Pris and I have known each other since we were kids, but we were just acquaintances growing up. Years later, when Pris was in her fourth year of pharmacy school, completing her rotations in Augusta, GA, I moved to the same city to start physical therapy (PT) school. Both of us knew we were in the same city, but never attempted to hang out with each other. (Side note: when we first started dating a year later, we realized that we lived less than five minutes away from each other. We even shopped at the same Kroger...like what.) After Pris graduated in 2018, she moved to Charlotte, NC for residency while I stayed in Augusta to finish PT school. In September 2018, we saw each other at a wedding and had the opportunity to talk about our interests in medical missions. She was more fun than I remembered! We didn’t end up talking to each other after the wedding, but later, she admitted to stalking my Instagram profile a time or five. The following year, I began to fundraise for my upcoming mission trip to Cusco, Peru, and guess who I saw a donation from on June 9, 2019? You guessed right - it was Pris! Now, I like to make this joke that Pris paid to date me….but unfortunately she never laughs at this. It’s okay though, everyone else does. I then proceeded to slide into her Facebook DMs and the rest was history.

...jk, there’s actually a lot more to the story. When I first started talking to Pris, it was surprisingly easy to keep the conversations flowing and I found her voice to be very soothing if we’re going to be completely honest. However, we spent around six months asking God to show us if being together was in His will before we became official. It was difficult because of our differences in denomination and personalities, but God consistently gave us the peace and reassurance to stay. He reminded us that He is bigger than the divisions that we create for ourselves. He revealed that there is so much growth that needs to happen in both of us that can be accomplished in this act of obedience. God showed us that He is anything but conventional. Pris and I are learning to value characteristics of God that we have never experienced before through each other! Even though we aren’t married yet, we can already clearly see why He brought us together. I can go on and on about His goodness in our lives and relationship, but Pris and I will leave you with this: His plans are better than any that we can create for ourselves because He knows us better than we do. We can’t wait to see how He works in us and through us, together! Here’s to forever.