Luke and I met last year towards the beginning of the fall semester. Luke and our friends, Asia and Daniel, formed a study group so that they could suffer through their Junior year of pre-medical school together. Because of this Luke started to hang out with our friend group more.

The first time I actually met Luke was in the library on campus at Liberty (where we both went to school for our undergrad degrees). Lydia, the maid of honor, was at his table talking and venting to him, all while Luke just sat there and listened because that's how he is. I got to the library from class to find Lydia talking to him so I walked over to say hi. Side note--I jokingly have a weird thing against men named Luke. Because of this, when I walked up to him and Lydia, I introduced myself and jokingly said "I'm just letting you know now that I don't like men named Luke." Luke being Luke was completely unphased by it, shrugged his shoulders, and simply said "ok."

Over the next few months of the fall semester we were more like acquaintances that would hang out but only in a group setting. Towards the end of the fall semester Lydia asked me if I would ever date Luke, and I told her I didn't know but probably not because I didn't really see us together. Little did I know, she called us happening before Luke and I even thought of it ourselves. Her question must have sparked something in my head because on the last day of the semester before he went home for winter break he and Daniel came over to the girls' and my house for a "Hot Chocolate and Movie" night. That night I started to envision what it would be like if we got together. At one point during the night, Luke started talking about the former Duke basketball player, Grayson Allen. Apparently, according to Lydia, when he said that name I whipped my head around. I just thought it was funny that since my name is Gracyn and Luke's last name is Allen, if we were to ever get married I would also be Gracyn Allen.

After that night, we both left Lynchburg and went back to North Carolina and Pennsylvania, where each of us is from, for winter break. I told myself that I would enjoy my break, and if I got back to Lynchburg and I was still interested in him then I would let myself like him and see where things went. So, winter break came and went, but my interest in Luke did not, safe to say.

Over the first two months of the semester Luke and I started to get to know each other better as we studied at neighboring tables in the library on campus. When one of us needed a break, we would get up from our table and walk over to the others for a 10 to 15-minute conversation. From us having these conversations I came to realize just how compatible we could possibly be. I had a physical list on a Word document of character qualities my future husband had to possess. Luke very quickly, and unknowingly, checked off every single quality on that nineteen-point list. (Yes, me having a list sounds crazy lol but it served a good purpose to keep me from getting head-over-heels for just anyone) Something else that I noticed about Luke was just how much he reminded me of my dad. They have very similar demeanors and interests--they're both gentle and reserved, logical and realistic, family-oriented, and love sports and the outdoors. If you were to ask Lydia about the kind of man I wanted to marry, she would tell you that I wanted to marry somebody like my dad. I wanted this because I grew up seeing how my dad treated my mom and the loving, God-centered partnership that my parents have. Everything about Luke almost felt too good to be true.

Also during this two-month time, we both attended a church discipleship group event each week called "Theology Thursdays." One Thursday Lydia was sitting by me talking until she got up for a minute. In that minute, Luke stood up from where he was sitting then came and sat in Lydia's spot next to me. I kind of sensed at that moment that he also was interested in me, which was true.

One Thursday towards the end of February Luke was over at my house doing homework with all of us. He, Eme (another bridesmaid), and I ended up all talking in the living room until 2:00 AM when Eme went to bed. Instead of leaving like I thought he would, he continued talking to me and we ended up having a pretty deep conversation. Then there was a long pause in the conversation and after the pause, Luke told me that he really liked talking to and hanging out with me. He then said that we should hang out more, just the two of us. It was completely a surprise to me that Luke actually was also interested in me.

We planned our first date for March 6th, which was the first day we were both free (but also two weeks out). Those two weeks were an absolute whirlwind for me! It was all so exciting and felt like the fairytale relationship that I had always dreamed of. During those two weeks, I had to do weekend-night shift-nursing school clinicals. I had made this nasty coffee the one night before leaving, and I texted him about it during clinical to jokingly tell him how nasty it was. Without me asking, he drove to the hospital to hand deliver me a Dunkin Donuts iced coffee. The next weekend Luke and I, along with other friends, went to the Peaks of Otter (a state park off the Blueridge Parkway). I had to do a night shift that night so I slept in my hammock while Luke and the others went hiking. At one point Luke walked over to me and gave me hand-picked daffodils--which earlier I told him how pretty they were.

Then March 6th came and we went on our first date. He picked me up from my house with a bouquet of flowers, opened the truck door for me, had a playlist made of all the country music I liked, and took me to my favorite coffee shop. After getting our coffee we walked downtown and ended up sitting on a bench and talking for two hours. No guy of romantic interest had ever treated me the way Luke did and still does. When I tell you it felt like a fairytale, there is no other way to describe it.

Not long after, we made our relationship official and spent the following months growing our relationship and love for each other. We spent the summer living apart but made trips to see each other every few weeks. Us being what I call medium-distance at this time proved how well we work together and really strengthened us as a couple.

Fast forward to October, we had talked about the direction that we were going in our relationship and decided that both of us knew that we were it for each other. So, about a month later Luke took me to one of my favorite places--a lookout on the side of Afton Mountain outside of Charlottesville, VA. I had a slight feeling that he might be proposing but wasn't sure. We stayed there for a while and then he took me to another lookout on the same mountain and stayed there for a while. At this lookout, a violinist in a formal black dress walked up beside us and started playing her violin. I started freaking out in my head thinking that was it, but it turned out to just be a pure coincidence funny enough. He then told me that there was one more lookout he wanted to take me to, which is where he ended up proposing to me. When we got to the lookout, there was a blanket with rose petals, lanterns, lights, and photos of us set up. So, Luke walked me over to the setup, got down on one knee, and asked me to marry him all while I had my favorite mountains in view in the background. I couldn't have asked for a better way to be proposed to. It got even better though. He had a reservation made at a restaurant nearby. So, we made our way over there. Whenever we got to the restaurant, the hostess took us to our table where I was met with yet another great surprise--Luke had both of our families drive down (from PA) and up (from North Carolina) to meet us for dinner. This was something that I had mentioned to him briefly sometime before that I wanted and it meant the world to me that he arranged such a perfect night basically all for me. With all of this to say, I could have never imagined the relationship and life partner that God has blessed me with. The only way that I can truly describe our story and relationship is with this phrase: aligned and ordained perfectly by the Lord's hands.

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