Despite 2,500 miles between us, we had both enrolled in an online Christian Apologetics course through the Ravi Zacharias International Ministries Academy. She wrote in her introduction post that she had been deeply inspired by Zacaharias and Dallas Willard. I hadn't heard of Willard, so I asked if she could recommend a book of his. She replied, "Divine Conspiracy. Let me know what you think" and included her email address. Emails became texts, which became phone calls, which became six-hour FaceTime sessions. Finally, I flew to California to see her face-to-face, and we had our first kiss the instant we met in person on the curb outside San Diego airport Terminal 2.

We had an exciting Friday night planned in Washington D.C., including tickets to see Zacharias deliver a keynote speech at a national conference. While it was still mid-afternoon, we walked around downtown, and a South African couple offered to take our picture in front of the White House. I pulled out the ring that I had gotten custom designed for her and explained its history and symbolism and got down on one knee. After calling our family, we saw Zacharias deliver an amazing speech to a packed room, and afterwards, we met him and told him our story. He and his entire team couldn't believe it. They were thrilled for us and graciously spent the rest of the evening talking with us. It was a surreal, perfect evening.