"Once upon a time, in a virtual land called Facebook, a young man requested to befriend a fair lady. She, in return, declined his invitation, until she realized that it was he who she was supposed to meet."

Only the greatest love stories start with a rejected friend request on Facebook. ;)

For real though, our relationship started with a simple friend request that I rejected because I didn't know who the heck he was; but first, let me take you back to how it all really started.

We gotta go back to the beginning of January 2023; I was teaching 2nd grade and Aaron was teaching high school. He had a coworker (Megan) whose mom (Michelle) was my coworker. Megan had mentioned my name to him and told him that he should ask me out on a date. She thought we would make a great pair. He looked me up on Facebook, and this dude straight up went, "Ehhh...I don't know." He swears it wasn't that he thought I was ugly, but because he "thought he didn't have a shot".

Now while Megan was trying to convince him to add me on Facebook and ask me on a date, her mom was working on me. One day she casually walked into my classroom, with this look that literally screams. "HEY! I know the perfect person that I am going to set you up on a blind date with!". She asked the usual, "Are you dating anybody?" to which I replied that I wasn't and who did she have in mind to set me up with. (Clearly this wasn't my first rodeo, and all the other setups I had previously and sadly been a victim of, were absolute duds.) She said she would tell me when she got more information, which ultimately meant, "Let me check with Megan and see if he is interested."

Fast forward to the next morning, I get a random friend request from some dude from McCreary County. I do my usual look through pictures to see if I recognize him or if he looks like a creep. (Do not judge me. All women do it.)

"Nope. Don't know him."

*hits delete button*

During my planning period, Michelle stops me in the hallway to finally tell me this mystery guy's name. Aaron Ridener.

I wasn't entirely sure, but that sounded like the name of the guy that I just deleted his friend request this morning. Let me just nod my head and pretend like I didn't already potentially screw this up before it has even begun. I walk back to my classroom, pull out my phone, open Facebook and search this guy's name. Sure enough, it's the same dude. I thought maybe if I just sent him a request, he wouldn't even notice that I deleted his. (Spoiler Alert: He noticed)

Fortunately, he accepted it. (Shew.... close one)

After a few days of him just liking the stuff I would post, he finally messaged me. It was within that first message that I knew that he would be different than any other guy. Just in his first message, I could tell that he had a personality and that he genuinely wanted to get to know me. A lot better than those random guys that pop into a girl's DMs saying, "Hey beautiful." or some really cringe-worthy pickup line that makes you question if they have ever spoken to the opposite sex before. Like, ever.

We messaged throughout that weekend and then he asked if I wanted to go out on a date. We were going to be off school on Monday for MLK Day, and he wanted to know if I could spend that day with him. Reluctantly, I agreed. It wasn't that I thought he was a bad guy, but it was because I knew he was a good guy; a guy I could really find myself liking a lot, and the thought of that terrified me.

But I agreed. I agreed to go on just one date.

On my way to meet him that day, I just prayed to God that if this was meant to be, then give me peace that only comes from Him.

We met at the Williamsburg Taco Bell parking lot where I was met with my favorite drink from Bradley's, iced chai. As soon as I stepped into his truck, all the nerves that I had before I stepped out of my vehicle, suddenly vanished. I began talking to him like I had known him my whole life. I held nothing back too; I was an open book and more transparent than I had ever been in my entire life with someone I had just met. Why? Honestly, I have no clue. I just felt this instant comfort with him that I still to this day cannot explain. Maybe even then, in my hesitation, I knew that this would be different somehow.

Because my birthday was just a few days away, he took me to my favorite restaurant, Olive Garden. Afterwards, he took me to Ulta and bought me makeup. (*swoon*) Then we stopped at Buc-ee's because why not? Honestly, BEST FIRST DATE EVER!

Once we arrived back to the Taco Bell, I gave him that semi-awkward "thanks for a great date hug". (You know what I am talking about) Before I could even step out of the car, he proceeded to ask me if he had earned the right to have my number; we had be messaging over Facebook messenger for days now. Seeing as though he wasn't a creeper and I genuinely had a great time on our date, I thought I might as well let him have my number.

Now, I would love to say that I was hooked right from then on, but I wasn't. It wasn't that I didn't like him, it was because I DID like him. Like A LOT. Like I said earlier, I was terrified. I now knew for sure that I could really fall for this guy, so that meant that I needed to put my walls back up. I couldn't let this guy in. I had spent years building this protective barrier around myself. I wasn't going to let this guy break it down just because we had a great first date and he was cute.

Nope.

Not gonna happen.

I just decided that I had control and I would not let him in.

Then came my 29th birthday. He sent me the most beautiful arrangement of flowers to my work. For someone who was trying to be stone cold, I was beginning to melt into a puddle.

Because of such a sweet gesture he made with the flowers, I decided that it wouldn't hurt if I asked him to come to my birthday dinner. I mean, what would one more date really do? And was it even a real date? I mean my mom and best friend were gonna be there too. So I was safe. No one was falling in love that night.

*que "Gorgeous" by Taylor Swift*

Here comes this grown man walking towards me looking like he just stepped out of my dreams, dressed so nice in a vest that I am pretty sure made him about 10 million times more attractive than he already is.

Dang it.

You are done for, Leah.

You might as well face it. You are falling HARD!

I am pretty sure I spent that entire meal feeling like my heart was going to beat out of my chest because I was literally sitting by the most attractive man in the whole restaurant. Like, it really is a happy birthday.

After we finished eating, my best friend headed home and my mom, who rode with me, went out to the car to listen to the basketball game on the radio. Me? I sat there and talked till closing with the guy I swore I wasn't going to fall for. I'm not sure if he could tell it, but my eyes were completely fixated on him and only him. I sat there while he told me stories and thought to myself, that I could seriously sit and listen to him talk for hours and never get bored. I truly didn't want the night to end. I wanted to stay in that moment for as long as possible and hang on every word he said. I went home that night counting down the hours till I got to see him again.

The difference another date makes...

The next evening, which was a Friday, we planned to go to one of my former students basketball games and then just hang out afterwards. We had no set plans, we just wanted to be with each other. After the game, we ended going for a drive. He took me to places around the county that I had never been to. We ended up parking by the river and sat for a couple hours just talking about anything and everything. I sat and listened to him talk about his life growing up, about his previous marriage, and about how much his students meant to him. As I sat there, listening to Aaron and admiring him, God gently told me, "You are going to marry him." And there it was; that peace that only comes from Him. It was that peace that I asked God to give me if this was what He wanted for me. It was in that moment that I knew that I loved Aaron and that I would spend my entire life loving him. I knew that one day I would be his wife and he would be my husband. Of course I didn't speak these words out loud because I didn't want to be one of those cautionary tales of the chick that confessed her love and life-long commitment on the first date. I may be a little weird, but I ain't crazy.

And I guess you could say the rest is history.

When I look back at everything that has taken place in the last year and a half, I can see the evidence of God's goodness in every single fabric of mine and Aaron's relationship. Even our lives before meeting, we can see how God was threading the pieces together to make this beautiful masterpiece that we call our love story. Aaron and I both recognize that without God, we not only could not love each other completely and unconditionally, but we may have never found one another. It was our surrender to God's will that led us to each other. I thank God for sending me someone to not only spend the rest of my life loving and cherishing, but get to worship Jesus together.

I cannot wait to say "I Do" to the love of my life!