I was talking to a young, almost engaged friend earlier this week and was blown away that somehow 15 years have passed since that incredibly fun and exciting time in my life. The excitement, the anticipation, the love that you think can’t possibly get better and yet somehow it does .. every. single. year. Am I right? Then you look back and can see the building blocks of your story and how they work together to craft a life seemingly overnight.

Tyler and I met at Wake Forest through mutual friends at the end of our freshman year. We communicated the summer after and hung out as friends through the fall of sophomore year. Second semester came and Tyler pursued me. Looking back I can see it so clearly, but at the time had no idea how intentional he was. We started dating mid-semester and I RAN a few weeks later. Terrified of both the overwhelming love for him and reality of his impending Army career, I played the “we’re too good of friends” card (whatever that means) and said good-bye. But, through it all he had faith and he pursued me.

We spent about two weeks praying, reading the Bible, and conversing about what we were supposed to do and at the end of those weeks we began dating again with the intention of never looking back. His persistence is one of the biggest gifts I’ve been given. Without his undeniable faith in the Lord and in me, we likely wouldn’t be here today.

We dated for a year and half before getting engaged then were married three weeks after graduation the following year. At the time we thought we knew so much and that we couldn’t possibly love each other more. 15 years later and both of those statements couldn’t be more wrong. I am amazed at how the story continues to unfold and get better with time. When I look back, I am in awe of the pieces God ordained earlier in our story to get us to where we are today and where we’ll be in the future.