We met at a combined singles activity between the two churches we attended; both of us shared our testimonies with the group. We connected at the end about each others' stories and, that night, Ben requested to follow Emily on Instagram and sent her a DM hoping to continue the conversation. After talking for a month, Ben asked Emily to coffee; to which we spent 5 hours together getting to know each other. On our second date we asked each other our nonnegotiables and got into where God was leading us personally. After a month of going out and meeting each others' families, Ben asked Emily to be his girlfriend.

We prayerfully entered our relationship and learned more about one another and how God fit us together. Both of us unknowingly prayed that God would let us see the other through His eyes, and not our own. He was very faithful to us. As our relationship with each other deepened, so did our relationships with God. We found our place in each other's lives, made friends together, went on a family vacation, and supported each other through school and ministry duties. Every time Emily would pray about a next step, Ben would bring that specific topic up in conversation the next time they were together. One of those topics being marriage. We prayed, and God provided answers, clarity and a plan. With guidance from our parents and direction from the Lord, Ben proposed on August 20th of 2025.

We are so excited to move into this new season of marriage. God has blessed us both with completed degrees (Emily in December of 2025, Ben in May of 2026), great jobs, the perfect apartment to rent, and family (both physical and spiritual) to help us. We are honeymooning in Tennessee and look forward to serving together at our church's Youth Camp in June. We know we have a lot to learn, but we are happy to do it together with God's blessing!