Our story begins with the Lord's sovereign work in our hearts and lives. Chandler was serving and attending Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, and Nathaniel was serving in full-time ministry at New Life Camp in Raleigh. They were connected through Jon Goforth, Director of Admissions at Southeastern and Chandler's supervisor. Jon asked Nathaniel if he would be willing to go on a date with a student at Southeastern, to which he said he was willing. Nathaniel reached out to Jon to speak to NLC's summer staff, and Jon assigned Chandler to coordinate coffee and donuts for the event. We met each other at the New Life Camp Dining Hall and had an enjoyable conversation afterwards. Chandler knew she was being set up, but Nathaniel went into full summer camp mode, not realizing she was the one Jon had in mind. About a month and a half passed...

Jon came to speak to campers at New Life Camp in mid-July, and he and Nathaniel got reconnected. Jon asked again if Nathaniel was willing to go on a date, to which he said yes. Nathaniel thought, "Is it Chandler?" Jon confirmed that, and Nathaniel agreed and got her contact. He asked her out for coffee, and she said yes! We had our first date at Jubala Coffee. We were both nervous and perhaps even serious. But we also found shared interests - we exchanged book titles we loved, and we ended up both reading those books the next couple of weeks. But one thing we delighted in more than anything together was the story of Jesus, how he saved us both and set us apart to his service and love. As we walked outside, Nathaniel asked if we could go on another date. Chandler said yes!

We went on a few more dates in August and September, including a walk around the Raulston Arboretum (Nathaniel has a thing for trees), and the NC Museum of Art (Chandler has such incredible artistic insight). Meanwhile, the Lord began another work in Nathaniel's heart. He began to consider if the Lord was calling him to a full-time associate pastor position at Christ Fellowship Leesville, the church he served in as a lay elder. He shared this with Chandler, and they began praying. On the morning of September 27th, stirred by his study in God's word and gripped by a song, the call came. Nathaniel knew he had been called to love the bride of Christ, his church. And he knew he had been called to pursue Chandler in a committed relationship. On September 30th, Nathaniel made both of those calls known to Chandler and asked if she would enter a relationship with him that may lead to marriage. She said yes! We prayed together that evening, taking our first steps into the Lord's call on our lives. And like the stories we both love, it was a call to adventure.

In the Lord's providence, our relationship and romance began in the fall, and we thrived in it. We enjoyed simple things such as walks together, experiencing the beauty of the colors and even fall sunsets. Chandler attended Christ Fellowship Leesville for the first time and felt her heart drawn to this church. On November 19th, the church voted unanimously to accept Nathaniel as associate pastor. Chandler stood by his side as the church prayed and confirmed the Lord's calling. We met one another's families around the Thanksgiving holidays, and both families were only too happy for us to be together. Christmas was magical as we celebrated through live music old and new the birth of Christ, the one who gave birth to our romance. We spent Christmas Day together with Nathaniel's family, and on New Year's Day, we went for a prayer walk together through our ministries, our churches, and our relationship. Nathaniel began part time with the church in January, slowly finishing his 20 year ministry with New Life Camp. Even in winter's chill, we experienced joy in our dates from a laid back Valentine's Day to a Carolina Hurricanes game. Still, we both ached for spring, for flowers blooming, for the resurrection of Jesus, for something more. We began to have more intentional conversations about marriage, more and more convinced and confirmed that the Lord was calling us to it. One thing we did not do this entire adventure was say the words "I love you." This was intentional from the beginning. We agreed to only express them if and when we were engaged...

Early in our relationship, Chandler told Nathaniel about her grandmother. As part of that telling, she informed him that she had her grandmother's engagement ring (and she did that intentionally). So our later marriage conversations started with one question from Nathaniel: "Is that ring a keepsake or the one you want to be your own?" She said she wanted it for her own. We made the trip down to Fayetteville (her hometown) in April to have a trusted jeweler get it resized. That was a big moment for Chandler - to entrust this precious ring to Nathaniel's keeping. And of course, it would be a surprise when she would see it again. But Nathaniel had been planning, even praying for a specific day for months before this. We planned a date on May 25th to return to the Museum of Art to check out a different wing. But prior to going, we went to Jubala Coffee where we had gone for our first date 9 months earlier. At the museum, we enjoyed the different art pieces (again, Chandler's insights are amazing), and all the while, Nathaniel had the ring in his back pocket. As we finished our time, Nathaniel suggested while we were in the area that we go back to the Raulston Arboretum. "I was there not long ago, and there is something I want you to see," Nathaniel said. Truth was he had been there only 3 days before, looking for the right spot. As we pulled in, Chandler remarked, "This is the third place we've been to today where we've been on a date. I see a pattern!" As we began our walk, we found that there were multiple weddings taking place, one of which was in Nathaniel's spot! He simply focused all his attention on finding a new spot. Chandler thought this odd. "There are all these beautiful trees and flowers, and Nathaniel isn't stopping to look at any of them!" she thought. This was true enough, until he saw two large trees covering a path and led her there. And in the shade of those spring leaves with the sounds of weddings in the background, Nathaniel reflected with Chandler on their relationship, how the Lord had brought them together. It all built up to Nathaniel declaring for the first time to Chandler, "I love you." Chandler responded immediately: "I have to interrupt you - I love you, too!" Nathaniel pulled the ring out and asked on bended knee if Chandler would marry him. With happy tears, she said yes!

One thing we found in common from the beginning was similar tastes in music. Nathaniel shared with Chandler that one of the best albums he had ever heard was Blue Flower by The Gray Havens. “It’s definitely top 5 for me,” he said. Chandler listened to it in its entirety and texted: “The Blue Flower album is AMAZING!” Little did we know how much this album would shape what our relationship would be all about. The album was inspired by C. S. Lewis’s autobiography Surprised by Joy. In it, he referred to himself as “a votary of the blue flower,” a symbol in German literature for sacred longing and desire that nothing on this earth can satisfy. It is a sign pointing to something more. This symbol has appeared everywhere in our relationship. The first flowers Nathaniel ever got Chandler were blue hydrangeas. A childhood painting of Chandler in her parents’ home was set against blue flowers. For years, Chandler had a book on her shelf, once owned by her grandmother, titled The Blue Flower. And since the day our relationship began, Nathaniel has called Chandler “my blue flower.” Yes, we too are votaries of the blue flower. Our romance has been filled with a sacred ache, longing, and desire for one another. Jesus Christ, the Maker of all blue flowers, has planted them in our hearts. Our marriage will be a garden in which they might bloom. But this ache and longing is not simply for our wedding day, and Jesus is not the means to the end that we get married, as beautiful as that will be for us. Jesus is the means, and he is the end. Our marriage is but a blue flower pointing to the greater longing, the greater marriage - Jesus Christ and his divine romance with his bride, the church. He shed his precious blood to save her from sin, he rose again from the dead, and he is preparing now for a wedding beyond all comparison. He will return to this earth for his bride. She will be dressed in his perfect righteousness. And all heaven and earth will be made new on that wedding day. Jesus Christ is our ultimate ache, longing, and desire. May our wedding day be a blue flower that creates in all who attend a longing for him.