Frenemies to lovers (slow burn)

We met in 2016 (age 12 and 14) as two know-it-alls in drama club. As our friends started leaving the club, we were forced to hang out together and the rest, as they say, is history.

Over the summer when drama club didn't meet, we spent afternoons at the mall bonding over our love for music and memes. We were best friends, staying up late on FaceTime and roasting each other.

In summer 2018, Justus finally admitted his feelings and Tabitha took a few months to catch up. In October we went to a concert together and by December we were half-joking about getting married someday.

In 2020, Tabitha's senior year of high school was cut short and we were "long distance" for three months due to pandemic restrictions. Through the weird seasons of global crises, Tabitha starting college, and becoming our own people, we grew up together and got closer through everything. We started exploring our separate calls to ministry, which combined so well that there was no doubt God had made us for each other.

In July 2021, we knew we were going to be together forever, but we weren't in a place to make that kind of commitment yet. So we exchanged promise rings as a symbol of our commitment to chasing God together and learning what it meant to be partners for life.

The ring we chose is a Claddagh, an old Irish ring with a heart to symbolize love, two clasped hands to symbolize friendship, and a crown to symbolize loyalty.

August 2022--Tabitha had gotten concert tickets for our fourth dating anniversary in September to see the same band from 2018. Justus planned to propose at the concert, which he accidentally let slip to Tabitha about a month before the show. The next few weeks were busy for Justus as he tried to throw Tabitha off the scent, convince her that he had a plan, and decide if he would go ahead with the original plan or change it up.

On August 27, the first Saturday of Tabitha's junior year of college, we went to Chatham Manor for a sunset picnic. You'll have to ask Tabitha or Justus for the full story sometime, but by the end of the night, we were officially engaged, two years of friendship and four years of dating later.

During our two-year engagement, we planned a wedding, navigated job changes, encouraged each other through our academic journeys, and planned for the future. Tabitha plans to work in higher education and Justus is working towards a business certification and training as an automotive technician. We are on a team of facilitators of a local house church, led by other young couples/singles out of a college ministry. We hope to take that experience of building community wherever we go together.