We’re getting married!

The ripple effect: the idea that small, seemingly trivial events may ultimately result in something with much larger consequences. I had gotten an internship in Asheville, NC at the beginning of 2021 allowing me to move back to Johnson City. During this time, I was invited by a friend to go to the Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM) as an opportunity connect with others my age and have Christian community. As an introvert, I didn’t expect much; my plan was to attend and then leave. God had bigger plans. Abby often attended the BCM and happened to be there with a friend that same night. Abby and I sat in the same row about four seats apart; our friends introduced us before the service started and life moved on. The BCM typically had planned activities after Bible study to allow students to socialize and get to know one another. On this night, he BCM had reserved Paradise Acres, for some mini golf and laser tag. Most people already had their friend groups to talk to, and I was thinking that my evening was just going to be one awkward conversation to the next. It was during mini golf when I first talked to Abby. She was next in line to putt after me, and we struck up a conversation about life after college. I soon realized that I had met someone not caught up with the world but had deep roots in a biblical foundation. As time passed, I kept attending the BCM weekly, and after it ended for the school year my new friend group continued to meet to play spikeball & volleyball. As my internship in Asheville, NC ended, it was time for me to resume school and complete my degree at the University of Tennessee (UT), Knoxville. Not long before I left Johnson City, Abby told me she had accepted a job at UT Medical Center, located in Knoxville, as a registered nurse. We had exchanged numbers and, after both moving, ended up reconnecting in Knoxville. We often went to church activities at my local church together and continued to learn more about each other as the weeks passed. It was the conversations that occurred in these weeks, that made me ask her out on a date 150 days after I first saw my now soon-to-be wife. Some would say it's a mere coincidence the way we met, but I know it's the providential hand of God working in both of our lives.