The beginning has been said to be a very good place to start. Once upon a time two babies were born 14 months apart, both a bit too small with holes in their hearts.

Well… perhaps we should save the beginning part of this story for another time. The important part is that they were both born, and that they grew, and that their hearts are now free of holes, and also full of love for each other.

Cora grew up primarily in Illinois and Kansas, brimming with an imagination that took flight from the time she was old enough to cast her family members as different characters. When she wasn’t busy pretending to be a dragon rider or a Jedi knight, she was hard at work writing her own stories, performing in community theatre, and searching for stories in every opportunity God gave her.

Malachi grew up in Indiana, hours away but crafting similar elaborate stories in his mind. When he wasn’t map making in his story world, or reading through the same dragon guide that Cora was also quite fond of, Malachi also enjoyed reading, exploring outdoors, playing video games with his siblings and friends, and archery.

There is much to be said for those early years, but our story truly begins when both Malachi and Cora made the choice to come to Grace College a year apart from each other. It was an unlikely coincidence for many reasons, but fortunately the ultimate author of their stories knew what He was doing in this chapter of their lives.

They both auditioned for the traveling drama ministry group Remnant, and had the chance to become friends as they performed Biblically based skits for churches and schools around the country.

Neither of them could tell you the exact moment they knew they had fallen in love. Perhaps it was when Cora sledded into a tree and Malachi helped her walk two miles back through the woods, or when they played piano together, or the thirteen hour drive where they told each other more of the stories they had been crafting since those early days. But somewhere along the line near the end of Cora’s sophomore year they realized they had become best friends, and that that friendship was turning into something more.

In the true fashion of their meeting, they had their first date right after a musical performance at their college. They began officially dating that summer after Malachi had coffee with Cora’s father.

Through their time dating, they dated across state lines in Kansas and Indiana, on campus for one year before Malachi graduated, across oceans as Malachi did missions work in Japan, and across state lines again as Cora finished school in Indiana and Malachi started his first job post-graduation as a Residence Director at Geneva College in Pennsylvania. Through this time, despite the distance, they grew in their love for each other with each chapter.

The next chapter arrived on December 21st 2023 when Malachi proposed to Cora utilizing elements from her stories and his own, and the two eagerly began to plan for the way God would soon make their stories one. But of all the stories they ever crafted, or ever will create, they are quite thankful to God that their own story together is far better than anything they could have imagined.

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