Our story began in the fall of 2022 on Macie's first day of college at Vincennes University in the Homeland Security program. Cole was previously attending VU for the same major the year prior to Macie's coming. However, on both of our first days of school for the 2022-2023 academic year, we were the only two people to go to the wrong classroom. Instead of trying to find the right classroom, we proceeded to talk at the locked door for about 20 minutes before we realized we were 10 minutes late to our class! We sat next to each other, and this is where our friendship began.

Macie did not have any friends at VU except for her high school friend, Kaitlyn, and her brother, Garrett, so Cole was the "best friend" she always gravitated towards during class activities. She talked about him quite a bit at home too! Although this friendship was a breath of fresh air and a gift from the Lord for Macie's transition into college, it was very casual and never progressed outside of school.

But the Lord had different plans for the following academic school year, where life circumstances allowed our friendship to grow much closer. Cole first started pursuing Jesus before he pursued Macie, but in the process of this pursuit he began to catch feelings for her in November of 2023. Although Macie always said she "loved him with her whole heart," she didn't think it would be wise for them to get together at that time. Macie did her best to set boundaries, always telling Cole we needed to "guard our hearts," which he graciously accepted as he continued to grow his relationship with Jesus.

Over time, our friendship grew closer and closer, and we loved spending any second we could with each other. Cole was still in love, and Macie was beginning to figure that out. (Meanwhile all their friends, family, and classmates had already decided they were meant for each other.) Macie first discovered her feelings for Cole one weekend in February when he spent the day with her family and friends, ending it by watching Beauty and the Beast the Musical at South Knox High School. Cole had told his dad he was staying in Vincennes that weekend to get much needed homework done, but his dad soon realized he was with Macie when Cole sent him the text "I'm at a play," to which he responded "Really hitting the books, huh?" This was one of the moments Macie realized she liked Cole too.

The rest of the spring semester carried on, with Cole and Macie attending lots of Bible studies, playing lots of pickleball, recruiting various friends to come along with them to dinners so we wouldn't be alone (we were "guarding our hearts!") and having many late night conversations in Tia the Kia where we talked about Jesus, our struggles, our hopes and dreams, and our past choices and memories. It was during these moments that the Lord brought our hearts together.

Macie was still convincing herself that she didn't like Cole, but the Lord got her attention with the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. This was the day Macie realized she was completely in love with Cole. She cried a few times to her mom and sister that day at the realization, thinking it was hopeless and not knowing what to do (this was a common theme of the semester lol). But when her mom asked her why her feelings changed, Macie said "I've spent a lot of days in Vincennes doing Vincennes things, but Cole being here today made everything so much better." This was when Macie's mom and sister realized she loved him too.

It wasn't until a spontaneous trip at the end of the school year to Galveston, TX for a Josiah Queen concert (our favorite Christian artist) with the legendary Galveston Gang that Macie and Cole fully realized that we belonged together. However, we didn't realize it until the day after getting home from the trip, making the final two days quite difficult!

Cole was set to begin a summer internship in Townsend, TN the first week of June, and he was planning to use his time to get over Macie. Macie realized this very thing might happen and she became terrified of life without Cole, not knowing how the summer would change our relationship.

We spent what we thought would be our last day together until the 2024 fall semester started, playing golf in the rain. Neither of us had an appetite to eat anything, and we cried a whole lot as we tried to articulate our feelings for each other. We parted ways with Macie going to Nashville for her sister's graduation, and Cole going to Hawaii for a vacation with his mom. And by the grace of God, Macie finally realized that she truly did love Cole with her whole heart, and she wanted to be with him.

While Cole was in Hawaii, Macie told him she was ready and came up with seven specific reasons why. When she prayed about telling him her feelings, she felt led to explain. Cole was very thankful for these reasons because he was very shocked and unsure about why she changed her mind, which led him to pray that the Lord would show him why she was ready. The prayer that went into this conversation prepared both our hearts for the beginning of our relationship. Additionally, Macie told her family that she was ready to date Cole. And when she told her dad, David: "Dad, I think I'm in love with Cole," he replied, "Well, it's been abundantly obvious for about 8 months now!" this proved to Macie even more that she loved Cole and was ready to pursue a relationship with him.

The reason everything finally became clear was because we both individually went to the Lord in prayer so often about our feelings and what to do. We wanted to do the Lord's will, and He heard us and answered us by showing His will was for us to be together! And through it all, Jesus truly did "guard our hearts," because the months of indecisiveness, confusion, and difficulty in our relationship never outshined the deep conversations, inside jokes, amazing memories, and us beginning to know each other better than anyone else did.

Once Cole came back from Hawaii, he took Macie on our first date (pictured above), where he asked her to be his girlfriend! We decided on the first date we were going to get married, and we began the summer as "Macie and Cole" instead of just being best friends.

The Lord had His hand in our relationship from the very beginning. He was molding Cole into the kind, selfless, strong, and faithful spiritual leader that Macie needed. And He molded Macie into a sweet, respecting, supportive, and loving partner Cole needed. Through the ups and downs of our friendship the Lord built the foundation for our marriage. We can’t wait to start this journey and see what He does through it all!

Romans 8:28 "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."

Psalm 145:8-10 "The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made."