Where do I even begin… I have always prayed for two things. One, that I would marry a man just like my dad. And second, that I would only date one person. Considering these things, I always assumed dating in high school was off the table. Theres no way I could meet my husband in high school, right? If only I knew that God not only cares for the desires of my heart, but His desires for me are Ephesians 3:20, “more than I could ask for or imagine!”
Under quite random and coincidental circumstances Colin and I were invited to a bonfire night at our friend Charlee’s house. I will never forget walking up their staircase and making eye contact with Colin. Honestly theres no other way to describe it than God lit a spark in me and I was immediately intrigued by him. I had known Colin since 6th grade when we were both a part of the Lion King play. However, we didnt converse much as he was cast as Simba while I played the highly significant role of grass. After 5 years of knowing Colin as a boy in my sisters grade, a face I would occasionally pass in the hallway, and an infamous rap legend... you would think our brief encounter on the porch would be some kind of lackluster reintroduction. Instead, it held something special that left me with all kinds of confusing emotions. The funny thing is, as much as God lit a spark in me that night, He started a raging wildfire in Colin.
I knew right off the bat that he was pretty captivated by me. He intently listened to every word I said and he didnt take his eyes off me the entire night. I surprised myself though by going out of my way to help him and sit beside him… things I had never done for any boy. Even though something was stirring in my heart, I had a lot of barriers and strong convictions about not dating in high school primarily built out of fear. So as I drove away that night I tried to leave my feelings behind. But to say the least, Colin Johnson did not.
For the remainder of that summer Colin pursued me in a way I never knew possible. Though I would text him back one day and ghost him the next… he says that God gave him the “unrelenting pursuit” and desire to make me his wife one day. And for the record Colin… thank you endlessly for not giving up on me. Colin would text me verses, prayers, intentional questions, etc… but when God began to open my heart was when Colin brought me into his grandfathers sickness late that summer. Papa had contracted Covid and was in the hospital, and Colin was one of the few family members able to put on a hazmat suit and sit with him. Colin was so honest with me about the pain he was experiencing, how he labored over Papa in prayer, his doubts, fears, and most of all his unwavering trust in God. When Papa tragically passed I watched Colin’s faith stand firm and his heart stay softened… It was in this crushing time that I began to pray “God, is this my husband?”
As school began Colin had one thing on his mind, “I have got to take Abigail to homecoming!”
Even so, he found a greater opportunity to connect with me when he saw I was running for vice president. He got his boys together and told them he would do whatever it took to become the student body president. Well, Colin accomplishes anything he sets his mind to, so on the day of the nomination Colin was victoriously elected president and I the vice president. It was on this day that Colin also asked me to homecoming… 2 months before the homecoming dance. Not to mention he invited all the newly elected student government out for dinner at Kings Tide… and then paid for everyone. Impressive.
By now things between Colin and I were starting to develop and I knew he was becoming my best friend. I also began to confide in my family and close friends the unthinkable… “I have a crush on Colin!” An emotion I was so afraid of feeling and thought I would never experience in high school. I remember the shift that occurred in my heart... staring at him across the lunch room waiting for him to look back at me and listening to I wanna remember by needtobreath on repeat durring the car ride home from school. As Colin began to fill my thoughts and prayers my walls began to crumble and I had little room left for fear.
Soon, the homecoming dance rolled around and unbeknownst to me, Colin asked to meet with my dad. In that meeting not only did he ask my dad if he could date me, but he showed my dad the prayer journals he had written since meeting me asking God if I would be his wife. My dad called a family meeting that night and began to cry talking about their time together… it was at that moment I knew my first prayer was answered… I had met a man just like my dad. Intertwined with that was the answered prayer that I had indeed met my husband, and in those two answered prayers have held millions of miracles I would have never even thought to ask God for. There are so many sweet and intricate details to our story that I simply do not have room to write. I could write a million books about our love, but know this, God wrote our love story… and its my favorite.

I loved my high school years. It had its ups and downs, but God was clearly blessing me in endless ways. Going into my junior year, I was growing in my faith like never before, excelling in (and enjoying) school, had a lot of great friends, and was passionate about a couple awesome hobbies including music production and restoring my old Land Rover Discovery. I was connected with some of Charleston’s top architects and had secured an internship that put me ahead of the pack as I pursued my lifelong dream of studying architecture at Clemson University. And most importantly, it felt as if my family of five was closer than ever. Only one thing was missing from this seemingly perfect scene: a girlfriend. But convinced that God didn’t have someone in store for me to date until college, I had grown very content with the blessings of my current season of life.

That all changed on the night of May 21, 2021. Leading up to the summer before my senior year, I had grown deeply connected to a group of friends that hung out together on a weekly basis. That was a blessing in and of itself, but is a story for another day. This particular Friday, we gathered at my friend Charlee Olson’s house. Arriving a little before the group, I was standing on the front porch talking to Charlee’s parents. Then it happened. As I was chatting, something caught my eye like never before. Walking up the stairs with my friend AnnaJaye Walters was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. For some miraculous reason, AnnaJaye had decided to bring her sister: Abigail Grace Walters. It caught me so off guard I could’ve sworn the heavens opened up and light shown down on long blonde hair, gorgeous green eyes, and beautiful tan skin. She was an angel!

Let me back track. I had taken notice of Abigail before this moment because we went to the same small school, Palmetto Christian Academy, where everyone pretty much knew of everyone else. However, because she was a grade below me, I never had a good chance to get to know her. And like I said, I was convinced I wouldn’t date until college anyways, so I didn’t lose much sleep over it. But here she was, standing on the front porch of the Olson’s home, looking prettier than ever, and I finally had a chance to get to know this girl. That night proceeded to be one of the most magical nights of my life! I’ll never forget how we made eye contact for a brief second as she laughed at a joke I cracked before we went inside to get the party started. I’m pretty sure we both felt a spark in that moment, and I thought to myself, “I’m in!” For the rest of the night as the group sat around a backyard bonfire telling stories, playing games, laughing, and worshipping the Lord, I made it my mission to get to know Abigail. As I left the Olson’s that night, some things were very clear: God was the first and foremost thing in her life. She was a listener. She was funny. She was sincere, genuine, kind, gentle, joyful, and had a true servant’s heart. She was just as attractive inside as she was out! And I told myself that my next mission was to get this girl to go to the homecoming dance with me that coming fall.

What was not as clear was the fact that she was not going to be as easy to woo as I thought! Summer was upon us, and the group continued to hang out almost daily. Abigail would come from time to time. When she was there, I took advantage of every opportunity to get to know her more and we began to develop a really sweet friendship that was centered around the Lord. Every once in a while during our conversations, it seemed as if she would drop a hint here and there that fueled my pursuit, but she never conceded playing hard to get. Then her family went to Hawaii for the whole month of July! This meant I wouldn’t see her until school started again in the fall, and lots could change between now and then for better or for worse. All I could do was try my best to remind her I was still here. We would text periodically, but her responses were often few and far between which drove me crazy! Even so, we would check in with her about her latest summer happenings and ask what God had been teaching her. Though maybe not then, I think she would admit now that those text conversations meant quite a bit to her. Some of the sweetest memories of my life took place that summer of 2021, and I’d love to go into more detail at a later time!

Fall finally arrived, and the back-to-school buzz was in the air. Believe it or not, after thirteen years at PCA, I was finally a senior. Being a top dog of the school with my newfound mission in mind, I was feeling myself. I was blossoming in my walk with God, had gotten a new car over the summer, was rocking some fresh new white shoes, and was surrounded by an awesome group of friends. I was also now a part of the cross country team, so that meant the title of a varsity athelete and getting in good shape too. In theory, I was ready for the pursuit to resume! Surely she wouldn’t be able to resist for long! But in reality, I was incredibly nervous. I hadn’t seen Abigail in over a month and didn’t know how I would handle myself in that first in-person conversation. That dreaded interaction happened relatively quickly as I was leaving school at the end of the second day back. My beloved Spanish teacher Señora Pabst randomly saw Abigail and I, gathered us together in the hallway, and preceded to appoint us as president and vice president of the PCA Spanish club! The three of us ended up talking for almost an hour, and during that conversation I got to meet her four younger brothers (I’m pretty sure they were suspicous of me). When we finished talking, Abigail, myself, my two younger brothers, and her brothers walked out to our cars together and said our goodbyes. We continued to have more unexpected, sweet interactions through the end of that week, including a night out Salsa dancing with the Spanish Club in Downtown Charleston. I was back in business baby!

The high didn’t last long, however. And not for the reason you might be thinking. The following weekend, my beloved grandfather ended up passing away from COVID-19 after being in the hospital for two weeks. Papa and I were really close, so it seemed as if my whole life was turned upside down. Not sure what to do or who to turn to outside of my family and God, I texted Abigail to ask for some prayer. She responded with such deep care and concern, and somehow even managed to encourage me in my faith amidst this unexpected and devistating event. God showed me that Abigail not only had the highest of character, but also a truly compassionate heart that radiated that of Jesus. From this point on, it seemed as if our friendship took on a deeper level of connection and we grew closer as the weeks passed by.

Within the first couple weeks back to school, elections for the Student Government began to approach. I remember signing up to run for president as a joke, thinking I could potentially add my second presidency to my resume. But I quickly learned that Abigail had signed up to run for vice president, and no one was running against her! What started as a joke turned into a historic presidential campaign as I sought to make sure no one else (especially another boy…) stood a chance serving with Abigail. The race was tight, but God had his hand on those elections and somehow I ended up beating my very qualified opponents and was elected Student Body President! That was the least of my cares though. My mind was on the fact that being in SGA meant more opportunities to spend time with the girl I was quicky falling in love with. That night, I decided to host a dinner at the Kingstide restaurant for all newly elected SGA members to celebrate with hopes of getting some casual time with my vice president, and Abigail sat next to me; a defining moment!

Let me digress for an important moment amidst the SGA campaign. On Wednesday, two days before the election results were announced, candidates for every position had an opportunity to present a speech to the school. Knowing Abigail and I would both be giving speeches (and I would be looking good in my navy suit), I arranged to ask Abigail to the homecoming dance that day after school. It was so early in the year that I figured boys weren’t thinking about homecoming dates yet, and knowing there would be multiple eyes on Abigail, I had to make sure to do it before anyone else had a chance. On the morning of August 26th, I bought a bouquet of roses and a pack of Extra gum. Her sister AnnaJaye and I schemed up a plan to do it in the parking lot after school where the Walters’ car would be strategically parked near mine. With my heart racing, I worked up the courage to ask her with the tagline: “I rose to the occasion to ask you if you’d like to have an Extra fun time with me at homecoming this year.” Get it? Anyway, she said YES!

At our school, people didn’t usually ask someone to a school dance if they weren’t at least interested in them. So when they found out Abigail and I were going together, they speculated (and correctly so) that our friendship was more than a friendship, and it was accelerating in the direction of a dating relationship. The next month and a half or so leading up to the dance are a blur in my mind, but I can tell you that I woke up each day filled with excitement, enjoying each step of the pursuit, and exhilerated by the mystery along the way. I remember going to an SGA convention in Columbia where Abigail and I seemed to talk with no one in our group except for each other (maybe not the most presidential thing to do, but what can I say?) and presented a hypothetical bill on the floor of the SC courthouse alongside one another. I remember seeing her at Friday night PCA football games, one in particular that we sat and talked together in the bleachers and another in which I found out through my friend Charlee that Abigail officially liked me! I remember repeatedly planning hangouts that included Abigail, my friends, and her friends. Infact, one of these so-called hangouts was. casual double date (we wouldn’t have called it that) with Abigail’s good friend Ava and her boyfriend at the time. I met the three of them at Mellow Mushroom for lunch and we went to get frozen yogurt afterwards. But the crazy thing was that Ava and her boyfriend ended up riding seperately, leaving me alone with Abigail. This became our first unofficial date when I suggested a Starbucks coffee before dropping her off with her sister, and boy did I feel like I was on Cloud 9!

What’s even crazier, however, was that during lunch, Abigail had asked me to come over to her house that evening to meet her family! This would be a momumental moment. I was beyond nervous and excited at the same time as I drove over to her house in Park West that evening. When I walked in, I was met with about 25 new faces of family and family friends that were eager to hear about this mysterious boy who’s been talking to Abigail…it was an overwhelming way to start what I thought was just meeting her immediate family! I can describe events of that night in detail another time along with the awkwardness, laughs, conversations, and a legendary back-and-forth pingpong match against Pastor Josh, Abigail’s dad. But the joy of her siblings, the genuineness and hospitality of her parents, and the very apparent presence of God in their household made it a night I will never forget, and one that will impact the way I raise our family one day. As I drove back home filled with excitement, I immediately called Kaden, one of my best friends, and told him, “That was one of the best nights of my life. And I think I passed the test!” I later found out that I was officially accepted as one of the family that night.

A week later, I arranged a meeting with Pastor Josh to ask him how he felt about the potential of dating his daughter. Despite my immense nervousness, I was met with the humility, kindness, and warmth of the Father as Pastor Josh and I talked for about an hour about Abigail. Thankfully, he gave me his blessing (the first of two blessings I would ask him for) and the road was clear with homecoming weekend in the headlights, only a week away!

At this point, Abigail and I were talking on almost a daily basis and hanging out in group settings multiple days a week. I had grown closer with her brothers as well. Everything was going better than I could’ve ever planned because it was going according to God’s plan, not mine. But my original mission still stood: I was going to ask Abigail to be my girlfriend at the homecoming dance on Saturday night. Friday night arrived, and I found myself at the PCA homecoming football game spending a lot of time with Abigail and her family. After the game, we decided we would meet her family at Chick-fil-A for dinner because they were hosting a PCA family night. To my surprise and delight, Abigail chose to ride with me instead of her friends! When we arrived at Chick-fil-A, we couldn’t find her family or our friends. We sat in the car and waited. And waited. And talked. We drove to iHop to see if we could find them there. But still we waited. And talked. And waited. Finally, I suggested that we just go for a drive instead. I could drop her off at Ava’s house in an hour or so. Besides, I had some things on my mind and heart that I wanted to share anyways, so maybe this was working out for the better. Maybe this was the moment after all. And that’s when it happened…