When we met, both of us were very happy to be single. We were both in places of pursuing our communities, friends, and school ministry. Our lives seemed too full and too good for anything to make it better. Or at least, that’s what we thought. We met doing discipleship ministry on campus at our university. We were in the same role, which was to support small-group leaders while also leading our own individual small-groups. Leading up to the start of the semester, we decided to lead a small-group together.

Although we didn’t know it at the time, leading a small group together gave us a space to get to know each other on a deeper level. Having that context for pushing deeper with God and also serving in ministry gave us a glimpse at each other's hearts. It was not too long into it where we both developed feelings for each other, but we also tried very hard to stuff those feelings down because we didn’t want it to ruin our friendship or the small group. Finally, at the end of our first semester of leading together, Kezzia confessed her feelings for me and a day later, I did the same.

After a brief period of asking for advice from our discipleship pastor, friends, and our families, I asked her out on our first official date, and that's how it all began. As time passed, our journey together was filled with adventures, late-night talks, and countless memories that deepened both our love and our respect for each other. From a slightly premature trip to meet my family during our first month of dating to the moment I frightfully asked for her parents’ blessing, every step has been a chapter in our beautiful story.