J & K

Kaylie's perspective: A lot of my close friends knew Joe and they kept talking about him. At the time, I thought who is this guy that's always leading worship gatherings and Bible studies? This may have sparked a little bit of a heart sparkle from afar, but our paths didn't end up crossing until a few months later. We happened to be out after a soccer game with a group of our friends, when one of them got pranked. So I invited Joe to prank them back with us. This then turned into an all night prank war. This sparked a friendship full of going cliff jumping, pranking people, long phone calls, and lots of Joe coming over to hang out at my house with our friends and my roommates. Everyone around me would say they would have never known I liked Joe because in person I avoided him like the plague. My biggest prayer throughout this time was asking the Lord to help me surrender the plan I envisioned for my life and if he wanted Joe in my life for him to initiate a conversation with me before I left to go to overseas for the summer. Sure enough one day I get a text from Joe asking me to meet at what would become our favorite coffee shop before I left for the summer. That's when Joe clearly expressed interest in me and I was over the moon excited! However, we both decided not to date because I would be overseas, but I agreed to send him emails occasionally over the summer. Then once I came back we started dating. Dating Joe led me into deeper surrender to the Lord. Joe you have brought me closer to the Lord, you have taught me patience, to listen, lean in, and to seek understanding. You are a connector of people, faithful, kind, compassionate, adventurous, and so much more. I am honored and overjoyed that I get to pursue Jesus with you for the rest of our lives together! Joe's perspective: Before Kaylie and I met, we had a lot of mutual friends from Baylor. I remember being in the same room at various ministry events and seeing Kaylie from across the room. However, we never talked. I would always see Kaylie hanging out with my friend Abby, but whenever I would walk up to talk she would walk away :(. One night after a worship gathering I ran into Kaylie and introduced myself but that was the extent of our interaction. Later that semester, we were out with a group of friends after a soccer game, when one of our friends got pranked. It was pretty late and I had an early class the next morning, so I decided to go home. However, before I drove off, Kaylie pulled up next to me and invited me to prank the others back. I was leaning on saying "no" because I was tired but I'm glad I said yes. That night led to an all-night prank war and the beginning of our friendship. The next couple of months was full of long phone calls, cliff diving, game nights, and late night food runs. One of my biggest prayers all of college was to find my future spouse. As I was finishing up my final semester at Baylor it seemed that would not be the reality. However, Kaylie and I's friendship continued to progress and I noticed my interest in her. I spent days overthinking what to do and I was convinced that she was not interested in me. However, after several conversations with close friends, I decided to reach out and share with her how I felt. When I learned that we had mutual feelings for each other I was mind-blown, and over the moon excited! Sadly we didn't start dating right then, but we emailed back-and-forth over the summer while Kaylie was overseas. Once she got back, I asked her out and we started dating. Dating Kaylie has led to so much transformation and growth in my relationship with God. Kaylie you are a beautiful, beloved daughter of God. God has revealed his beauty to me through you. You are gentle, kind, resilient, love others deeply and have a huge heart for everyone to know Jesus. You are so much fun to laugh with and I love your joyful heart! I love you, and I am so excited for us to journey together with Jesus for the rest of our life!