Christy and Bennett met on July 16th, 2023 after a church service when their youth pastor came up to Bennett and asked him to go say 'hi' to Christy because she seemed new. After approaching and talking Bennett found out about how Christy had been attending Lakeview Covenant Church for a while but had not crossed paths with Bennett before. After a short conversation, Christy voiced that she was about to go get a tattoo and Bennett immediately hopped on the idea and asked if he could also go. During their tattoos, Christy and Bennett got to talking and found they enjoyed each other's company. At that time neither of them was looking for a romantic relationship so a great friendship bloomed. Bennett and Christy realized they were both a part of the same campus ministry at UMD called Chi Alpha. They started talking more at Chi Alpha as well as hanging out outside of ministry. Bennett is very into cliff jumping and all things adrenaline which brought him and some of his friends as well as Christy to Illigan Falls, a beautiful waterfall you can jump off of. Little did Bennett know but as he was loving the thrill of falling 40 feet into the water, Christy was terrified but had grown feelings for Bennett so was doing it to flirt with him. Bennett loved how adventurous Christy was and even told one of his friends that if he was looking for a relationship, Christy had displayed all of the characteristics of someone he would want to date. Bennett was in denial of his feelings for a while and even 'friend-zoned' Christy before they started dating because he felt they were getting too close and he wasn't ready for a relationship. Christy and Bennett agreed to be 'just friends' and continued getting to know each other. At this point, both of them had great feelings for each other but Bennett was being stupid. Quickly after 'friend-zoning' Christy, he realized how stupid he was, and only one week later, he asked her to be his girlfriend. Christy was quite thrown off by Bennetts's quick change of heart. After some explaining of how he realized his feelings, they agreed to date. Once in their relationship, things continued to grow and grow. During this time they were also both training for a half trail marathon which would happen in October. This event would end up being the first big adventure they would go on together. Both of them finished the race despite the muddy and wet conditions. Soon after this, they went on another fun adventure together to Maine to visit Christy's family she stayed with when she WWOOFed there. WWOOFing is a program where you can go anywhere in the world and live on a farm for free as you work for them. Christy did this during the summer of 2022. Christy got to show Bennett around where she had lived and brought him to Acadia National Park to hike. This was a beautiful first trip together and made the couple want to go on more adventures together. Christy and Bennett continued to grow and get to know each other over the next few months. Whether it was a bible study, a hike, a cold plunge in Lake Superior, or something else, the couple loved doing it together. In December of 2023, Christy said yes to Alaska and the opportunities it would bring. This made Christy and Bennett more confident and excited about their future than they had ever been before. It wasn't long before they had their next big adventure, this time with the whole Miller family. They drove down to Texas to watch Kenzie (Christy's sister) play softball. Here, Christy got to bring out her countryside and even got Bennett to a honky tonk to dance with her. After returning home, Christy and Bennett continued to grow in their relationship as well as their faiths. Bennett became a leader in Chi Alpha, their ministry and Christy got a job at their church. In May Christy Graduated and became the adult in the relationship at 20 years old. She loves to tell Bennett how cool she is that she graduated even though she is 3 years younger than him. At the end of May, Christy and Bennett added another adventure to their book by going on the Alaska In Roads Trip where they got to see if this was God's calling for their life. God spoke to them individually here as well as a couple, confirming his calling and making them more sure of Alaska than ever. God showed them the beauty and the need of the mission to teach and spread the good news of Jesus to the villages of Alaska. After coming home they only had a short while before Bennett was off to study abroad. The couple prayed and talked a lot about their relationship long distance before the trip and God so clearly answered. Bennett first went to Ireland to WWOOF on a farm where God showed up and allowed him to get involved in a youth camp for the Bahi Faith. Bennett was able to share his testimony as well as expose the kids there to his beliefs which was such a blessing from God. Then he went to Slovenia and got to live with an amazing family and take care of two crazy but loving boys. After that Bennett made his way to Croatia where he student taught for 8 weeks in an international school. In all of these places, God not only showed up in his personal life but also his relationship with Christy. God brought them together in ways not seen before. He made hard times manageable and easy times so enjoyable. God made 3 months of long-distance fly by. It was because of how easy things were going and the blessings God was giving the pair that Bennett decided to propose in Croatia. He could feel the approval of God in his relationship and knew this was the right time. So when Christy came out to visit in September, Bennett was ready. Bennett is not much of a planner but wanted this to go perfectly so he planned everything. When the time did come, however, nothing went to Bennetts's plan and it made it so much more amazing. Bennett had a snorkeling adventure planned for that morning but the couple woke up to a thunderstorm. Bennett had planned to have dinner before they took a hike to where he would propose, but they ran out of time. Bennett had planned a whole speech for Christy, but when the time came, nothing came out the way planned. Instead of all of Bennetts's planning, God showed up and gave them a beautiful night walk, a double rainbow, and one of the most beautiful sunsets they had ever seen. God showed up during the proposal and once again, showed his approval of the engagement. God is so good and has been the biggest part of Christy and Bennetts's relationship and they cannot wait to continue to grow with him in their marriage.