Olivia and I met our sophomore year in high school at our youth group leadership team retreat. It was at this moment I realized that there are pretty women who love Jesus. A moment during that year I remember specifically, was when my brother, Dominic, prayed over Olivia’s sprained ankle. I thank God I got to see Olivia encounter the love and power of Jesus which kickstarted her relationship with Him. We rarely talked those first few months until the Fall retreat where we played a card game called mafia. This card game will be very important when she ends up meeting my family.

Fast forward through a teenage “talking phase” and a terrible decision to ask Olivia out on a date over text (it was covid so I feel like I should get a break). Anyway, I invited Olivia to join me to volunteer at the Damascus Equip conference in the kitchen preparing meals for the incoming summer missionaries. One task we did was cutting strawberries. Come to find out later, apparently it was obvious we liked each other amidst the strawberry prep.

We continued to date during that summer going into our Junior year of high school. After she came over to my family’s house for a game night and survived a very intense game of Mafia, I realized she could handle anything. One of my favorite things about this time of dating is that in the midst of high school immaturity, Olivia’s patience with me really gave me the ability to know what it means to love and handle a relationship. It was the ability and gift to grow alongside each other that allowed us to begin to understand what it truly means to love.

We realized the necessity to say yes to Jesus in everything. That mindset is what allowed us to endure 2 summers of long distance doing mission work with Damascus and 4 years of distance between University of Saint Francis and the University of Findlay. In the end, she is worth the time, sacrifice, and effort, because I know she is going to lead me to the abundant life Jesus promises in John 10:10.

When it came time to think about proposing, I knew one thing, Olivia had to be surprised. I found the ring in November of my Junior year and through delicate planning with many people, the day arrived. On May 24th, I got her to St. Brendan's where it all started. This was the place we first met, and the place where we encountered Jesus week after week back in high school. It culminated in a question to lay it all down at His feet, and each other. Olivia has shown me what it means to love without reservations and be patient in hardships. She is authentically kind and caring. Her foundation is Christ and her love is pure. The Lord has done great things, and we are excited to see what God does with our lives! We are excited to celebrate with you, and rejoice in the Lord’s goodness.