At the end of summer of 2022, Sara moved to Maryland after graduating from Penn State for her full-time job, and she and her roommate Abbie got plugged into a young adult community group at Grace Community Church. Meanwhile, Josh had just moved out of his parent’s place after living with them during COVID post-graduation in 2020. His dad encouraged him to try to find a community group at church, and Josh (thankfully) took his advice and he coincidentally ended up joining the same group that Sara and Abbie had joined! A few months later, their community group went on a retreat in January of 2023. Following the retreat, Sara, Josh, and a few members of the group started hanging out more frequently outside of bible studies and doing things like watching movies, playing tennis and spikeball, and seeing musicals. They became closer as they continued hanging out together and began studying the Bible together in a smaller group where they got to observe how they were each pursuing God in their lives. Josh really enjoyed talking with Sara and admired her ability to make everyone feel welcomed and included. Sara couldn’t help but laugh at all the funny faces and reactions Josh had (he has a hard time hiding what he’s thinking!) and she appreciated how Josh was always willing to lend a helping hand. In June of 2023, Josh mustered up the courage to ask Sara to be his girlfriend, and she responded by asking for about 2 weeks to think it over. Josh thought he would lose his mind before the two weeks was over, but thankfully for Josh, Sara had made up her mind a few days later and at that point they started dating. They enjoyed a summer full of activities together, including getting to spend extended time with both their families, and every Thursday quickly turned into “date night”. At the beginning of January of 2024, Josh had secured himself an engagement ring and was eager to propose to Sara during their next Thursday date night. However, Sara threw him a curveball when the Monday prior she called and asked if they could drive home that Thursday to see her parents and brother in Pennsylvania. Thankfully for Josh this wasn’t a FaceTime call so Sara couldn’t see his face when she mentioned the day she wanted to leave! After some convincing from Josh that the weather was going to be beautiful for their Thursday date night, they decided to leave the Friday morning instead. On that Thursday, January 11th, 2024, Josh and Sara took a walk around Sara’s favorite local lake. This was also the lake that they had walked around on their first date. Sara had some suspicions as to what might happen, but those quickly went away as Josh (somehow) acted completely normal during their walk (despite him being incredibly nervous). Halfway around the trail Josh proposed to Sara by the water and she said yes! Ever since the engagement it’s been a busy but exciting time for us! In early May we bought a house together in Maryland which we are looking forward to both living in once we get married (Josh is enjoying the “free dining hall” as he lives with his parents in the months leading up to the wedding!). As we’ve been planning for the wedding throughout this year, we’ve been extremely thankful for our family and friends who have helped us out along the way. We are both looking forward to having all our loved ones come together to celebrate with us as we commit our lives to each other before God and enter into the beautiful gift of marriage that He has given to us!