The Ponders 2026

Greyson and Julia both grew up in Antioch for the first 18 years of their lives, but never truly crossed paths. Julia’s Aunt, Beth Koch, has known the Ponders as family friends for many years and even did swimming lessons with Greyson when he was young. She would always mention Julia to Greyson or Greyson to Julia throughout their young lives but they were both too busy growing up to think about the future that God would later lay out for them. Years later, Beth attended Mr. Ponders birthday party the previous summer and again told Greyson that she had a wonderful niece! After the party, Beth brought Greyson up to Julia again and it sparked her interest, enough for them to finally meet each other. Julia and Greyson started talking on Snapchat, slowly getting to know each other. Only a few weeks in, they discovered they were going to the same party over winter break in Antioch. Greyson was only at the party by chance through friends that he had recently met in the area and Julia was the life of the party. There the two met, but stayed with their respective friends and did not mingle much. After the party they continued talking but there was one problem, Greyson was heading to Alaska that week. Greyson figured that he would have phone service during his trip and told Julia that they would stay in touch. A long week went by with Julia thinking Greyson had completely ignored her. Finally, Greyson was able to find the only house on the island with wifi and rekindled their conversation from the other side of the continent. That night, when Greyson got back from his trip, he immediately asked Julia to spend time with him and honestly…the rest is history! Greyson and Julia have spent the past 5 years living 1,400 miles away between Antioch, Illinois and Naples, Florida. Although the distance has been a struggle, they have traveled to see each other every 5 weeks on average. Their proximity has only made their relationship stronger and their hopes for their future brighter! Greyson went on to kick start owning his own business, professional shooting career, and graduating from Liberty University with a degree in marketing and professional sales. Julia went off to move 1,400 miles away with her Mom and Dad to Naples Florida and spent 4 years going to college at Florida Gulf Coast University. While at FGCU Julia graduated with a degree in entrepreneurship then went on to work of her own in digital marketing. Now 5 years later we cannot wait to live together in Antioch Illinois once again, start our lives and build a family together! We truly believe that God has put both of us together for His purpose and cannot wait to live that out! -The Future Mr. & Mrs. Ponder