I met Jenni in June 2017 in Harker Heights, TX. I was 18 and Jenni was 16. We both had been invited by mutual friends (shoutout McMurry clan!) to serve alongside each other at Backyard Bible Clubs through Grace Bible Church. Jenni and I ended up serving on the same team together that week, and I got to stay at the same host home as her and her younger brother, Joshua. I was tasked that week with the very important role of driving Jenni and another group of volunteers to and from the church. I am deeply proud to say it would not be the last time that I would get to escort Jenni around town. In 2023, I was working on staff at DBU, and I got to talk to Jenni for the first time in years when she contacted my office with questions for a travel study trip to Washington, D.C. Later that year, Jenni would begin her graduate studies and her staff role at DBU the Monday after I graduated with my master's degree and left my role on campus. Despite the tough timing, God was not done working in our story together. In February 2025, after much unnecessary nervousness and timewasting, and with the help and encouragement of dear friend and best man Wayne Briggs, I decided to listen to the almost decade-long soft spot in my heart and ask Jenni out on a date. The first date felt like a tenth date, and I knew after our 9-hour 3rd date that I was falling in love with her. In March, I did something crazy and flew to Evansville, IN to be with Jenni while she was there with DBU for the Men’s DII basketball Final Four. It was a very happy memory for us, and I knew by that time that I wanted to spend forever with her. After a very happy summer of dating and sweet time with the Ringle and Harwood clans, I proposed to Jenni at Cedar Hill State Park on July 25th. Our story is one that reminds me that God wastes no season, and that every interaction we have and person we meet matters. It’s beyond my most hopeful dreams that God started a wonderful story for me and Jenni in 2017, and eight years later, we are overjoyed to celebrate this special landmark in our lives with you!