We’re getting married!

Sarah and Brady met in high school at a homeschool debate tournament. Since they competed for different clubs, they saw each other every once in a while at tournaments and became acquaintances. After high school, they went their separate ways and did awesome (and non awesome) things for the next 10 years. They reconnected in an unlikely manner – via the popular online dating site LinkedIn. Interested in breaking into the recruiting world, Brady messaged Sarah to ask her about her work in recruiting in the fall of 2017, and while Brady was visiting the Bay Area, they met up at Philz Coffee in downtown SF. Though they talked about work and kept it professional, they also covered topics ranging from traveling, life direction, and what they had both been up to the last ten years. Always practical, Sarah thought to herself, “Brady is cute and Christian, but he lives in Virginia, so I’m not investing in this.” Months passed and the next time Brady visited the Bay Area, he invited Sarah to a concert in San Francisco that he was attending with his sister Shiloh. Brady had growing feelings for Sarah, but Sarah was not yet aware what his intentions were. Five more months passed before they connected again. Brady texted Sarah a couple times, but Sarah was more focused on dating guys who lived closer than a 6 hour plane ride away and could take her to dinner. In July, Brady texted Sarah out of the blue and asked, “Hey, how do you do with meeting large groups of people that you don’t know?” Sarah replied after an excruciating day and a half (felt to Brady like three days), “I can hold my own, sounds like you have something in mind?” And he did! Brady invited Sarah to his family’s going away party for two of the Kauk siblings, Josh and Bethany, and Sarah decided to take a chance on this attractive out of towner. She told her dad, “I’m going all the way to the South Bay to spend a full day with a guy I don’t know well, so this could go really well or really poorly.”

Sarah and Brady ended up spending not just Saturday together, but Sunday and Monday as well, and did not part until Tuesday when Brady had to fly back to Virginia! During those several days, they went to church together, enjoyed time with each other’s families, and attended a San Francisco ballet and symphony performance in the park, where Brady was questioned by Sarah’s girlfriends, who wondered who this man was holding their friend’s hand all of a sudden. In the weeks after Brady flew home, the young couple logged endless hours on FaceTime, and their relationship blossomed. Brady had already been thinking about moving back to the Bay Area for several years, and connecting with Sarah was the final impetus he needed to make the move. It took Brady five months to wrap things up in Virginia, but he started working on the move a few short weeks after starting to date this intriguing young San Franciscan. This process involved Brady leaving the community and church that he had invested in for ten years and pondering a career change, so there were a number of things to work through. The ensuing eight months since January, when Brady moved back to the Bay Area, feels more like three years to Sarah and Brady as they look back. They enjoyed spending extended time together in January and February as they both looked for work. When they both found jobs with long commutes, their time together was diminished, but their relationship continued to grow. Brady came to love Sarah’s church and to call it his own. He joined in her social circles and made new friends. Brady asked Sarah to join her life with his on July 11, 2019, just shy of one year from when they started dating, and Sarah said yes! Friends came together to give Sarah a special engagement adventure, which culminated at Coit Tower, with drone footage, candles, and family in attendance.

Close friends and family, Sarah and Brady are excited to share their wedding day with you, and are so grateful for the ways that so many of you have already invested in our lives. Thank you for your prayers, your smiles, your kindness, and your laughter. We pray in return that God blesses you, and that our friendship will bring Him glory as we live life together. Much love, Sarah and Brady