Since the summer of 2019, Elijah and SarahAnne have known each other. It all started when SarahAnne and her mom came up to the produce stand where Elijah was working with her brother, Brayden. Elijah thought SarahAnne had “really cute freckles” and began to talk with SarahAnne for a few months. Although SarahAnne and Elijah went their separate ways, it didn’t take long for God to bring them back together. In April of 2022, Elijah sensed the Lord was telling him to pray for SarahAnne, so he reached out, asked to pray for her, and didn’t reach out again. Just a month later, Elijah felt the need to apologize to SarahAnne for “ghosting” her in 2019. SarahAnne was NOT expecting that and noted that it didn’t affect her in the same way it did Elijah. 

Eventually, Elijah asked SarahAnne on a date to “Rise Up Coffee,” however, SarahAnne was very clear that this was “NOT a date!” Little did we know, this was the beginning of the rest of our lives! They began to hang out often throughout the summer, discovering they were both going to Liberty University in the coming fall. Through many late nights, “non-dates”, and trips to the beach, they began to fall in love with each other. After several months of Elijah pursuing SarahAnne, he asked SarahAnne’s dad for his permission to officially date his daughter and he said yes!

The following Sunday, Elijah asked SarahAnne to be his girlfriend at Calvary Chapel in the front row and she said yes! For 17 months, Elijah and SarahAnne exclusively dated each other and pursued the Lord together and separately. In January of 2024, Elijah approached both of SarahAnne’s parents for their blessing to take their daughter’s hand in marriage. Through many joyful tears and prayer, they gave Elijah their blessing to marry their daughter SarahAnne.

Shortly following the blessing of SarahAnne’s parents… on February 11, 2024, Elijah took SarahAnne up to a mountain and asked her to marry him. Although Elijah didn’t hear her say “YES” the first time, he said again, “so will you?” and he heard a resounding “yes, i said yes!” Here in lies the story from the produce stand to liberty mountain!