We both attended Central Christian College of the Bible in the year of 2012/2013. There were two gigantic snow storms that year canceling classes for two weeks altogether, Barack Obama was reelected as president, and Maria Sowers met Timothy Hallstrom.

We don't know the exact time we first met, but we had mutual friends. He was a teacher's assistant and tutor and actively involved in ministry. I was attracted to his godly character, leadership abilities, and intelligence. I also thought he was really witty and awkward in a good way. That year slipped by and he was off to seminary.

Fast forward to 2017. I had started working with international students through the Christian Campus House and he was moving to North Carolina to become the children's minister of a local church. Tim was visiting a mutual friend on his way south. This friend invited me to join them one evening. I read into the whole situation and started believing that Tim must be interested in me since we weren't close and yet he still wanted to see me out of all the people in Columbia, MO. I didn't know him very well and as the night wore on I had a feeling that I was annoying him by being too forward and flirtatious (he was actually just tired). He says he didn't pick up on anything flirtatious (my flirtation at this point was making eye contact). I was heartbroken by the end of the night. I very rarely had a serious interest in a particular guy and so it made my felt rejection even harder.

I interned in Jordan in 2021 and Tim was one of my supporters. I sat down on November 18th, 2022 to write thank-you cards. I innocently texted him to ask if his address was the same and, of course, I asked how he was doing. This led to us texting every day over the next month. His intentions were clear to me but I was surprised at how out of the blue they were. I expected that he would initiate a phone call at some point. His tactic for this was sweet and overly complicated. On December 10th he texted that I should get the computer game, "Stardew Valley" and we should play it together and chat. The next day was our first time talking on the phone.

It was our second or third conversation when Tim found out that I thought he was pursuing me. He had thought that I was pursuing him. Why did he think this?

He was visiting his brother and sister-in-law, Leanna, two weeks before the thank-you card text. Leanna had asked if he was dating anyone and then she suggested me. Leanna and I hadn't talked for 3 years but it means a lot that she was still thinking of me. He was uncertain about the long distance that existed between us. We lived 16 hours apart. My innocent text to him about his address led him to believe that Leanna had also talked to me and that I had decided the distance wasn't a big deal. We had to establish that we were both interested in each other despite thinking the other was taking the initiative.

Our story gets weirder. Tim had many people at his church trying to set him up. A dear friend and elder of the church had suggested a young woman to Tim. He invited Tim to come to Thanksgiving and meet this girl. Tim had decided that he would meet her one hour before I texted him on November 18th to ask if his address was the same. He immediately decided that I made more sense as we had so much in common and already kind of knew each other, lol. We are both very cautious about saying an event is providential but there is a lot in our story that is hard to explain away.

I flew out to meet him on March 21st, 2023. He made a very thorough itinerary of all the activities that we would do. He is great at planning dates and I absolutely love that. Visiting him in person helped our relationship move along. He was so intentional about introducing me to people, making sure I felt included, and he always talked highly of me with everyone. He is a treasure of a man. His church adores him and they have no shortage of positive things to say. His integrity, godliness, leadership abilities, wit, and steadiness are just a few of the things I admire and love about him.

Neither of us had ever told anyone that we loved them. We both take those words very seriously and equate them with a commitment to marriage. We knew things were pretty certain when we shared those words. We also both had our first kiss the day he proposed, my birthday, June 24th.

We look forward to spending the rest of our lives loving the Lord and each other. May our marriage glorify God and draw others to Him.

Q + A coming soon!