Our story began in 2022. Morgan had been living in Chattanooga for several years after getting her nursing degree at UTC and beginning her career as a RN. Throughout that time, Morgan grew deep roots, found rich community, and developed life-long friendships--Chattanooga was her home. And in April of 2022, it became Andy’s too. He moved across the country from Arizona for two reasons: first, to be near to his family, and second, to chase his dreams. While Andy had always believed that his dream was to be a filmmaker, little did he know that God would give him a new one.

Trying to help him get settled in Chattanooga, the daughter of some family friends invited him to a life group on Tuesday, April 26th , a life group that Morgan had been attending every Tuesday night for the past couple of years. Andy remembered two people from that night. A funny, fellow car enthusiast, and a beautiful and charming girl with big, round glasses. And Morgan definitely remembered Andy, being the quiet, cute new guy. And while this sounds like the start to all too many rom coms, unfortunately for us the real beginning of ours came an entire year later.

It wasn’t a full week after Andy went to Morgan’s life group that he got the call to start working in Atlanta on a TV series. For the rest of the year, he would spend a month in Atlanta working on a project, and then he would come home to Chattanooga for another month before doing it all over again. During this time, Andy stayed in contact with a good friend from Arizona, Cole whom he went to film school with. Cole worked a sales job, but desperately wanted to make movies, and seeing Andy find a little success, decided it was time to take a risk. Andy offered to let him stay in Chattanooga until finding a job in Atlanta. Cole moved in with Andy in March of 2023…and it was right about this time that the writer’s strike started. The industry stopped completely, and with nothing to do, Andy and Cole decided to make the most of it. It was Andy’s idea to make a short film, and it was Cole’s idea to make Andy a HINGE account.

Within a week of being on the app, Andy and Morgan matched. She promptly let him know that he had been to her life group all that time ago, and he remembered her immediately. Messaging turned to texting, and before long, they set up a date at Rembrandt’s Coffee. Andy spent his entire drive on the phone with Cole, stressing over the idea of going on a date with a stranger. But the second Morgan said hi, she felt as familiar as a friend. When she realized that Andy hadn’t experienced any of Chattanooga, she took him on a walk through all of North Shore, showing him her favorite spots like Coolidge Park and the walking bridge. And when they finally made it all the way back to Rembrandt’s, Andy didn’t want their time together to end. When he asked her if she wanted to get dinner, there was only one place that came to Morgan’s mind. Arguably her favorite of all the places she showed him, Basecamp was the perfect way to end the night. Andy and Morgan recall how effortlessly the conversation flowed, how the banter bounced back and forth so freely, and how many interests they shared. When Andy mentioned he had heard Noah Kahan’s music, it’s possible Morgan fell in love with him that very moment.

A second date wasn’t even a question. Or any of the others that followed for that matter. We dated for one year, almost to the day. Andy proposed on April 6th, the day that they matched on Hinge a year earlier. We both believe that our relationship is a testament to God’s providence and sovereignty in our lives. Above all, we cherish each other’s friendship; that we can do just about anything together and have the best time doing it. That seems like a pretty great life to us, and we’re excited that it’s how we get to spend the rest of ours.