Written from Josiah's perspective

Our story begins with Hannah's High School Musical key chain...

Hannah moved to Boston in 2019 and started attending Hope Christian Church, where I grew up. During her first visit, I saw her High School Musical key chain and asked if she was a real fan, she said "yes, of course!" Immediately, I knew we'd be friends. From our time together at Church and Youth Group, we formed a really sweet and strong friendship. Really, the foundation of our relationship was worship and prayer. The LORD was always welcomed in our relationship, from doing ministry together to long talks on FaceTime. We were becoming best friends...

As time went on the LORD started to direct our lives in different ways. Hannah answered the LORD's call to YWAM Kona and I finished my time in high school. It was then that I realized...I liked Hannah. We kept in touch while she was overseas, getting even closer as we were several time zones away. When she came back to Boston after her program was over, she told me that she was going back. I knew that I had to tell her how I felt before she left, so at the fateful ShakeShack I told her I liked her, the day before she left again. So, we were overseas one more time, but this time Hannah wrestled through her own feelings about me. She realized that she too liked me. But, she's been overseas and I was planning on going to Taylor University in Indiana. Our paths just never seemed to align, thus started the gray area of our relationship...

Fast forward now, it is my second semester of Freshman year in Indiana and Hannah is living in Oklahoma. We had been going back and forth about when to start dating. After a series of conversations, songwriting, praying, and letter-writing, we made the FaceTime call and on April 9, 2022 we started dating!...long distance though...

In this time we learned a lot, grew closer together, and visited each other in Indiana, Oklahoma, and Boston. We were able to rely on the foundation the LORD had set in our friendship and in our love for Him. We always wanted to move when God said to move. So, when Hannah heard the LORD say to go back to YWAM to staff, she had to say yes! We knew it would be hard, but we trusted the LORD's direction. We ended up disconnected for several months as she was training to lead her trip, things had basically stopped. But, in the space, the Holy Spirit was working in our hearts and drawing us closer to him, which in turn was stirring our love for each other. We reconnected a couple weeks before she left for the Middle East and committed to partner with each other again. The LORD had prepared our hearts for each other again, and he was finally opening the doors for us to be together again...

While in the Middle East, Hannah called me one day and asked what I thought about her moving to Indiana. I was shocked, but of course loved the idea of living in the same state, let alone the same timezone! The LORD was so kind to us and she was able to buy a house in Indiana. So, the Summer of 2023, Hannah moved to Indiana! We finally were together after years of relationship long distance...Praise God!! Since her time in Indiana, we learned what it looked like to do life together. How to do ministry together again, how to support each other and our callings, how to really love each other on a day-to-day basis. This leads us to Fall of 2024...

We had been talking about next steps in our relationship for some time. We felt direction from the LORD to be engaged by the end of 2024. So, I started looking for rings. Through a whole series of unfortunate events, it looked like the ring was not going to arrive before Christmas. I needed to propose before I left for Christmas break, so Hannah and I talked and prayed together. It was the week before finals week and the ring had not arrived yet, but God said to still plan on proposing before I left. So, with His help, I gathered materials and made my own engagement ring for her out of bead and wire. The day came for proposing, the ring was still absent but I was happy to use this humble ring I made. Then, hours before our dinner, the ring arrived in the mail! It was almost like God said, "I promise I will provide! Thank you for honoring me in your relationship :)" So, that night, I was able to propose with the real ring, and, after screaming a little bit, she said, "Yes!!!"

That leaves us to where we are today. We are still learning, still being led, but are loving the chance to remember God's faithfulness and the joy of dreaming with Him for our future! We are excited to celebrate with friends and family all that the LORD has done and will do!

Love,

Hannah and Josiah :)

H&J

Wedding Day

5:00 PM–6:00 PM

Ceremony

6:00 PM–10:00 PM

Reception