I've known her forever. We fell in love through a series of events (the fortunaticity of which the reader can decide) and now we are getting married. Hooray!

Zach and I met while we were both students at Westminster Academy in Memphis TN. 8th-grade Zach and 8th-grade Liana were civil classmates, I suppose; but not really friends. We graduated in 2008, and 13 of the 14 classmates went away from Memphis; but Zach stayed to attend the University of Memphis. By this point, the relationship had become one of sibling-like acceptance. I had lived with a family from my church in order to finish my highschool career in Memphis, and planned to maintain connections. Every time I visited the area, I sent a broadcast message to people in the area to ask if they want to spend time together while I was in town - Zach always responded...

So, over the years we ended up seeing various movies together, sitting and talking over coffee and meals for hours and hours on end, attending friends' weddings together, sharing our thought processes as we matured and encountered various new life experiences. And over the years the brother-sister relationship of acceptance gradually morphed into a real friendship of mutual appreciation. In 2015, I joined Wycliffe USA, and God started intensifying my journey of faith. By 2017, my whole world seemed to be turning upside down, and I learned some things about myself that God paradoxically used to strengthen some areas of weaknesses in my thought life (Romans 12:2). This dramatic shift in my faith journey led to a more intimate reliance on Jesus as my Savior and God as my Father. It was very freeing. Of course, God continues to work... So, all in one year I transitioned from being a student anticipating working overseas to being 'assigned stateside' and preparing to work for the very school where I had been getting my training. And just as I thought I was getting my footing... God gently started to change my and Zach's relationship, too. I don't know exactly at what point Zach started liking me (years and years ago - I could see it in his eyes from time to time); but for me things started to change in July 2017. By September we began considering dating... (I stalled the conversation until we could talk in person on my way up to visit my family for Christmas). And we went on our first 'official' date on January 1, 2018.

After that first date we began the process of long-distance dating. We texted with increasing frequency, Skyped 1 or 2x per week, called each other more often... and we actually had the blessing of getting to see one another more than we anticipated: March 2018 - Zach came to visit me in Dallas, TX. This visit was interesting, since that was when I informed him that the moment he kisses me for the first time should be the moment we consider ourselves engaged. That got him thinkin'. June 2018 - I accompanied Zach and his family on the trip to his cousin's wedding in NC. That was a lovely vacation and a helpful time for me and his family to get reacquainted. July 2018 - Zach visited me for a few days... and just two weeks later we flew him back to Dallas so we could comply with my friend's request that he accompany me to her wedding! ("Oh, Liana, I hope you noticed that your invitation was a '+1'..." 0_o Recomputing...) September 2018 - was our 'WA Class of 2008' 10 year high school reunion. I flew to Memphis, and confused a classmate's spouse when I turned out to be both Zach's date AND one of the classmates. Our classmates excitement for us was a significant encouragement - especially for Zach. I think our relationship deepened a lot after this trip especially. October 2018 - Zach and I took advantage of my sisters' overlapping Fall Breaks to visit my family. We had a lot of important conversations with each other. Our conversation about the importance of prioritizing our relationship with God over our relationship with one another especially came to the forefront. November 2018 - Zach was baptized into membership at St. James Church on 11/11/2018. I had the privilege of witnessing this grace-filled moment in Zach's journey. ^_^ December 2018 - I visited with Zach and his friends on both ends of my Christmas break. Then came the months of waiting in anticipation...

At some point in either January or February of this year, Zach stopped saying "If we get married..." and started saying "When we get married..." Around the same time, I signed up to take a Crown Financial course through my church, and we began discussing some rather practical matters: what 'barriers' do we actually have to 'overcome' before we can get married? Zach thought about it, and I thought about it, and we each began to think that it might be reasonable for us to aim for getting married in March of 2020... But God surprised us... * He gave me my wedding dress (FOR FREE!!!) on February 25th, 2019. * In conversations with my family, I discovered that my sister, Allison, would more than likely be flying internationally to spend another year in Japan - starting in August 2019. (So, a March 2020 wedding would require her buying round-trip tickets for international flights.) * In those same conversations, I realized that my sister, Hannah, would be accepting an internship this Summer, and along with that internship she would have three 'personal days' to use however she chose... (I also knew that a March 2020 wedding would mean that Hannah would probably have to skip some classes in order to be in attendance.) * Zach was also in conversation with his family, and was receiving encouragement from his Dad to 'take the plunge', and move to Dallas. Yes, life would be a miserable mess of uncertainties and discomfort until he found his footing; but knowing Zach, such a plunge would be the push needed to make progress. * Zach also learned about some anticipated changes in his workplace that also seemed to be noteworthy motivation for seeking alternative employment before Summer 2019. In early March, we compared notes about such matters, and realized that God's timeline might be moving us toward marriage sooner than we were planning... So, we nixed 'Plan A', and went to 'Plan B': Get Married On July 20th, 2019. 0_o

"Wait... Did I miss something?!" This was the question that was asked of me quite the multiplicitude of times once people started to hear that I already had a wedding date, and was beginning the adventure of wedding planning. Yep. I had: ... found my dress. ... narrowed down venue options to two... and then one. ... realized that I can't invite 600 people to my wedding and survive financially, and tried to whittle down the guest list. ... started our registry. ... chosen our bridal party. ... agreed with everyone that purple would be an appropriate accent color for the wedding. ... initiated the selection process for bridesmaid dresses, and encouraged my bridesmaids to order their dresses by a particular date. ... thought of ways to keep flowers simple. ... considered what foods I would want at the reception. ... begun to feel an urgency about finding a photographer. ... consulted with my sister to verify that she would be willing to do my makeup. ... decided that between myself and 7 bridesmaids, surely we can figure out a lovely way to do my hair without paying a professional. ... ordered the premarital counseling books chosen by our officiant, and scheduled our first premarital counseling session. ... conversed with various friends from Memphis regarding their availability and willingness to help with various aspects of the planning and preparations for the wedding. ... looked at a few honeymoon options. AND MUCH OF THIS I DID WITH ZACH. But, no - technically - I was not engaged. But we're getting married on July 20th. So, the planning process must proceed post haste!

I knew that Zach would propose one of the three weekends that we were going to see one another in April... and I knew that Zach doesn't like surprises... but it was still highly amusing to me (and many others) that during my and Zach's Skype date during the week leading up to the first weekend Zach told me: "So, I think I'm going to change my Facebook status after I propose to you this weekend." I looked over at my roommate, and said, "Well, Megan, I know which weekend I'm getting engaged, now." Friday, I flew into Memphis. Zach's parents picked me up from the airport and took me to Chick-Fil-A for dinner - during which my to-be in-laws encountered and old friend and introduced me as their future daughter-in-law (note: still not technically engaged). =D Zach was going to be working until 9pm; so, when we got back to his parents' house I took a nap. Zach came over and we cuddled on the couch and talked with his parents until they went to bed, and continued cuddling on the couch and talking with his brother until his brother went to bed, and continued to talk with each other about various topics... during which conversation Zach seamlessly inserted the casual question: "So, let's get married, yeah?" Being prepared for said question, I pulled out of my pocket a 'cootie catcher'* that I had made, and said, "Pick a color." He picked RED. R-E-D "Pick a number." He picked seven. 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 "Pick a number." He picked one. Behind the number one flap was the simple answer: "Yes!" (It's rather fitting that Zach would happenstancially choose the most straightforward answer that I had put among the various affirmative answers on the playful piece of paper.) * If unfamiliar with what a 'cootie catcher' is, or to discover what it was called in your area's dialect, check out this Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_fortune_teller

We are officially engaged! The adventure continues! Zach and I are finding that the more time we get to spend together the more time we want to spend together. But wait patiently we will, and treasure this season of anticipation. Wedding planning is just one step in the journey. I am thankful for all of you who are committed to walking with us as this journey continues. Please do pray for us! * We are working our way through our premarital counseling materials: "The Mystery of Marriage: Meditations on the Miracle" by Mike Mason, and "131 Necessary Conversations Before Marriage: Insightful, highly-caffeinated, Christ-honoring conversation starters for dating and engaged couples!" by Jed Jurchenko. * We are trying to plan a wedding and do premarital counseling while I am still at a distance. (THANK YOU to everyone who is helping!!!) * Zach is looking for a job in the Dallas-FortWorth (DFW) area, since I will continue my work at Dallas International University. * WE ARE GETTING MARRIED! (Interpret this excitement with the appropriate mixture of solemn awe, eager anticipation, overwhelming fear, tentative curiosity, burdened awareness of increased responsibility, gratitude, joy, hope, etc... as God puts it on your heart to pray for us).