We met early mid-summer last year — Monday, July 8, to be precise (although Elizabeth holds that we briefly met right before midnight on July 7, but Colton was too sleepy to remember this). **E here inserting the truth — oh, he remembers, he just didn’t want to have to enter into conversation with me on his way to the bathroom (but I said “Good morning, Sunshine” anyway).** Before we begin recalling this serendipitous day, we need to introduce an important family to the story — the Davidsons. A Jesus-loving family whose treasury of love is constantly generating more love. Colton had met them a few years prior while walking through their small town in southwestern Ohio, during his cross-country adventure (yes, for those of you who don’t know yet, the groom walked across the country!). Through the Davidsons and their community, Colton experienced Jesus’s gentle and lowly heart in a profound, life-transforming way. So much so that he sojourned with them for six months, before continuing his journey. During this time, Colton helped homeschool the five Davidson kids and four others in their community. Elizabeth met the Davidsons in late 2023, when they were visiting their close friends, the Rowe family, in middle Tennessee. Elizabeth was also close with this family. The Rowes had brought the Davidsons to a farmer’s market where Elizabeth was selling her farm goods. They had met there, and Elizabeth invited everyone to hang out after. They continued their relationship from there. Now, back to when we met. Colton had been staying at the Davidson’s to finish prepping his freeze-dried provisions for an upcoming backpacking trip in California with his mom (back in January, on their third and final attempt, Colton and his mom had won hard-to-get permits for the John Muir Trail). Colton was initially planning to depart Ohio on July 5, ten days before his trip start date. A few days prior to this, however, it was quite obvious to him that he needed more time to fully prepare his provisions. So, on July 3 he rebooked his flight for July 9. This fortuitous decision lengthened his stay just long enough to cross paths with Elizabeth! On the evening of July 7, she drove up from Tennessee to spend some time with the Davidsons. Her and her two young daughters had been looking for a time to visit for a long stay, and the timing for them finally worked out. Because we can't agree about the timing of when we met ;), let's just say that we had our first conversation that next morning. Although neither of us would necessarily say it was love at first sight, our time together on that first day was quite delightful. And, despite both of us having expressed that we weren’t interested in dating anyone at the moment, as we individually reflected on the cause of the joyfulness we felt that day our interest in each other was sparked. There were many dynamics at play that caused this spark. But for Colton, above everything else, it was the way Elizabeth so seamlessly helped him lead the kids on several adventures on that first day. Elizabeth feels very much the same, but would add that part of her draw to Colton was the freedom she felt to get to know him — without the unhelpful, but often felt, pressure that typically accompanies dating or even the forethought of dating. After Colton left for his trip, we kept talking; and then we kept on talking some more. Then, in late November, Colton moved onto Elizabeth’s family farm. He then proposed to her a month later.

With only a half-hour left before the new year, while at a New Year’s party with the Davidsons, Colton proposed to Elizabeth. No one expected this — including Colton. As improbable as it may seem, until a minute prior, he had no intention of proposing. Up until this fateful minute, everyone at the party had been taking turns to reflectively share about their year. Then came Colton’s turn. As Colton was coming to the end of his reflection — which, of course, was primarily about Elizabeth — everyone cheerfully yelled “Propose!” Colton initially perceived the yells as a joke. But his interpretation of them quickly changed when they culminated in Dwayne Davidson handing him a small golden streamer. After grabbing it, Colton gently gripped the streamer. He then moved it close to his eyes, and peered confoundingly at it. It was clearly intended to symbolize a ring, and it even appeared to loosely resemble one. The streamer puzzled him, because he had coincidentally bought a golden ring a few hours prior. This same ring was now currently inches away in his pocket. And while it was intended for Elizabeth, Colton had not intended it as a proposal ring. As he stared at the streamer, however, a feeling struck him that the ring may now be taking on a new purpose. As Colton continued staring at the streamer, he was trying to determine how to interpret all that was happening. Were the people's yells to propose, the ring-like streamer, the presence of the ring, and everything else leading up to this point all a providential sign from the heavens to propose, or were they all just a series of coincidental happenings, or were they something in between? Despite the seeming unreasonableness of proposing so quickly into their relationship, Colton was compelled to see everything happening as a crescendoed-nudge from God to propose right then and there. With a calm certainty, he pulled the ring out of his pocket. Then, after momentarily fumbling through his mind on what to do next, he kneeled down, and asked Elizabeth to marry him. She responded immediately with several head nods. Then, nearly in tears, she said yes!!!