Hey, friends and family! This is Nicole narrating.

I would start the story back in March of 2021, on a mother-daughter weekend in Florida with my mom's best friend and daughter, Ronda and Amaya. What started as a fun beach trip ended with them forcing me to make an online dating profile.

I wasn't happy about it at first, honestly. However, Ronda made me promise to go on three dates before deleting the app. I hadn't dated anyone in years, so I conceded and figured I would get some good stories out of it one way or another.

Jordan and I first started talking in September and met at a "7 Days of Prayer" gathering at 12 Stone Church. He was working audio production.

I almost canceled the date.

A water pipe broke at the house, Dad went into the hospital with COVID-19, and I was recovering from a broken blood vessel in my eye that made me feel like I walked out of a scene of the Walking Dead.

I'll never forget getting ready that night. Picture this: trying to curl my hair, getting yelled at on the phone by the guy who installed the pipe wrong in the first place, and trying to write the check for the guy who was fixing the pipe.

All at the same time.

Somehow, I made it out of the house. Let's just say having an hour of prayer before having to interact with Jordan was God's kindness.

After the service when he was done with audio, he walked over and sat with me while I was praying. He put one arm around me, held my hand, and began leading in prayer. It felt pure, holy, and sovereign how our relationship started in that place of prayer. It's something I treasure and hope to always remember as our foundation.

I remember my first impressions over the next few dates: The Word of the Lord is on his tongue. The kindness of God is in his heart. The humility of Christ is in his actions. He's quick to take things to God in prayer. He's assertive, intentional, and makes me laugh. Singing with him in the car is the MOST fun! He sees me and wants to know me fully. I feel at home with him. This is the man I'm going to marry.

I didn't tell him right away, of course. That would have been weird. But, here we are. Called it.

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Ok, here’s the story from Jordan’s perspective.

I decided to make an online dating profile in the early part of September 2021. I had one before on a different platform, but I decided to give this one a try. I found Nicole and decided to message her. Knowing she worked for the city with one of my friends, I asked him for a character reference. He said she was marriage material, so I asked her if she would like to go out. I was on an event train for 7 nights at 12Stone church and knew I wouldn’t be able to go out with her, so I invited her to church on Wednesday night.

I’ll never forget I was on stage in the back when she walked in and I knew she was there immediately. I didn’t know where, but I eventually found her and went out to meet her. After the service I went over to her and sat next to her, we prayed for her mom and dad as they were battling COVID, and we prayed for other things for a while and then went to dinner.

We went to Longhorns (can I get an AMEN) and we asked each other questions, all kinds of important questions (I had looked at eHarmony first date questions to get the best questions) and she told me everything I needed to know. I knew after that I was going to marry her. I took her into the parking lot and kissed her, it blew both our minds, in different ways!

We went on a second date that Friday that was almost the same as the first except it was the Cheesecake Factory (Cinnabon cheesecake for the WIN), and then a third date that Saturday to Buffalos café in Oakwood GA and she told me she was All IN.

She makes me want to be better, she's the image of God in person and we pray and serve together. I've never been more excited to marry my best friend and start a family.

The rest is history.

J