Yana's Perspective:

It was March 2015 of my junior year of college, a couple of months after I had just been accepted to Teach for America. My best friend and roommate, Mary, convinced me to go downtown with her to one of our favorite places at the time. While we were on the rooftop of the bar, her boyfriend Conrad introduced me to his Georgia Tech Theta Chi pledge brother “Remy”. When Anthony and I started talking, my first impression wasn’t the best (to be honest). We did the usual thing of asking each other what our majors were and our plans for after college. As I mentioned to him my plan for moving to Memphis to do TFA, he told me about this book about a nonprofit that builds schools and I got kind of defensive. My first thought was, “Oh heck no! There is no way this Georgia Tech dude is telling ME to read a book…” The conversation continued (barely) but I didn’t think much about Anthony afterward--although I did add him on Facebook that night...and ordered the book he mentioned on Amazon.

Fast forward to 2016. A couple of weeks before graduation, as more people were asking me if I was excited for TFA, the more and more I realized “No” and that I did not want to be a teacher. So I contacted TFA, resigned, and really had no plan. I felt like I had been holding on to TFA so tightly that I was not allowing God to show me His plan for my life. It wasn’t until I let go that I was able to fully receive what God had for me. I moved to Atlanta (more like Duluth) right after graduation and started a job as an event coordinator for a country club. Frustrated with the fact that I moved so far away from the city, I was quite antisocial and not happy with God at the time. Mary, being the fun and exciting friend that she is, invited me to a pregame in June and I was quite resistant to go. I kept saying, “I’ll just meet you wherever you go” but no, she was persistent. When we walked in the door, I saw Anthony and I thought, “Oh wait, I know him.” As he passed me by, I said, “Hey! You’re the guy that told me to read that book!” He smiled and we continued the conversation on the patio where he asked me questions that made me think twice about the first impression I had of him.

For the next month, Anthony kept asking me to get coffee with him and I was just not into it. To the point of actually saying yes and then cancelling an hour before (I know, I know, I sound terrible). He finally texted me and said, “I know you have 30 minutes to grab coffee with me. I will even drive to Duluth.” And I said, “Alright, let’s do breakfast”, fully thinking that it was NOT a date--to the point that I showed up in a hoodie, kinda damp hair, glasses, and barely shaved legs. And let me tell you, when I pulled up and saw Anthony standing there in his white cotton shirt, jeans, and boots... I thought, “Dang, he’s hot! This IS a date! Oh crap.”

What was supposed to be a 30 minute breakfast turned into a 3 hour conversation of us sharing about where we were in our life and what God was doing in the midst of it all. Even though I had been resistant to him and kind of frustrated with God a that point in my life, Anthony invited me to Grace Midtown. Right before the church service, he took me to the a very special place in Atlanta called The Goat Farm (where Anthony actually proposed!) where we walked around, took pictures, and talked more God. Little did I know that on July 17, 2016 that my life changed completely. The rest is history.

Anthony's Perspective:

It was a March night in 2015. I was in Athens with a bunch of friends...because where else would GT guys look for a suitable woman? My friend Conrad had mentioned his girlfriend’s (Mary) roommate/friend many times to me, but we had never been introduced. Well, that March night was my night, because I finally met that girl he’d talked about. Her name was Yana, and she was stunning. We spent a good while discussing our goals, dreams, ambitions on top of Hundred-Proof bar that night.

Disclaimer: I was pretty drunk and was convinced we never met. For the next year and a half, I would bug Conrad to be introduced to Yana, yet Conrad was fully convinced I had already met her (which to me was impossible since I couldn’t remember). Yana and I even crossed paths once in that time, but we didn’t acknowledge each other.

As I continued to grow in my relationship with God (and the days of getting blackout drunk faded), I knew that He would bring back the memories of meeting her if it had actually happened. So one day in prayer, I asked Him to. And almost instantly, the whole entire night came back to me. I remembered each moment so clearly and vividly.

Then, on a random Summer night in 2016, Yana and I reconnected at a get-together with some friends. We spent the night talking and catching up- it was like no time had passed. I was instantly drawn to her strength, love for others, humor, and beauty. I ended the night with a win- I had successfully gotten her number.

But the real trials were yet to come. It took me a whole 8-9 times of asking her on a date before she finally agreed AND showed up on the date- 1 entire month later. Only now do I understand why I stubbornly kept asking her out after she kept turning me down.

That morning she decided to get together with me was a warm, sunny Sunday in Johns Creek, GA, where she lived at the time. She showed up to Egg Harbor for breakfast in a sweatshirt, jean shorts, glasses, and white converses...I was so drawn to her. We started talking over brunch, and the rest was history. God encountered me through Yana that morning, and has continued to encounter me through her ever since.

As the next few days, weeks, and months went on, we came to realize what God had put in motion from the start. One afternoon a few months later while sitting at my favorite coffee shop at the time, I heard God tell me to open to Genesis 8. I started to read the chapter and came to verse 4: "and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat".

Before I could start meditating over this verse, I froze. The 17th day of the 7th month (July 17th), was the day Yana and I went on our first date. I was overcome with the closeness and love of God in that moment. But as I continued to process through the verse, I became more humbled and awe-filled than I had ever been in my life. You see, the "ark" here was Noah's Ark, containing those God chose to save before humanity's "new beginning" after the fall in the Garden of Eden. The ark came to rest between 2 mountains- mountains symbolizing humans here, as "hosts of God- the Holy Spirit." Where the ark came to rest was God's anointed place. God spoke to me in that moment and told me that this verse was an illustration of Yana and I...he had chosen us as we had journeyed with him, and the journey of "looking" had come to an end. We had found each other, the ark came to rest, and there we stood, rooted in God's love.

I called Yana after processing through all of this, and she was as awe-filled as me. In the same moment, she pointed out yet another incredible aspect of the verse. The numbers "8:4" of Genesis "8:4" was the day (August 4) we decided to become boyfriend/girlfriend (Millennials know this as FBO lol).

In these moments, God confirmed what we already knew...that it was His plan that we were to come together in marriage. This "kairos" moment in our journey is one of hundreds of "God" moments we've experienced together.

I can't wait until the day I get to stand before my beautiful Yana and take her hand in marriage, and continue this journey.

Registry