Online dating, it seems to be the new normal for a lot of couples in today’s dating world. Cassie and my story is no different. We actually met online on an app called “Hinge”. She had been recommended by a few friends, I just randomly downloaded it because I was curious to see if it would actually work. It took just one day for us to match and start talking. To be honest, our first date was a bit of a wonky start. For a bit of a recap for those of you who don’t know the hilarious first date disaster, (on my part, Cassie was great the whole time, and no harm befell her at any moment), it started just like any other typical Christian date would: coffee. Yep, original I know, but hey, we drank coffee, talked for four hours, saw a guy spill his whole mug over himself, and shared multiple stories that both moved us and made us laugh until we cried. I thought it was going well, so I asked if she wanted to go get dinner as well. She said yes. I wanted to be original with the next part of the date, so I suggested we ride the electric scooters so I could show her around downtown Omaha. I was confident (having experience riding motorcycles for years), she was a bit more cautious - very mirroring of our relationship still to this day. I took off, blazing a path before us, she was just cruising behind me taking her time. We got to a crosswalk, I made a snarky comment so that she wouldn’t fall off, I started riding again, next thing I knew I was flying through the air over my handlebars and landing on the hard asphalt thinking I had cracked all of my ribs on my left side. If you don’t know this already, Omaha is notorious for potholes, and I found one of the largest with the front wheel of my scooter. She was super sympathetic, probably a bit freaked out, but she stayed with me through the remainder of the night. I bought her dinner, we got ice cream, and then parted ways for the evening.

Throughout our dating relationship, I could not get over how easy it was to fully be myself, something I had never experienced before in a relationship. We definitely have had our fair share of challenges, but the more we got to know each other, the more I could see the strong foundation we were building with Jesus right at the center. Fast forward to March, and we had planned a trip to go out Maryland where my family is. I had a hunch that's when he was planning on proposing, and I was looking forward to being able to spend that time with my family. Then the situation with Covid started picking up and we had to make the extremely difficult decision to not go. I was devastated; not only because from then I assumed that the proposal wouldn't happen for much longer, but also because I wouldn't be able to show him the place that means so much to me. Little did I know, he was regrouping and reached out to my roommate to put a new plan in action. The day that it happened, I went to go visit him and he asked me if I wanted to go on a walk with him. I was a little suspicious when he put on a nice sweater, but I just asked him if he was wearing that because we have all been in "Covid attire" all day everyday and he just wanted to look nicer that day. Of course that gave him a perfect excuse to agree with me without giving anything away. We arrived at the park and started walking around and then ended up on a golf course. I consider myself to be a very free spirit, so I kept running from him and being goofy. He pulled me aside and said he wanted to tell me something. I was still in a goofy mood because he always has random facts to tell me so I didn't think anything of him saying that. But then he says, "I spoke with your parents this week..." and I knew something was going down. Before I knew it he was proposing. The man of many words I have grown to love was almost speechless in that moment. And obviously, I said yes!

From coffee and potholes, to dance breaks and worship sessions, our story is just beginning, and we are extremely excited to see what is going to unfold in the next few years as we continue to cultivate a deeper relationship with Christ individually, and with one another. Two families are coming together through this miracle provided by God, and we are ready to be (dare I say it) Loving servants of Christ through our marriage. Help us celebrate and give glory to God, as we move forward and join in marriage to merge our stories into one, and start a new chapter in our lives as: Mr. and Mrs. Loving.