All by Gods grace!

I met Nathan Mark Fernandez a month after I moved back to Florida In April of 2021. I had recently finished doing missions in Israel for 16 months, and the transition back to America was anything but easy. I was going through an extremely rough time and needed space to grow and lean on the Lord during this season. Coming back to Florida was a great decision as my sister lived there, and I got plugged into her church which was just what I needed at the time. My sister Hannah was also part of a young adult Bible study group. That was where I first met Nathan; he had just moved from Georgia to Florida to work for one of his Uncles. I’d noticed him that night for the first time because he brought some insight to our Bible study, which I admired, as this was his first time meeting us all. As months passed and we rolled into the new year, I had many opportunities to get to know Nathan. A particular moment that sticks out in my mind was when the young adults were having a pool party at the pastor’s house. Neither Nathan nor I had brought swimsuits, so we just ended up sitting by the pool and talking that night. I was doing most of the talking, but he was asking me really good questions, and I could tell he was listening. I’ve been known to tell my whole life story to strangers, and in this case, I ended up sharing with Nathan my journey with God up until that point. I left that night thinking he would probably not want to talk to me again, but that was not the case. As the summer of 2022 rolled around, I began to take notice of Nathan more and more, and I was oblivious to the fact that he had noticed me as well. With these feelings came some fears, so I sought counsel from trusted women in the church and prayed about it. I gave it over to the Lord and was truly able to move through the following weeks at peace with whatever the Lord had in store. Little did I know that at this same time, Nathan was also seeking counsel about his feelings for me and praying about what the next step may be. On Wednesday night, as I was leaving my church small group, Nathan made his move. Nathan offered to walk me to my car and hold my umbrella as it was raining, and I said of course. As we got to my car, I said, “Thank you” and just as I was about to close my door he stopped me and asked me out. I was so surprised, charmed, and a little scared. I told him that I would give him my number and that we could talk about it. The rest was history, as cliche as that sounds. We started dating officially after going on a few dates, and I got to learn what an amazing man of God he was. He listened to me intently and had a truth to his actions that I had not seen before. I was falling for him and was pretty sure he was the one God had for me to marry. As we continued to get to know each other and learn about our similarities and differences, the Lord continued to grow us together. My confidence grew as God began to work on both of our hearts at the same time. Then, on June 24th, 2023, Nathan asked me to marry him, and I was able to give him the most joyful YES I could have ever said. I am so excited to see what the Lord has in store for us both. I am blessed to have been given a strong and humble man of God whom I call my partner for however long the Lord wills. Our story is a gift of grace from the Lord. Song of Solomon 3:4 “I have found the one my heart loves.”