Meeting

Ezra: Early one Sunday morning, I arrived at Blacksburg Middle School for load in and soundcheck with the Northstar Church worship team. That moment didn’t feel noticeably different from any other Sunday morning call time, but, on this Sunday, we had a new worship team member - a violin player. I talked with her for a few minutes and we discovered a couple of shared interests, but I didn’t think much of it. I’m not a morning person. Cut me some slack.

Gabby: I remember the day I met Ezra. I remember being really excited because he went swimming for exercise! Having swam competitively in middle school and continued throughout the years to enjoy that particular form of exercise I was excited to have met people to do that with. Little did I know swimming would eventually turn into triathlons…

Friendship

Ezra: Our friendship didn’t really begin until January of 2019. It all started when the Bible study that had been meeting at my house was disbanded for heresy (kidding). That semester, I decided to join a small group that met at Darrell and Laura Cook’s house. I walked into their kitchen that night and made eye contact with Gabby across the kitchen island. She smiled at me, and I thought, “Oh, I didn’t know she was in this study,” and smiled back.

From there, our friendship developed quickly, swimming, playing volleyball together, and going on adventures. One of our first significant adventures together was a caving trip. We made our way two miles underground, arriving at a subterranean waterfall after a few hours. On this trip, I began to appreciate just how adventurous she was, even as I helped her through a couple of tight spots (a fact she would probably dispute).

After thinking about it for a (short) while, I decided I would ask Gabby out. After one of our volleyball games, as we were walking out of the gym, I asked if she would like to go on a date with me. She said, “Sure!”, and I thought, “That was too easy.” Little did I know how true that was. A few days later, a yes turned into a no, as she told me her parents were coming into town for the weekend, and that we should just be friends… “for now.” Oof.

Gabby: We enjoyed an awesome friendship. The process of getting into medical school and the academic rigor that followed made me so thankful for the church family and the incredible community I found here in Blacksburg (a large part of which Ezra was responsible for fostering). However, he kept asking me out and I didn’t know what to do about that. At first I thought I was clear in the expression of my disinclination towards dating but he was persistent. Eventually we must have communicated well enough because he stopped.

Ezra: I ended up asking her out two other times - the next time at the end of our summer sand volleyball doubles season together, and the final time soon after our church’s Graduates and Professionals fall retreat. The first time she said she wasn’t sure because she was going to be really busy with med school, but she would get back to me. The second time was pretty clear, “I just want to be friends.” “Well,” I thought, “three strikes and you’re out.”

Over the next year, she and I continued to hang out with friends and spend time together - hiking, skiing, swimming, biking, kayaking, and even running a triathlon together. While I very much enjoyed time spent with her, it was also difficult for me, thinking about what could be. But I had determined not to say anything else, as I was pretty sure I had made my interest clear. I spent a lot of time praying something that my friend Joel suggested to me, “God, I pray that you would change her heart or change mine.”

Dating

Gabby: It took a little while for me to return the same desire of wanting to date, and even a little while longer after that to let Ezra know. That act of telling Ezra I liked him was probably the most scary, exciting, optimistic and also unknown thing I had ever done but I sure am glad I did.

Ezra: One Sunday evening, leaving church, Gabby waved me down as I was getting ready to pull out of the parking lot. I rolled down my window and she said, “Hey, can I talk to you sometime?” I said, “Sure.” She swiveled her head around the parking lot and then said, “Actually, can we talk now?” I put the Jeep in park and asked, “What’s up?” She said, “Do you remember a while back when we talked about dating?”

At this point, I’ll let you in on a little secret. Sometimes, when I have conversations with people, smart, sarcastic comments will pop into my head and be out my mouth before I can stop them. So when I heard this question, I immediately had a couple of snarky responses float to the front of my mind. Thankfully, I was able to suppress them and just answer,

“Yes, I do.” She said, “Are you still interested in doing that?” Hoping I knew where this was going, but still unsure, I said, “Yes, I am.” She responded, “Good, because I am too.”

Wait, what?! I had all but given up hope that this would happen, although it was exactly what I had been praying for. It just seemed so improbable after getting rejected three times that she, unprompted by me, would reconsider, and then have the courage to come tell me that she was interested in dating after all.

We shared a few more words, and then I drove off, grinning like an idiot. In that moment, so many things changed. A year and a half of waiting was over! We were going on a date!

Gabby: Dating did not come without road bumps. But I am thankful for those hazards because I am most definitely sure and confident in our relationship, and our ability to communicate through those hardships!

Ezra: Our first several months of dating were a whirlwind, learning more about each other, enjoying time together, meeting family, spending the holidays together, and even going on an expedition to Colorado with some friends. Unfortunately, this also included a major speed bump in the form of a breakup that lasted about a month. Both of us were pretty upset during that time, and decided we would prefer not to do that again.

After reconciling, it wasn’t too long before we began to discuss the possibility of getting married, and, over the summer, began to have more serious, in-depth conversations in anticipation of getting engaged. At this point, I began to strategize and plan the proposal.

Engagement

Gabby: The way Ezra proposed was absolutely perfect. We went to a romantic, lesser-known hiking spot in WV, where we talked and he popped the question. We came back to his house where our Sunday night crew was waiting and celebrated together.

Ezra: Because we had talked extensively about engagement and even picked out an engagement ring together, I knew the proposal wouldn’t be completely unexpected, but I wanted to do what I could to make it as much of a surprise as possible. I called in favors from my friends Joseph (photography) and Joe (logistics), and began to work out the details. Because “loose lips sink ships,” these guys (along with my friend Joel) were the only ones who knew what was happening before the big day.

The day of, I did everything I could to keep things as normal as possible. Church in the morning, lunch with GAP friends afterwards, and grocery shopping to prepare for our regular Sunday evening meal with friends. I had planted the idea of the hike several days before, but as we got ready to leave, she said, “Are we going to have time to hike and get back?” I said, “Yes, we are!”

We arrived at the trailhead, and, thankfully, she didn’t recognize Joseph’s car. While Gabby answered nature’s call, I had a nice conversation with a hiker who told me he had just passed a bear on the trail. Perfect. Another opportunity for derailment. I decided not to pass this along to Gabby.

We made it to the top of the mountain without issue, and I saw Joseph posted up in the fire tower. I made a comment about the “bird watcher,” and, what do you know, she bought it. We sat down, and, after a minute or two, I pulled out a photo album I had compiled, chronicling our roughly three years of knowing each other.

The last photo in the album was captioned “To be continued…” Once she made it to this photograph, I fumbled around and pulled out the ring from my backpack. At that point, I started monologuing, according to her (I have no recollection), but when I finally got to, “Will you marry me?” she said, “Yes!”

Gabby: I feel so blessed and can’t wait to marry Ezra! I am so excited to be able to do it in the church we are both involved in, surrounded by those who love us and before God, committing to the rest of life together!

Ezra: Agreed!

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