While I was stationed in Rhode Island, me and Sharah met on a dating app called Hinge. It was Sharah's first day on the app and she was extremely skeptical about it. I came across across her profile and saw that she had posed a question about my thoughts on Matthew 10, so I responded to her prompt and apparently she liked my answer!
After speaking for several weeks, we decided to meet up in person. Brenden came to visit me in Connecticut and took me out to breakfast, strolled with me around Elizabeth Park, and treated me to lunch at an awesome wine bar in West Hartford! I was beyond nervous when he first arrived, but the nervousness left as I realized how easily we connected and how much I enjoyed spending time with him. We spoke a lot about what we expected in a relationship and even discussed how we both viewed dating as a means to marriage. I was most impressed by his maturity and intentionality in pursuit of me. When we met up again the following weekend, Brenden met my parents over facetime and asked their permission to date me; my parents gave their resounding approval! After we ended the call, Brenden asked if I would be the "jelly to his peanut butter" and I undoubtedly said yes ; )
After getting to know Sharah over the following 5 months, I knew that I wanted to marry her. She was the epitome of godly womanhood as spoken about in the Bible. I couldn't risk losing such a special woman! So when Sharah and I visited her parents in Michigan over the summer, I asked them if I could have her hand in marriage. Lisette and Tom were extremely supportive of my intentions and gave their blessing. Once I found a ring, I began scheming about how I would propose to Sharah. I contacted her photographer friend, Rachel and asked her to set up a fabricated photoshoot for Sharah at Elizabeth Park, where we had our very first date. I flew to Connecticut without Sharah's knowledge and surprised her at the photoshoot. She had no idea about the proposal or how I even got there! She couldn't control her excitement and sounded like a squeaky mouse the entire time!