If you ask Sasha...

For years, I teetered in and out of different churches. I loved to explore and hear different perspectives from different people, so I never really tried to establish roots anywhere. However, after oversleeping one Sunday morning, my plans to head out to another campus fell through. So, I decided to head over to a local church my friend had shown me years before. Long story short, on that morning, God spoke to me in a way I had never experienced before... so much so that I stopped my Sunday morning adventures, and began attending Watermark Church every week.

Week after week, I was in and out of the building as quickly as service began and ended (remember, roots weren't exactly my thing). I was totally content for years, either attending in-person, or watching service online, until 2021, when I really began to feel a pull to connect with the community that surrounded me in a more meaningful way. I approached the pastor after service one morning, and asked if there were any opportunities for me to volunteer, or serve. He ran through a quick list, sidetracking for just a moment to add "I know this one's a long shot, but the worship team has been looking for a keys player for ages too." Having played piano since I was 9 years old, I immediately zoned into the opportunity, took the steps necessary to audition, and I joined the team not two weeks later.

I met Philip at my first Thursday night rehearsal. He was much nicer than I initially expected him to be, given that I only knew him as the guitar player that glared at me during the worship sets (I later found out this was purely unintentional, I promise we can't help the RBF sometimes). However, given that I was in a relationship with someone else at the time, nothing more than a friendship was built.

A couple of months later, my prior relationship ended and I began developing a small crush on Philip. Though funny enough, before telling anyone of these feelings, a friend I had been bringing to our Sunday services confessed that she had her own crush on Philip, so naturally, I wrote off my own, and tried setting the two of them up. I failed miserably at doing so, but did my very best to persevere. That is, until he found out my relationship had ended weeks before, and nearly spit the water he was drinking all over me mid-conversation one Sunday morning.

I (and the rest of our worship team) watched his demeanor then shift completely, into something I personally found hilarious, but also incredibly sweet. A man that I knew to have perpetual charisma and unwavering confidence suddenly had no idea what to do with his hands, how to stand, or how to maintain any sort of eye contact with me. It was incredibly endearing, and not long after that conversation did we essentially begin a continual, month-long streak of sharing our lives, ideas, and our goals with each other; a true stream of unfiltered consciousness if I’ve ever seen one.

We connected so easily, and conversation never wavered; we talked about absolutely everything that came to either of our minds, at any given point of the day. No topics of discussion were off-limits, and I was stunned at how unapologetically open and honest he was from the start. To this day I have never met, nor am I sure I ever will meet anyone remotely like him. It was exciting getting to know him, but it was something else entirely that set him even further apart from anyone I had connected with before. There was a point during this time that I had a dream, one where both Philip and I were present, as well as his parents, and several children running around us (all of which I assumed were meant to be ours). I of course wrote this off as my brain’s attempt to process my newfound connection, until one day, he brought up a dream he had experienced that was IDENTICAL to my own, and that had occurred on the very same day mine had. Never having spoken a word of this dream to anyone, I froze. I’ve never been one to believe in “signs” or “meant-to-be’s,” but rather convenient coincidences. Yet after that, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was something more.

Since then, I’ve seen and experienced the incredible ways that God has moved in Philip and I’s relationship over the years, with such great intention, and with so much grace. Through each and every moment of beauty, and of need, He has blessed us with the opportunity to build a foundation for all of the years we have yet to see together. That said, whether this all be a beautiful coincidence, or divine fate, after 3 years of prayer, conversation, and countless experiences with the incredible man I am about to marry, I couldn’t be more certain that my life was designed to be spent with him.

If you ask Philip...

Navigating the world post-Covid felt like skinny dipping in uncharted waters, with a life-vest made out of baby shoes and Auntie Anne’s pretzels. Everyone seemed to have become an antisocial basket case (myself included). The chance of meeting that girl—the one you give up looking for after a handful of prescription-drug-fueled tinder dates— seemed to have gotten lost somewhere in Wuhan.

That said, I like to think that there was still some semblance of consistency within my life. I was rooming with my childhood best friend Nick (affectionately listed as my Uncle on Facebook), and we had both been volunteering at Watermark church for a few years. We were like Frusciante and Flea, if they only played Elevation Worship. I was a 21 year old who kinda loved Jesus, really loved attention, and was in a rut.

One seemingly normal Thursday practice, we walked into church to find ourselves in the presence of none other than the Queen of Algonac, a half-Russian honey who played the keys like Ray Charles with X-Ray vision: Sasha. Before Nick could get a word out, I called dibs. Per the universal rule of dibs, I had successfully obtained dibs. Unfortunately, my victory was short lived, as I found out soon after that she had a boyfriend. So, I tried not to think about her.

I did not stop thinking about her.

People would ask, constantly, when I would ask Sasha out. I had to remind them that as big of a nozzle as I was, adultery was a sin or something like that. Then I got some of the best-worst advice, ever. A friend on the worship team subtly put down the idea to just, wait it out, that perhaps I could be there to pick up the pieces. What a devious and awful thought.

I agreed wholeheartedly.

Lo and behold it didn’t actually take that long for her suggestion to become a reality. Sasha, after weeks of dropping hints that she was now single, had to eventually hit me over the head with the news. What great news! So began our courtship. FaceTime calls till 4am discussing ALL of the no-go topics. Every date was an adventure. Not because of anything we did. We could have eaten ramen in a pillow fort, or gone horseback riding at Meijer. She made it an adventure. Never in my life had I met such a kindred soul, so full of love and care for others, and who could have fun with the best of them.

Throughout the few years we’ve dated and been engaged, I’ve had the greatest privilege of being her partner. She has impacted myself and so many others in the best ways possible. To say that she has changed lives is an understatement. To know that I get to marry my best friend in August is a blessing that I cannot put into words, and I’m excited to share that blessing with all of you.

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