Lisa and Brett’s story is something you might find in one of those feel-good romance stories… Well, their story is a feel-good romance story. It started in the early 2000s when Lisa and Brett’s families attended New Life Community Church. They undoubtedly played together, attended Sunday school classes together, and probably did even more activities now lost to the memory of time. The phraseology used to describe their time as children is intentional since neither Lisa nor Brett remembers knowing the other person existed before adulthood. Technically speaking, Lisa and Brett’s story goes back a couple of decades, even though their memories don’t permit them to reminisce about that chapter of their story.


Fast forward 20 years to April 2023. Both Brett and Lisa are well into adulthood, leading lives that would otherwise not lead their paths to cross (barring miraculous intervention). This was the case until the very same church they attended as children, New Life Community Church, celebrated its 40th anniversary and hosted a reunion for all current and former members. Many families, including Lisa’s and Brett’s, decided to attend to see old friends, reminisce about yesteryear, make new memories, and worship once more as a congregation. Brett attended the reunion with his parents. He was the only one of his siblings who could attend, and he felt like he needed to represent his generation, although, at the time, it was rather inconvenient for him to attend. On the other hand, Lisa attended because her parents asked her to join them, and she thought it would be cool to see old friends. Brett expected to stay, see the people he remembered (not including Lisa), and then leave. Meanwhile, Lisa was eager to see old friends and share the joy of walking down memory lane with our old congregation.


Then, it happened. After building up the courage to start a conversation with the blonde girl who caught his eye, Brett tried (and subsequently failed) to connect with this “new” girl named Lisa over a comment about her shoes. Strike One. He then failed again (though humorously) to connect over Lisa’s love for coffee. Strike Two. On his final attempt to connect, he mentioned a mutual friend that Lisa was close with, and well, the next thing they knew, an hour had passed, and the reunion was drawing to a close! Time speeds by when sparks fly, and everyone in the room can see the fireworks. 


Brett asked Lisa for her number. He texted her later that day, which led to a phone call when she was driving back from Charleston later that week. During that call, Brett asked her to go for lunch. Lisa knew this was a date, but Brett was a little naïve to acknowledge what this was. That lunch lasted almost 5 hours, leading them to get together later the following week for another “date.” This second date lasted 4 hours (notice the trend?), and they shared many laughs. Brett raised the courage to ask Lisa on a proper date on April 29th, although this was probably their 3rd or 4th actual date. In May, Brett and Lisa shared their first kiss in a parking lot after their first date, told each other they liked each other and wanted a relationship, shared their testimonies, and then Brett asked her to be his girlfriend in that order.


From that point on, there wasn’t a day that Lisa and Brett didn’t speak to each other, either in person, over FaceTime, or otherwise on the phone. August 20th held the next milestone when they said, “I love you!” This, too, happened in a parking lot. It was at that point that Brett started saving for a ring. Lisa could tell this relationship was heading toward marriage, but Brett had the challenge of keeping his proposal plans a secret from her. Lisa wasn’t shy about what she wanted in a ring, which made Brett’s job easier. With Lisa’s family’s help and her father’s blessing, he set the date—December 29th. Lisa was no wiser and blindsided when Brett brought her back to the place where they played as children and connected as adults—New Life Community Church, well, the church's parking lot, to be exact. Lisa and Brett had just finished a date at a botanical garden, and they walked through someone else’s proposal (which made Brett almost lose his cool). After playing it off, he brought Lisa back to the church, popped the question, and drove back to her family’s home, where many friends and family were waiting to celebrate their minutes-old engagement.