This is the day our journey began (well, kind of). Aaron and Madi met while doing a school of ministry development with YWAM Louisville. Despite being in the same previous school for 6 months, they never crossed paths until their second school started. This is a picture of their local ministry team that Aaron led. Aaron and Madi are in the center of the picture, super awkwardly standing next to each other.

Aaron and Madi spent the next 2 months developing a friendship through ministry and going to class together. Aaron FINALLY worked up the courage to tell Madi he liked her. The Lord told them to wait until the end of the school to pursue one another romantically. They learned a lot about the Lord, each other, and themselves through this process.

Then the Lord sent them to two different countries for outreach. Madi went to Brazil, and Aaron went to Turkey. During those 2 months, they got to talk a few times. Despite the distance and the lack of contact, when they came back, they were both still interested in each other. This experience taught them to always trust in the Lord's timing and understanding.

This is the day it became official: Aaron asked Madi to be his girlfriend the night of their graduation, and... she said yes! So, they began to figure out how they were going to follow their individual callings and balance a long-distance relationship.

Less than a month after their relationship started, a hard challenge arose. Madi felt the Lord calling her to a YWAM school in Paris, and the Lord called Aaron to stay home in Washington. So for the next 3 months, they made the 5,000-mile gap and 9-hour time difference work. With incredibly late nights on the phone, followed by early, early morning wake-up calls. This was an extremely hard season that never would have been possible without the Lord's strength and guidance.

At the very end of Madi's time in Paris, Aaron got to visit her after 100 days they were finally together again. Both agreed that the pain are difficulties of long distance are more than worth it.

Next, Aaron and Madi would spend the next couple of months continuing their relationship all over the phone, with a few in-person visits, taking turns traveling to Washington or Ohio. Although it wasn't easy, they still found ways to stay connected and pursue the Lord together.

Now Aaron and Madi were finally back in Louisville together again, a place that feels so familiar and safe to both of them. They did a bible school with YWAM Louisville. The couple was finally able to date in person, temporarily ending their long-distance relationship. They studied the word together, started serving at a local faith-based non-profit, and filled their free time with random hikes around Louisville.

Then it was time to go on outreach again! This time, the Lord sent Aaron to Colombia, and Madi was sent back to Brazil. This time, they didn't get to talk to each other for 6 weeks straight... They stayed connected through letters they had written to each other before their trips, and video updates that they would send on their rest days. Although this was the hardest outreach for their relationship, if you asked either one of them, they would both tell you this was their favorite outreach. The Lord can bring sweetness and joy from any season when you fully rely on Him.

After that school ended, Aaron moved to Louisville to work for the faith-based non-profit that they had volunteered together at. Madi moved back to Ohio, but finally, the couple was within driving distance, getting to see each other on the weekends. They were making it work just like they had before, with lots of phone calls and "virtual dates" to stay connected.

On November 9th, Aaron popped the question! Obviously, Madi said yes. Now the couple is continuing long distance until they get married in March, which will officially put an end to the hundreds of miles, late-night phone calls, and long distance as a whole. They are so excited to unite together to serve God and further His kingdom.