So, both of us went to Troy our freshman year of college. We never met each other while we were there.

I graduated college from Troy a year early in 2022 and started working at Hewitt Trussville Middle School as a 7th grade math teacher. Donavan ended up transferring to Auburn after his freshman year to finish up. After Donavan graduated in 2023, he got accepted to law school at Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in Birmingham.

On September 3rd, Donavan direct messaged me on Instagram and his exact words were: “Hey Kelly, we’ve got some mutual friends from Troy, and I recently moved to Birmingham. I wanted to see if you’re free to grab dinner or drinks sometime this week?” I replied with: “Hey! Sure I would love to!” We ended up going on our first date on September 6th at SoHo Social in Homewood. I left the date thinking that he could be my future husband. Later, I found out that he had already told people that I was going to be his future wife. And turns out, we were both right! We got engaged on May 28th, 2024!

For so long, I had prayed for a man that loves the Lord and would pursue my heart. I prayed for a person that would make me better and support and encourage me. For someone that was trustworthy and would communicate with me and love me. I prayed for a man that would be honest, kind, selfless, and point me towards Jesus. I began praying for a 1 Corinthians 13 love every day.

All I can do is praise the Lord and thank Him for bringing Donavan Weaver to me. He is all of those things and more. He seeks the Lord. He sees me the way Jesus does. He loves me. He pursues me. He serves me. He makes me laugh like nobody else can. He makes me better. He is my answered prayer.

When I think about him, I am constantly reminded of Ephesians 3:20, “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” The Lord has EXCEEDED my expectations with Donavan. He is better than I could have ever asked for or imagined.

I have never known a love like this. Knowing the way I love him and seeing the way he loves me, I can only imagine how much our God loves us. The Lord is SO good. He deserves all the praise for every single thing. And for the rest of my days, I will praise the Lord for His faithfulness with my best friend by my side.

-Kelly