I first noticed Isaac on the first day of class my freshman year of college. We had Worship and the Arts together. Isaac was wearing a black tank top tucked into charcoal grey dress pants, top that off with tattoos, a man bun, and a nose ring and 18 year old me was convinced that he was the most beautiful man I had ever seen. But he was older and I didn’t know him, so I figured there was no shot. A week later we were in the same worship ensemble. He was our drummer and only man. The rest of us were freshmen girls and Isaac made his self-designated older brother role apparent. Always a reliable source of brotherly advice, rides to guitar center, and good platonic laughs. All this to say we became good friends over that year. Sophomore year, I was no longer a freshman. Oddly enough my schedule lined up with Isaac’s for the first semester, we had class together and even our free time lined up. So we just happened to be spending more time together but the real romance began as it always does, walking around campus. I had a jogging class and didn’t want to “jog” by myself, I asked a group of friends to go on a walk and every time everybody bailed except Isaac. At this time I was suspicious that Isaac liked me. I was trying to convince myself that we were just friends as I learned more about him, but I came to know his heart. It is a heart that pursues God in everything he does, and seeks to serve and love others in any way that he is able. I cracked and who could blame me. On one of our walks in November of 2023, Isaac told me that he really liked me and I told him that I was starting to really like him. I was being honest. He asked if I would like to go on a date after Christmas break and I agreed. He then told me that if Christmas break was too soon that's okay too, I was worth the wait. Long story not so short, we did not wait until after Christmas break. In fact, on December 4, 2023, Isaac asked me to be his girlfriend and I said yes. Well actually he asked me if I would let him be my boyfriend. I was astonished. Who asks a question like that? But I am so glad he did. We went on our first date after his jazz concert to SATCO and watched Gremlins afterwards. I was nervous, even though this was no different than our walks, it was. But we had a great time and the tacos were so good. When he dropped me off at my dorm he asked if he could kiss me and I said yes. Our first kiss was so perfect and sweet. A couple of months later Isaac was the first one to say “I love you”, but don’t worry I was the second not too long after. And we haven’t stopped saying it since and we mean it bigger and better each time. We spent the next year growing closer to each other and God. He challenges me to pursue the Lord in everything that I do, even with the things that I give up. He has helped me to step into boldness, taught me how to confidently make decisions, and stand on who I am in Christ. He is so patient with me and my pace of processing and learning. I have learned so much more about Christ and his love for me through all the ways that Isaac has loved me. There is no better person for me. On November 29, 2025, we will be married and I will spend every moment of every day letting him be mine and I will get to be his. And we will get to serve the Lord together in all that we do, in every way we are able.

We met in the fall of 2022 when Emerson started her freshman year at Lipscomb. We had a couple classes together since she was studying Worship Arts and I had just added a minor in the same field. We met in our worship ensemble, where I definitely noticed she was cute. However, she was a freshman, so I had drawn her off limits in my mind. Within the ensemble, we all became good friends, and I was appointed as the ‘big brother” of our ensemble(which consisted of myself and 7 women). Over the course of that year, we continued to grow in our friendship, through many ups and downs and difficulties and dumb things I did to make her think less of me that she somehow forgot about and I will never bring up so she won’t remember them.

Over the summer of 2023, Emerson took a trip from Knoxville to Nashville to visit her best friend Kayla. I remember seeing that she was in town on Instagram or something and being somewhat sad that she hadn’t told me she was coming, which caught me incredibly off guard. When we came back to school the next fall, we ended up in the same Aural Skills class. I walked in and saw an empty seat next to her, so I grabbed it as fast as I could to investigate the strange offence I took to her not spending time with me. Turns out I remembered she was real cute. Plus, she wasn’t a freshman anymore. Which meant I turned my flirt on hard. It’s a good thing I had a pretty good ear, cause I was never paying attention in that class. Outside of Aural Skills, we were also in a worship ensemble together again, and Emerson joined the gospel choir, which meant we got to spend some evenings together as well! This semester, everything changed. I kept flirting as much as I could every day and I could tell it was working slowly but surely. I was getting real laughs out of Emerson, and quite a lot of smiles, plus the occasional flirt back(whether she knew it or not). However, I was mostly just having fun with my cute friend, and I wasn’t seriously thinking about anything between us. One evening in September, Emerson, Alyssa, Katrina, Urban, and I were watching Princess Bride(during which Emerson was flirting pretty hard), and I convinced the girls to let me drive them to Murfreesboro so they could have Donut Country for the first time. Obviously, they knew it was the best donut place of all time. On the way back, Emerson was riding shotgun. I think I spilled something on my hand and just to be mean I told Emerson to grab my hand so I could wipe it off on her. And then she grabbed my hand and held onto it cause she didn’t know what was going on. My heart may have skipped a beat. It was pretty awesome, but she was also incredibly confused by what was happening and I was too, and I’m honestly still not sure what happened. There was an evening in early October when I got a random text from Emerson asking to borrow a pair of drumsticks, because she was trying to teach herself how to play. I had never grabbed a pair of drumsticks so fast, and I practically ran to wherever she was. I ended up staying for a while to try and help(though she really didn’t need much), and we ended up talking until about 3 am. I walked her back to her dorm and I was faced with a horrific decision of how to say goodnight. And then I hugged her. And then I left. It was scary. Around that time, Emerson started asking Katrina, Alyssa, and me to walk with her for her jogging class. We all walked together once or twice, and then for some miraculous reason, Alyssa and Katrina stopped coming so we had to walk just the two of us. We started having some pretty cool conversations(the kind I told my therapist I was waiting on before I knew I liked Emerson).

Later in October, after spending a couple days in prayer over a big decision, I ended up giving up a couple of idols in my life that were distracting me from God. In that moment, I felt a shift in my spirit, and suddenly I felt a shift in my thoughts toward Emerson. I realized that when all the crap of those idols was no longer in my mind, Emerson had a tendency to fill a large part of what was left open. For several days I could not stop thinking about her. I decided I liked her. But for serious. Not just for flirting. I decided I wanted to try and pursue a relationship with her. Walking around for her jogging class was the best part of every week. We would just walk and talk and talk and walk for hours. The conversations got deeper and more serious every time, and it culminated the week before Thanksgiving break. We ended up walking all the way to Green Hills mall, and we sat at a table outside and continued our conversation. It was about 35 degrees outside, so I gave Emerson my jacket. I couldn’t decide whether to bring it up or not, so I asked Emerson heads or tails. She picked tails, so I told her how I felt about her and we had a conversation about what to do about it. She said she wasn’t sure yet, so we decided we would address the topic again after Christmas break. And then we flirted and texted the entirety of Thanksgiving break. When we came back, we knew we needed to address the topic. She said she was more sure than she thought she’d be, so we decided to make plans to get dinner just the two of us. But then, a couple days before our first date, I decided I couldn’t wait any longer. I asked her if I could be her boyfriend on December 4th, 2023, around 12:15 am. I waited until after midnight because my nephew Banks was born on the 3rd and I didn’t want us to be overshadowed by such a cool guy. I had a whole speech planned and as soon as I turned to profess how I felt and ask her such an important question, my entire body stopped working. I actually froze for about 3 solid minutes while Emerson patiently waited for me to develop brain function again. After I finally got it out, she said yes and it was amazing!!

Shortly after that we had our first date! We went to SatCo after I played a jazz concert and enjoyed some delicious tacos and lovely conversation. When we got back to campus, I dropped her off at her dorm and we shared our very first kiss. I had no idea it would be so life changing, but it altered the course of our future together. Shortly after that, winter break started and I ventured up to Knoxville for a few days and met her family which was pretty scary at first but within a few minutes I felt so welcomed by them and I knew very quickly that I would fit in well with them. Thankfully, they also figured that out! I was expecting quite the interrogation since her dad is indeed a preacher, but the only question he asked me was “Are you a Star Wars guy?” And I knew I was in the right place. Not long after that, once school started back up, Emerson and I cheekily planned a small getaway to hang out with my family for a prolonged period of time in the face of an inclement ice storm. We accidentally got trapped at their house and spent the whole week there! Oh nooo! Over the course of these events I realized just how much I loved having Emerson around my family and how much I loved being with her family. Then I realized how I loved Emerson. It was a lot. And I told her so. And she told me so! Another great moment in our story!! As months went by I continued to love her more every day, and we continued to grow closer together as we did schoolwork, ministry, worship leading, and most aspects of life together! I understood quite quickly that we had the chance to take our relationship on the long haul and I decided I wanted to marry Emerson Curry! I couldn’t nail down a specific moment that I knew, it was simply a gradual increase in understanding just how incredible of a woman she is. So after I asked her parents if I could marry her in my pajamas, I started making a plan. A plan she was completely unaware of. Even as on the day of the big question.

On April 6th, Emerson and I were on our way to Arrington Vineyards to meet my family for dinner and take some pictures of Millie for a maternity photo shoot. When we arrived, they were already taking pictures, so we ran up the hill to join them, and then my mom decided to try and take some pictures of us as well! And then I dropped onto my knee and asked a very important question. And she said yes! And I put a ring on her finger as her family ran over the hill screaming for joy! And we all had a lovely picnic together in the rain before joining our friends for a small party at the bottom of the hill! From that point on, the wedding we had already been planning for months could be officially declared and we could start planning! We are so so excited to be married to each other and start the rest of our life together, and we are so excited to be surrounded by such amazing friends and family to help support us on our journey! As we draw closer and closer to our wedding day, I can’t stop thinking about just how much I absolutely love Emerson Tate Curry.

I’m drawn to everything about her. She is strong in her faith, committed in her convictions, deep in her love for God and his people, constant in her integrity, dedicated in her work ethic, unwavering in care for her family, strikingly beautiful in every way, and I can’t imagine facing the world without her by my side. She makes me excited about every little thing and points out the love, power, and majesty of God in the still whisper of the day to day. Through her I have learned more about the love God has for me than I could have understood on my own. I am eagerly awaiting to see what the Lord has in store for our marriage and the ways that he uses us for his glory!

We believe that we will see the glory of the Lord in the land of the living!