Riley’s POV

Our story begins during the summer of 2020. This was a memorable year for everyone, but especially for me because it was the year I met Josh. Our first meetings of each other are a little different. My first memory of him was hearing him share his testimony at church one Sunday when I was visiting Ohio with my family a few months before I moved. I remember thinking to myself, “This guy talks A LOT”. If you know Josh well, you know this isn’t surprising.

The first time we met was after I moved to Ohio and started attending a bible study group for young adults. While attending, I quickly learned that Josh worked for his church and was one of the leaders of this group. This is where our friendship began. I started to see his love for the Lord and his heart for ministry firsthand.

For several months I only saw him as the guy who talked a lot at bible study (IYKYK). He seemed friendly and that’s about as far as I allowed my heart to view him. Somewhere along the way I was talking with a friend about dating and they asked me, “What about Josh?” I honestly hadn’t really thought about him that way before until that thought was presented to me. To be honest, once that idea was brought up, I never seemed to let it go. I thought to myself, “I mean, he’s a really nice guy. And he loves the Lord. I’d say yes if he asked me out”. Well, it took about 10 months before he finally did.

In the fall of 2021, I noticed that Josh seemed to be around a lot more. Even though I was only seeing him at bible study once a week, it felt like he was always trying to find ways to talk with me. Being the overthinking girl that I am, I didn’t want to assume that he was interested unless he was clear about his intentions. I tried to not dwell on these thoughts long but there were definitely a few weeks where I wondered if he was just being friendly or trying to flirt with me. One day, I got a text from Josh that said, “Hey! What are you doing tomorrow? Want to do something with me?” and I was SHOCKED. He ended up inviting me to go with him to a community fall event and represent his church and invite people to their upcoming Trunk or Treat. I decided to go with him and see if I enjoyed hanging out with him one on one outside of our normal group setting. In short, it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I like to call this day our “unofficial” first date. We didn’t do a great job at trying to invite people to church because we spent so much time just talking to each other. I remember leaving that day thinking, “Wow. He is so much fun, and I would love to do this again”. A few days later, he “officially” asked me to go on a date with him and we haven’t stopped since.

Fast forward a year and a half later, Josh popped the question on July 22nd, 2023. (Fun Fact: This date is also special because it is exactly 3 years after Josh remembers meeting me). It was the day I had always dreamed of, and he surpassed it all and made it amazing. While our time together hasn’t always been easy, the Lord has been faithful to us. I cannot imagine going through this life without Josh walking with me as we continue to pursue the Lord in all we do. Here’s to next chapter of our story…

J&R

Ceremony