The way that God brought us together is wonderful and unlikely: a sure sign of His kindness and answers to both of our prayers over years and years.

Julia started college a year before me and was well into her degree by the time that I (Alex) made my way from Houston to Georgia for school (another unlikely story). When I got to Athens in the Fall of 2019, Julia had already established herself at UGA with a community barely missing the one I was surrounded with, so, crazy as it may seem, we went four years of living in the same city (2 miles from each other!) without ever crossing paths.

It wasn’t until I had graduated from Georgia and moved back to Houston that God brought us together for the first time through a simple dinner with a mutual friend. We got to know each other well at the dinner, and I remember thinking to myself, “If Julia and I lived in the same place, I would totally ask her on a date.”

We loosely kept in touch over the course of a few months; nothing crazy. Then, what seemed to be a random text in April changed our lives forever. Julia texted me because a friend of hers was looking for a ministry job and she knew that I worked for a church. When Julia reached out, I remembered that in our conversation over dinner many months ago, she had expressed an interest in ministry and a desire to leave Athens over the summer. Though we didn’t have a spot for her friend, I went out on a limb and asked if Julia was still looking for a job. There was another church in Houston that I knew very well and thought Julia would be a perfect fit for a job opening that they had (and maybe, just maybe, we would be able to date each other if she moved to Houston)!

Julia told me that I was crazy, then looked at the job. It was intriguing to her. “I guess it’s worth a phone call,” she thought. So the next week, we talked on the phone and I told her all about the church that she would be working for. It was at least intriguing enough for her to send an email. One thing led to another, and Julia (unsurprisingly to me) got offered a job to work at Seven Mile Road in Houston.

I skipped over some major details there. During the time that Julia was applying for the job, we started to communicate much more about the job and soon enough, it felt like we were great friends. We talked for hours on the phone, texted often, and when she took a trip down to Houston to see everything for herself, we spent the better part of a week together. I was trying to be a “good guy,” showing her around, making my greatest pitch for why she should move to Houston. But of course, in the time I was getting to know Julia, I was becoming more and more attracted to her and enthralled by her character.

Apparently my pitch worked. Julia moved to Houston, knowing one person (me!), and started working for Seven Mile. As you can imagine by now, I was thinking about asking her out, but figured it wouldn’t be a good idea to do it right away - I was her only friend in Houston, after all. But eventually (duh), I did.

It’s now been over a year since any of that went down, and quite a crazy one. We’ve been through traumatic health situations together (kidney stone surgery), spent many, many hours with each other situated in the heart of a community that loves us dearly, and travelled a surprising amount together. We became each other’s best friend, closest ally, and ultimate safe place to land. Oh, and we got engaged (another neat story!). In all of that time, we fell in love - head over heels - for each other. We both knew only after a few months that we wanted to marry each other, and never turned back.

So I guess that’s the first chapter of our story. We can’t wait to have you at the next (and many more to follow). See you May 1 for the best day of our lives!

Until then,

Alex & Julia (The Future Bettses)