In the words of a famous artist, "She came in like a wrecking ball..." Just kidding.. but really.

I met Hannah around three years ago. Before I met her, word was getting around the church that this woman had come in and had quickly gotten involved in everything there was to possibly get involved with. Every person I talked to had a story about how they had already become friends with her, had at least three coffee dates with her, and how she had a dozen ideas about how I could lead better and be more authentic as a pastor and a person. I was immediately intrigued, smitten, and a little frustrated (the perfect combo for me).

I've been told that sometimes when new people meet me, I come across as being "a lot". I admit I can be intense to a level that tends to freak people out sometimes :). The first time I was around Hannah, I met someone who was a force to match my own. She had a vitality for life unlike anyone I knew. She was not afraid of a confrontation or even an argument around her convictions. She had a passion for people that derived from her intense connection to the gospel and true belief in the ways of Jesus. I knew no one like her, and I would come to realize the more I got to know her, there is no one like her, anywhere.

Let's be honest, we're both flirts. So, run-ins or meetings for church together usually turned into a flirting competition. I was trying to impress her with how much I knew about the things that interested her, like leadership or business or ministry- focused living. Little did I realize at the time, she far surpassed me in all three.

I wasn't ready to date. I didn't know what I wanted in a relationship, so over the two years of friendship, I watched her, grew to appreciate her more, and finally decided I was ready to take a risk and come up to her level to shoot my shot at asking her out. But, much as it would be with Hannah, she beat me to the punch. On Christmas Eve 2023, for the second year in a row, we were partying together. By partying, I mean mostly just being silly and talking with one another, acting like we were the only ones in a room full of people. That night after we left, she called me to call me out for leading her on again. It wasn't how I expected, but when she asked if I was intentionally flirting with her and not just being n ice, I shot my shot and asked her out because I was in fact very interested. I told her I was intentionally flirting and wanted to take her to dinner that week. After passing her intense interrogation on our first date, more and more I knew that I wanted, I needed to be with her. I went away from my first date and told my friends that I thought Hannah could be my best friend. I was hooked.

Things progressed quickly. Three weeks after our first date, I was sitting in a small restaurant in Antigua, Guatemala, and I told my friend, "I'm going to marry Hannah. I don't know how I'm going to convince her to leave the amazing single life she's had. I don't know why she would think it's a good idea, but I know for me... I'm going to marry her." God did the rest.

Through honest conversation, lots of prayer, counsel, and time, God brought us together in the sweetest way. I know more of His kindness, as in my life I have found the two pearls of great price. The first is the gospel and my relationship with Jesus. The second is a woman, a wife, who has shown me more love and grace than I deserve and for whom I would trade all that I have and more to realize. Her beauty has changed me. She likes to say I am much more fun now than I was before her. I like to say I was fun all along, but she's right. My life is more fun and more full, and probably a bit more crazy in the best of ways.

Final thoughts: Singleness was a gift for a long (long!) time. Marriage is a new journey, but there is no one else for me. Hannah, I ... I... I just.. love you. I love you!