Take it from us - your church's young adults group is the best place to meet your future spouse. As God's timing would have it, we both met at In-n-Out during the weekly after-YA late-night snack on a Wednesday night in September '24. Shortly after Connor asked for Susannah's number a couple months later, the discussion moved to texting with conversations that got so deep and lengthy that the only natural next step was to go on a date so that the topic could continue in person. By the 3rd date, we knew we both shared something unique and special and we both pursued a friendship that developed into an official dating relationship. Shortly after, God allowed certain challenges into our lives to strengthen our trust and love for each other and, most of all, our dependence on and surrendering to Him. Navigating through gnarly health scenarios, change of church communities, and tough job situations brought us closer to each other and to the Lord---and it also revealed to both of us that when life got stinky, there was no one else we'd rather be with through it all. Plus, when you spend a whole week together on a trip to visit family and you spend time together all day every day---well, let's say that experience made us realize we wanted that to be the norm. So, the topic of marriage came up and so did pre-martial book reading and engagement rings on Pinterest. On November 2, Connor took Susannah out on a gondola ride at Lake San Marcos for what Susannah thought was just in celebration of their 10-month dating anniversary. But a floating glass bottle with a message inside that so conveniently floated towards her finally revealed the pre-planned surprise. Connor got down on one knee and asked her to be his wife, during what we are both convinced was the most magical lake during the most magical sunset in history. Every time we reminisce on the past year together, we’re blown away at who we were before we met and God's timing that orchestrated the intertwining of our stories: the way He built us individually to a deeper understanding of His love. We want our marriage to reflect Jesus' love for us. Our love is never perfect, but the covenantal commitment of two souls to each other in pursuit of non-conditional love for the other is in accordance with God's genius design of marriage. Our goal is that God's persistent, consistent grace and goodness is seen through our relationship to a world that practices love so differently. Speaking for myself (Susannah), it is an honor to pursue that with a man that fears God and prioritizes his love for God over everything else. We're so excited to celebrate God's amazing gift of marriage in our lives with our friends and family! [Note: No ChatGPT or other AI was used in the writing of this story]