to drive over to NJ and finally meet her! In time the moment came, and boy did I not miss a beat. Driving as if I was a New Yorker myself I sped down the road. Pulling into the parking spot I could feel my heart beat, I wasn't nervous, I wasn't anxious, I was simply excited. I took a moment to pray and stepped out of my father's truck. I honestly can't remember if I first saw Suzi walking to the door, in front of the door, or if I knocked. All the allotted space in my head was immediately overwritten by how beautiful I thought she was hat first time I saw her. Excited to be there, stunned by her beauty, and with every conversation feeling layers of my heart fall as all I could think was "I want to know you more". That day at the park finished quickly, the picnic too short, my time with you fleeting. And yet leaving NJ that same evening I knew I was not going to let this be the last time I saw you. " From Suzi: "After our initial phone call we started to talk more and more on the phone. I, of course, panicked as my heart started to be won over little by little. Despite my fearful objections and (somewhat) unnecessary boundaries I asked for, Sam always responded to me with love and grace as he were patient with me and persevered to win my heart over. I was shocked as he always, without objections, met me where I was at." "Finally the day came, April 5th, and Sam drove down from NY to meet me for the first time. I was so nervous I probably changed outfits 7 times. After approval from all of my roommates I sat on the couch waiting for him to come to me. I approached the door upon his arrival there were butterflies in my stomach. When I saw him my heart fluttered. He was even more attractive in person (no shocker there). He came in and chatted with my roommates and then we were off, on our first date." "From the moment he got in the car, blasted some T Swift and sang along I already knew we were going to get along just fine. When we got to Rutgers Gardens we picnicked and started to talk I was still boggled over just how amazing it was to finally be in person with you, but then on top of that you were just so so deep in your thoughts and feelings I was reeling at being in the moment with you. Then suddenly, mid conversation you politely cut me off and say “So I know this is super random, but I really wanna climb that tree! Can we please go and try it?”. My face lit up, Wow he’s a goofball just like me, I thought to myself, and I was swooning over you. As we walked around you talked of your next visit and how we would hammock in the trees, and I (again) was shocked at your bluntness! Before you left, you handed me a jar for prayers and you had written one for me inside. I was so excited to write them down and see what God did, and WOW did God answer my prayers alright. "

From Sam: "When it comes to Suzi the concept of time eludes me. When we are apart it feels as if an eternity stands before our next meeting. Yet when we are together it feels as if she never left. Imagine then how I felt when (to my surprise) she showed up on my doorstep October 22, 2021. Such a rush of emotions, from disbelief to joy as the eternity between us, both in an instant and slowly, faded away before my eyes. Suzi, I can never express just how much what you did that day meant to me. I truly do not deserve you." "That night I put my mind to work. This was my chance to catch her off guard! The next day, after a short walk and playful banter, on October 23, 2021, I asked you to be my girlfriend... Well, I didn't quite ask her? Haha I more so told her haha. But that is an insider we can share for times to come." "Suzi, sitting on that bench, overlooking the water with your hand in mine as we prayed our first prayer as a dating couple is one of my favorite memories. And though I have prayed many prayers in my lifetime, you are one of the greatest answered prayers I have ever received. All glory and praise be to God, whom in His timing things come together. And by His way, and His way alone, are things truly made beautiful." From Suzi: "After Sam told me he had liked me in early May, I lived in disbelief for weeks. 'How could a guy that's just so incredible like little-ole-me?' The overthinker that I am, I just kept asking myself if this really happened, and to my astonishment, it was true and our friendship continued to blossom into more than a friendship. After we were able to spend time together both in Jersey and in Greensboro I knew I wanted to come and surprise Sam. Thanks to some help to some awesome friends (shoutout to Tehyla and David) I was able to road trip down to surprise you in October over a short break I had in school. While driving up I could feel my heart beating so fast that I thought it was going to burst out of my throat or I was just going to burst into song singing about how excited and nervous I was!" "Pulling up to Sam's house I was shaking from excitement and nerves. I snuck out of the car, and hid behind a tree before calling him. He was in shock as I had called during the middle of my teaching day (something very unusual) and told him that I had sent him a package and that its on his doorstep and that he needs to come out immediately to get it. As he opened his door and steeped out onto his landing I ran straight at him yelling surprise. The look on his face was absolutely priceless it went from fear, to complete shock, to extreme happiness and then back to confusion. He was in disbelief for hours as I told him that me and his friends had schemed for me to come up here and surprise him for the weekend. Little did I know in just a few hours he would return the surprise to me." "The next day we attended a wedding together and before heading back home after the beautiful morning wedding Sam said he wanted to make a pit stop at a park together. As he drove back he was swerving all over the road and I could tell he had something on his mind. Once we parked and started to walk along around Bur-Mil Park Sam started to share all the things he liked about me and suddenly he asked me to be his girlfriend. Now it was my turn to be in disbelief. Afterward we sat and prayed together and then within a few short hours we had to say our goodbyes, longing for the moment we could be together again."

From Suzi: "Fast forward to the day I had been waiting, dreaming and praying for, but had no idea was actually happening. Saturday morning I rolled out of bed (literally) and went to go on a “hike” with Sam in the morning. I hadn’t showered in two days, I was wearing workout clothes and I had absolutely no suspicions that he would have something even more special planned for that day." "As we walked along a very busy path we got to a spot on the path where a bridge crosses over a beautiful stretch of water, and all along this bridge are locks where couples have engraved their names. When Sam stopped and told me he had a surprise for me it wasn’t too much of a jump to assume he had gotten a lock for us to put on the bridge. He took it out of his bag he showed me where he had engraved our initials and we chose a spot to place our lock. " Now you might be thinking “Suzi isn’t it obvious that he might propose?” And the answer was nope. Not at all. Sam is definitely the romantic in the relationship and does cute things like this all the time but I had no clue. In addition, everyone in my life had me THOROUGHLY convinced I wouldn’t be engaged until June 25th. So when Sam starts to monoglogue about how much he loves me and the path we have taken in life to get to where we are, and even when he reveals that this path was the same path where he asked me to be his girlfriend I still had no suspicions at all. That is until he pulls away from me and gets down on one knee. My face must have been priceless because it was the face of complete shock before immediate tears. As he gets up to put the ring on my finger he takes it out of the box….and immediately throws it in the water. Originally he had planned to pretend to trip and drop this fake one in, but out of nerves he simply just laughed and threw it in the water. I did not think it was funny at the time. But within the same 5 seconds Sam reassured me that the real ring was in his bag and that was just a fake one and we were both laughing with nerves and excitement. As we stayed on the bridge praying together I was in disbelief and could barely make sentences when I saw my “God bird” and was again brought to tears. God has given me immeasurably more than I could have asked or imagined. Then to make the day even better my close friends and family came all the way from NJ to NC to help throw me a huge surprise engagement party! To say I was surprised is an understatement!! I am so grateful for the incredible family, future family, friends and church family I have and how much they made that day so so special!"