Haidyn and I's story goes back to the fall of '22 when I moved to Michigan. We got placed in the same small group and got to know each other a bit there. I will admit, I was immediately interested in Him and remember specifically on the 20's retreat him and I having a conversation where he asked me about why I moved to Michigan and made me feel so welcome. I thought he was so cute and kind and his intentionality struck my heart! After that retreat I was crushing hard on Haidyn.

We became good friends that fall and would talk to each other often over text, phone calls, and coffee. I had a MAJOR crush hahaha. Unfortunately, nothing ended up happening between Haidyn and I during that time, but in the Lord's sovereignty, He knew that it was not the right time for us and brought us both into seasons of pruning and growth. We each lived our own individual lives fostering our relationship with the Lord and our friendships.

Fast forward to Fall of '24- we're still in small group together and through a seemingly random string of events, we ended up re-kindling our friendship. I was SO happy to have Haidyn's humor and kind-heart back in my life. That fall I signed up to be a High School Ministry leader through the Church we were attending at the time and ended up being placed as his sister Haylee's youth leader (Thank you Jesus!). Haidyn invited me to coffee to talk about Youth Ministry but we ended up talking for a few hours. Once again- Lydia was crushing HARD haha :)

After that coffee, Haidyn and I just didn't stop talking. We texted and called, and went on more coffee dates. By that point it was Christmastime and I went back to Illinois to be with my family for 3 weeks. While it was weird for us to be so far apart from each other, we stayed connected through phone calls and LOTS of game pigeon. By this time, Haidyn and I knew we wanted to date and were just waiting for me to go back to Michigan so we could see each other again.

Once I got back to the Mitten, Haidyn and I spent that first week going on drives, eating at applebees, and watching Monsters University. Haidyn and I's first "official" date was Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025 and that night he asked me to be his girlfriend!

As we dated, we spent lots of time going on walks, playing games, serving at Church together, going to the NASCAR race, visiting Maranatha, and spending time with each other's families. We had the sweetest 6 months in person together and our love for each other grew in ways we would have never imagined!

This summer Haidyn had the amazing opportunity to go on a short term missions trip to Japan for 2 months. Our relationship was stretched through the long distance, but once again- God proved to be faithful and worked in our lives both individually and as a couple throughout the 2 months. Maybe the saying "distance makes the heart grow fonder" is true after all because...

...on Tuesday, September 9th Haidyn and I went on a walk on Maranatha's beach during sunset and he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him!! He caught me TOTALLY off guard but that made it all the sweeter!! Saying YES was the easiest decision and the Lord was so evident in that night.

Seeing God write our story over the last 3 years has been a beautiful thing- and I thank Him for bringing Haidyn into my life. We are so excited to spend the rest of our earthly lives by each other's side and pray that the Lord is glorified through our marriage and that the Lord's Kingdom will be expanded through our Marriage.