Emily's Version

I was getting ready for a football game in November and Avery told me her community group was meeting up at the house to walk to the game together. She mentioned a guy named Grayson and said that "he is actually kind of your type." After seeing some photos of him, I was interested to meet him. I remember him walking in the front door and thinking "wow he's tall." I tried to strike up some conversation, but he was really quiet and didn't give me a lot to talk about, but he was kind and a gentleman and interacted so well with the people around him. I didn't see him again after that day, but I did see Nick Hartzler in the MSC on a random school day. This was such a movement from the Lord because I had not spoken to Nick in months, much less seen him on campus or in social groups. We got to talking and I asked him about Grayson and said if he "wanted to give him my number, I wouldn't be TOTALLY opposed." A few weeks after that, I got an incredibly polite text from Grayson asking me out on a date after Christmas break. We had our first date on January 6th and due to a trip with friends, my sweet Granny Jan's funeral and then a lovely bout of Covid, we didn't see each other for another two weeks! I was so ready to go on another date with him and he was too... I think. We started officially dating in February 2021 and I am so thankful the Lord led us to each other. He has taught me so much about selflessness and hard work and I think I have taught him a lot about making life fun and laughing even when things can get hard.

Grayson's Version

It was the last home football game of the 2021 season. I was meeting with my Community Group at one of the girl's (Avery) houses that was close to Kyle Field. When I arrived, this BEAUTIFUL brown hair, brown eyed girl who was half ready for the game opened the door. I spent the next half hour staring at everything but her because I was too shy and stunned to even know what to say. Some days go by and my CG Leader and one of my best friends (Nick) tells me I have an "admirer." He never tells me who it was until about a week later and I was shocked to find out it was HER. He says she is not ready to date though (which I guess was a lie), so I let it go. That is until he tells me she went on a date with another guy recently. I punched him in the arm and possibly *kindly* yelled "Why would you let another guy ask her out before I could?" He gave me her number and I spent a few days trying to decide what to say or if it was even worth it. I am pretty sure I sent her the most drawn-out text possible. Our first date was in January just after the holidays, where I took her to a sports bar... You can blame Nick for that one (his suggestion). The date went great, and I might've hung around for too long since I ended up about a half hour late to my shift at work. She loved to talk, and I loved even more to listen. A couple weeks went by before we saw each other again, but we talked every chance we could. God works in mysterious ways. I wish I had the space and the time to show all the ways He has pointed me to Emily. I just know that for all the good and troubling times, every prayer that was answered (or not) along the way, God had a plan.

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