The first time I spoke to Aiya I made fun of her for being homeschooled. I still stand by that decision to this day, but I would never have guessed that I was teasing my future wife. We met at a young adults group at the church we both attend. I found myself looking for things to talk to her about—her photography, what she did for work, etc. Off the bat I remember being intrigued and impressed by her. I quickly admired her work ethic and the talents and passions that God had clearly given her. We ended up sitting next to each other at a Christmas party in 2024. During the party’s white elephant exchange, she went out of her way to steal an odd gift…a bag of avocados. What a “homeschooler” thing to do. But by the end of that Christmas party, I had pretty strong understanding that I should ask her out (Holy Spirit), and I’ll forever be thankful that I listened to said feeling. Fast forward a year and some…Now Aiya has me fully hooked on avocados, and fully hooked on her. I thank God daily for the woman that He has gifted me. Aiya is God-fearing, beautiful, thoughtful, sweet, hilarious and my absolute best friend. I can’t wait to take these next steps together in marriage. To be her husband, to glorify God well and to enjoy life to the fullest with her. Love, Zak

Zak will probably tell you that the first thing he ever said to me was “makes sense” after I mentioned that I was homeschooled… but if you want the real scoop, that was actually our second interaction. The first conversation consisted of him asking me intentional questions, and whether there was anything he could be praying over me. In full honesty, I was convinced this was purely a classic “church boy move” to attempt at flirting with me. Cocky of me to assume, I know. But, I was quite humbled over the following months as I got to know Zak. Turns out, I really wasn’t that special (at least initially), because that’s how he treated everyone. Before I knew it, I was in total admiration of this guy who had such an evident heart for God, and for every person around him. To this day I don’t think I have ever met anyone else as kind or as servant-hearted as Zak. Since we met he has continued to pray over me. He has cleaned my house and gifted me flowers more times than I can count. He constantly cracks me up with his diabolical one-liners. And he has consistently been a strong yet gentle man for me to lean on. I will forever thank the Lord for being so faithful and so sweet to have brought me Zak. And I cannot wait to do life with my absolute favorite person in the world! Yours, Aiya