It was my first semester of PT school and I was still attempting to learn the ropes of professional school while navigating life in Galveston. Thankfully, in the midst of change, I had my sweet friend Ashley to be a source of familiarity and stability. Around October, Ashley began to drop hints about a friend of a friend and how she thought we’d be a great fit. At first, I thought she was kidding and to be fair, I think she thought so too. Overtime, she’d drop his name in conversations but nothing too formal. One day, she mentioned he’d be coming down to visit in November. As the weekend got closer, she told me that I should join for a game of putt putt. Initially, I said no. But if you know Ash, you know she can be gently persistent. Every attempt I had to get out of the evening was not good enough so eventually I agreed, clarified I was going to hang out with friends and figured this would be the end of future conversations.

When I first met Luke, he was really attentive to his task of cooking chicken. Luke won’t admit it but I think he was nervous to meet me so he just kept stirring. I knew that he knew our friends had talked to each of us about the other and my hope was that it wouldn’t make things weird. Within the hour of meeting Luke, I could tell that he loved Jesus, he deeply cared for his friends, he was a big sports guy and he wasn’t afraid to call me out, in a kind way. Throughout the night and the weekend, I could tell Luke was intentional, engaging and that I thought we would be friends if he lived in the same city. I knew he lived 7.5 hours away and I knew I didn’t want him to think I was interested but somehow when Luke left to drive back to Oklahoma, I was bummed. I didn’t know exactly how I felt about Luke then but I did know Luke was different.

The next week, Ash was back at it but for a different mission this time - get me to text Luke. I was hesitant, wanting to respect his space, friendship and hours of distance between us two. But Ash was consistent, she encouraged me to reach out to Luke to wish him luck with interview season for medical school residency because “you would text a friend that!”. I took Ash’s advice, texted Luke and then about a week later, Luke called me asking if we could more intentionally get to know each other. Over the 2 months of FaceTime chats and phone calls, I realized that Luke was better than I had ever initially thought. The qualities I thought he had were deeper, clearer and evident in all that he did. In early January of 2021, I began to wonder if Luke liked me the way I liked him and was a little unsure of what our relationship looked like. At this point, I had convinced myself that he thought I was just a good friend but did not want to date. I am not very subtle when I am unsure so Luke picked up on it. He called me the next night, shared where he was at and his desire to pursue a relationship. He also shared that he had been planning to come down the next week to surprise me and say everything in person. Best ruined surprise ever! We both decided despite distance and no official first date, we wanted to begin dating. We had each seen enough to know that we wanted to give it a shot.

Since the first day I met Luke, the day we began dating and throughout engagement, life with Luke has been the sweetest. Long distance dating was hard, challenging and exhausting at times but it has always been worth it because I get to navigate it with Luke. He is patient, kind, gentle, fun, joyful, considerate, and trustworthy. He challenges me to walk with Jesus better and to love others with all that I have. He builds me up and supports the things that the Lord has put on my heart. He cherishes his family and celebrates my own as if he has known them his whole life. I cannot wait to marry Luke; he is the best teammate I have ever had. It is an honor to love Luke; I am so thankful for the opportunity to choose him for the rest of our lives. December 19 here we come!!

Rebecca

I remember the day that my good friend Nate told me he had been accepted into medical school at UTMB in Galveston. I remember thinking, who would want to live there? But then I met Rebecca.

It was my 4th year of medical school, November. The 4th year of medical school is, to say the least, very relaxed. It’s a good time to travel, to take time off, and to relax a bit after you have grinded for the last 3 years. Nate had always told me I needed to come visit him in Galveston. In November, he had a break from school. He planned a night game of putt putt with friends, and Rebecca was invited to come. Nate had been telling me about her for about 2 months, and although I told him, “Dude, that’s a stupid idea. I live in Oklahoma, and she lives in Galveston,” I was curious. I was actually looking forward to meeting her.

Nate was cooking dinner before we left, so he had his friends come by beforehand. He went to unlock the door to let Becca in and had me watch the honey mustard chicken. I can’t tell you why, but I was nervous for Becca to walk inside. I had definitely looked her up on social media (don’t pretend like you wouldn’t do that too). Nate called me out, and I remember what she was wearing exactly. A flannel, white shoes, and jeans. Becca won’t admit it, but she was a bit nervous to meet me as well. I remember vividly her smelling every single candle in Nate’s apartment, and when we were left alone for about 15 seconds, her running over to another candle because she got nervous to speak with me.

Putt putt was so much fun and I was struck by how much I enjoyed talking with Becca and also her intentionality. The next night, after getting dinner with Nate’s family, we visited Becca’s apartment. We began to talk, and around 11 PM Becca tried to leave and say she needed to dust her room. Of course, I called her out for this ridiculousness, (“Who dusts their room at 11 PM?”), and she ended up staying on the floor with me talking. I found out later she was trying to leave the conversation because she was realizing she was interested in me, but she didn’t want to give the wrong impression considering we lived 8 hours away. Suddenly it was 2 AM and Nate was dragging me out of there. I was sad because I didn’t want to leave. And I remember wishing I lived in Galveston.

When I got home, I began to gear up for the upcoming interview season, specifically one day in which almost all interviews would be released by programs. I received a text from Rebecca that wished me luck. And I knew, or hoped to all I had, that she wasn’t simply being kind. I hoped that text meant she maybe had feelings for me and that if I took a chance, I might be successful. I spoke with Nate about it, and he said “I know you want to call her.” We also talked about the story in the Gospel where Jesus walks on the water and he calls Peter to come out on the water. “How about you step out on the water?” That was basically enough for me. I called her, and I asked her if it would be ok for me to get to know her. I don’t know what compelled her to agree, but she did.

We got to know each other over the next few months, and I planned a trip to surprise her in January and ask her out officially. We had not yet had a DTR conversation. I was hoping she would be able to hold on and wait for me to come, but she (and reasonably so) did not want to keep talking to me if I did not feel the way that she did. She did not know about my trip to see her, and I recognized she needed me to tell her how I felt. So I called her on January 8th, and I laid out exactly how I felt about her. She told me she felt the same way, and so we started dating long distance.

That was the theme of our relationship: long distance, how to navigate it while demonstrating that you care for the other person. Over the next few months, life changed quite a bit for me. I did not get a job in OB/GYN like I had hoped, and I was heading to Missouri for a year of surgery. We went from 8 hours away to 14 hours. Yet, we continued to build our relationship. It wasn’t fun to be away from her, and we learned to cherish the weekends we could visit. I decided to try again to pursue a job in OB/GYN, and by the grace of God, I got an interview at UTMB. I was not shy about wanting to come to the program. Apart from the fact that Becca goes to school there, I loved the program and knew that I would be a great fit. God’s timing was so perfect, and I did indeed get a job at UTMB.

At the same time as the excitement of getting my top choice of a job, Becca and I had shared our feelings about marriage and we recognized we were on the same page. I planned one more surprise, but this time, I was not going to spoil it. I planned my proposal around my third board exam [I did just fine on it]). Becca’s friends were coming to town that weekend for a girls trip, and it was perfect to have them around. I surprised her, and basically, the rest is history.

I love Rebecca very much and I can’t wait to get married to her. She consistently seeks to make me better and also desires for me to love and pursue the Lord with all I have. She is truly a gift! Life is so much better with her around, and I can’t wait for December 19th!

Luke