Maggie is a Tulsa native through and through, living here her entire life. Growing up she was always active in her church, Young Life, and volleyball, with the last of these sticking with her into college as she attended the University of Tulsa on a volleyball scholarship. After her time as an eventual team captain ended in 2021, and Maggie is now finishing her first year of a Master's program at TU in Speech-Language Pathology.

Josh was born in Michigan, raised in Minnesota, and finally came to Oklahoma for college in 2015. At Oklahoma State, Josh made lifelong friends and became a Christian, eventually leading him to Tulsa in 2020 after graduating with a history and economics degree. Since living here Josh has slowly come to know Tulsa as home, in no small part due to finding a home church in the summer of 2021. It was at that church, Fellowship Bible, that our paths finally collided. Maggie had been volunteering her time with the young adult group (affectionately referred to as “YAC”) for some time, while Josh was specifically searching for churches that had a decent population of younger people to have a solid community with. So it was in August of 2021 that we first met at YAC; Josh awkwardly trying to make fast friends, while Maggie was already an established part of the group.

You might think that, in true romantic fashion, the rest would be history, but in fact, we remained as friends, with no interest beyond that, for either one of us. Josh was satisfied with finding a community at Fellowship, while Maggie was focused on her last year of undergrad and volleyball. But for months after that summer we grew closer and closer together, both as friends individually and as friends within a larger group of 7 or so people. A specifically impactful moment was Christmas of 2021 when Josh, not able to travel home for the holidays, was invited into the Hembree home as a friend to take part in Christmas dinner and some winter wake surfing at the lake. Funnily enough, it was after this stint when one of Maggie’s cousins made the joking prediction “bringing a guy-friend home for Christmas? … You’re gonna fall in love with him.” It wasn’t until March, after going to concerts together, volunteering at church together, going out for St. Patty’s Day together, and just generally spending more and more time together, that our growing feelings culminated. And it wasn’t until April that we actually took the plunge from friends to relationship and started dating. From there we fell more and more in love and are so excited for everything the future has in store together.

Josh: I was quickly very aware of just how comfortable I am with Maggie really in every aspect of life. Whether it’s in difficult conversations, being silly and weird together, dealing with spiritual topics, being together, apart, in bigger groups, or showing her new sides of how I live and operate. The feeling I keep going back to in our relationship is confidence; my confidence in how she feels about me and vice versa, as well as my unshakable confidence that I want to spend my life with her in marriage. I’ve never been more confident.

Maggie: I have been blessed by our relationship and being known and loved by Josh. I vividly remember our first conversation, and how well he knew and understood me, and that has continued to grow in our relationship. When I feel overwhelmed or pulled in every direction, Josh intentionally listens to me and helps me through whatever I need. The way that Josh has pursued me and continues to pursue me is so incredibly special, I am so excited about my marriage with Josh and our lives together

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