In March of 2022, Jonathan and Katy showed up to a mutual friend’s birthday dinner. When Jonathan saw Katy walk in he thought, “Whoa, who is this girl? Looks like she’s got great style and a big girl job.” As we hit if off, our friends saw the chemistry and did some seat swapping to let it continue (thanks, Meg!). Katy left the night thinking, “I really enjoyed talking to Jonathan. He has a lot of depth to him. Whenever the next group hangout happens, I’ll definitely show up so I can see him again.”

A few days later, Katy slid into Jonathan’s DMs and struck up a conversation. Not one to waste time, Jonathan saw the green light and asked her out 3 hours later.

After going on dates throughout April and May, a group trip to Asheville, North Carolina sealed the deal. Jonathan planned an epic Memorial Day weekend with hiking, exploring, and lots of fun! On top of Chimney Rock we decided to make it official. Spending 5 full days together and still being sad to part ways was a sign that things were off to a good start.

When I first laid eyes on Katy, something immediately clicked that’s hard to define or put to words. There was a level of attraction, which kept growing through our conversations, that gave me a growing confidence of “she has to be the most pleasant woman to date and share life with!” Once I started seeing her character and how she accepted me for who I really was and loved me despite my flaws, she became the obvious answer to a life-long list of prayers. I thank God continually for how, in his sovereignty and providence, guided me to meeting the woman of my dreams. Katy continues to wow me in so many ways. The days I’m blessed to be around her are full of fun, joy, adventure, and laughter. I’ve grown in my confidence of who God has made me to be through her constant encouraging presence. Her beauty adorns her in addition to her wonderful personality and presence.

Dating Jonathan felt different from the beginning: it was a steadily growing confirmation that he was the one. If I had to pinpoint a moment, it would be the night Jonathan shared his testimony and concluded with, “There’s 2 things to know about me: I’m desperate for Jesus and desperate for the church.” Little did he know I would have been ready to sign a marriage license right then! Jonathan has consistently celebrated my goofiness, become my adventure buddy, and made me feel more loved, supported, and cherished than I could have imagined. His humility, big heart, integrity are just the start of his amazing qualities.

To be honest, we would be terrified to get married if not for the confidence that God will sustain our covenant commitment to each other. We view marriage as a lifelong reenactment of Christ’s love for his bride, the church. We’ll enter married life together as both sinners and saints. Because we as broken people have received God’s undeserved mercy and forgiveness in Christ, we will draw from that well of spiritual strength to extend that same grace towards each other. We pray that our marriage will be a signpost pointing to the love of God and the joy of walking with Him. We’ve been blessed by so many of you and are excited to start our marriage journey together!