Two hearts. One promise.

We met at church, during one of Evangel’s summer young adult events. I remember seeing her for the first time as I was about to play the cajón with the worship team. I was nervous, my heart racing, but I didn’t know yet why. After the service, I started a conversation with her, and it flowed so naturally. I was excited to see her again the following week, but she didn’t show up. Not the next week. Not the week after that. Almost a month later, she finally came back. The moment I noticed her, my nerves returned, but I hid them well. She couldn’t tell. We became friends, spending time in group hangouts, texting only in group chats. Honestly, I thought she wasn’t interested in me. Every time I tried to talk to her one-on-one, she would get nervous and quiet, which made no sense, because if you know her, she’s never quiet. She’s expressive, joyful, full of life. At the time, I didn’t understand it. Later, she told me why, and we laughed about it together. One day, after reading my Bible and spending time in prayer, I sat quietly in my chair. When I finished talking to God, the very first thought that came to my heart was Kenzie. So, I gathered the courage to text her and invite her out. I didn’t call it a date, I didn’t want to pressure her, but somehow, we both knew it was a date. Our first date was perfect. I picked her up, we went dancing, talked a lot, had dinner, and talked even more. It felt easy. It felt right. On our third date, I asked her to be my girlfriend, and she said yes. Since then, we’ve been building a relationship rooted in God’s guidance, strengthened by forgiveness, and filled with genuine love for one another. Looking back now, I know this wasn’t coincidence. It was God’s timing all along.

I had seen Yoshua at church before when he was playing the drums, but we didn't actually meet until one Thursday night in June at a young adults group at Evangel Church. I had gotten off of work a bit earlier and saw a post that the young adults were meeting that night. I was tired and did not want to go anywhere, but I felt a nudge that I should go. I'm so happy that I listened. I saw him playing the cajón and thought he was really cute, and then he came up and introduced himself at the end of the night while we were cleaning up. He made me so nervous. After that night, work got busy over the next few weeks so I didn't go to group until 3 weeks later. When I got there, I noticed that the boy I'd met that last time was not there. I was excited when I saw him the next Thursday the young adults met. We slowly became friends over the next few months through Thursday nights and then our friend group that would hang out on the weekends. I pushed aside those thoughts/feelings from the summer when I'd met him and focused on school, soccer, and just friendships instead. I noticed something change between us sometime around Christmas, although he might tell you it was earlier. I was just oblivious before that. One night after going to a hockey game with the group of friends that we shared, I was talking with my sister, Payton, about Yoshua. This was the first time I told anyone how I felt about him. During our conversation, I suddenly got a text. I checked my phone and it was from him, asking me to go line dancing with him. I was shocked by the timing of it all, but I did not know it was a date. We went on a few more dates that I did not know were dates. I was overthinking so much, asking if he was just being nice which seems so funny now. We had a conversation to end this overthinking, and later he asked me to be his girlfriend in an IHOP parking lot. Of course, I said yes. We've been growing together since then, encouraging each other's relationships with God, and I am so grateful for how we were brought together and the timing of it all.