OUR STORY

One of the first questions you ask a couple is how they met, and if you were here with us right now, we’re guessing you might ask the same. Well, let us tell you a story of God’s perfect, purposeful work.

It was a regular Saturday in October 2022, and we both set out to do our typical Saturday things: for Sara, a dance class, then weekend work at a coffee shop. For Connor, all types of work and then a training session at the gym. My plan for the day changed when my coffee shop work was cut short, and I felt strangely directionless. To fix that, I decided on an extra weekend gym session. It was not the time I’d normally exercise, but the gym was a good redirection, and I was focused. I had finished the exercise I was doing and was walking off to another station when someone popped up in front of me. Enter Connor.

Now, I must confess, I was not thrilled with the idea of talking to anyone. Connor led off by asking how my bench press was going, and I was confused (short memory). We’ll come back to that. We started talking, and around 4 minutes in, Connor mentioned his church. I lit up then, and we realized we went to churches 12 minutes apart. Pretty cool. We went on to discover that we were both homeschooled, we both graduated college early, and we both shared passions for the same things. Even more interesting, Connor asked me for my number before we went back to training and I thought about it, then gave it to him. That felt right.

We texted some that afternoon, and Connor invited me to visit his church with him the next morning. I gave a maybe, because I’d offered to help serve lunch at my church at a similar time and hadn’t heard back from them yet. Sure enough, at 7:30 on Saturday night I got an email taking me up on my offer to help with lunch, meaning I couldn’t visit Connor’s church. I let him know, and decided to invite him to the lunch.

Okay, let’s pause for a quick moment. Have you ever had that feeling of wishing someone would do something that would just be so amazing and perfect, but you know that in reality there’s zero chance they will? That was me. My unrealistic vision of perfectness was having Connor come with me, and serve lunch with me. It’s the little things, you know?

Anyway, back to the invite and – Connor offered what I didn’t ask. Instead of coming to eat at lunch, he asked me if he could help serve. Cue major butterflies. I was really surprised at the time, but have since learned that a servant’s heart is part and parcel of who Connor is. He set the foundation then, and has not stopped taking care of me selflessly and intentionally since.

We served lunch together, and when we were done, he walked me back to my Jeep. We stood there and talked for another 45 minutes at least, then finally broke away to do the rest of the Sunday things we had to finish to get ready for the week. On Monday morning Connor asked me if I’d like to go out on Thursday, and we went on our first date at Izumi Sushi for dinner. We both got chicken teriyaki, because we’re crazy. We talked and talked, the restaurant closed, and we moved to the tables outside to talk some more. We didn’t realize this until later, but we talked for 5 1/2 hours that night. It was a sweet time of getting to know each other, talking worldview and theology and vision, and excitedly learning that we were incredibly aligned. That was also my first date ever, and I even let Connor pay for the food. Big steps!

We went on to go for walks in the park, have long talks on Mount Bonnell, and enjoy lots of good meals and gym sessions together. We spent October through December as friends, getting to know each other and seeking God’s will for us. We became clearer and clearer on that, and on New Year’s Day, Connor asked me to step into a relationship with him. Without hesitation, I said yes.

The months that followed have been some of the sweetest of my life. Being in a relationship with Connor has softened me, humbled me, refreshed me, and – most importantly – drawn me closer to the Lord. Through Connor, God has brought an indescribable measure of unparalleled joy into my life. We continued to seek God’s will for our relationship through prayer, counsel, and more prayer, and God answered with deep certainty and peace. When Connor asked me to marry him on top of Mount Bonnell on June 25, 2023, my heart and soul burst into a joyous chorus of yes.

Okay, back to the bench press story and then we’re done. Back in August of 2022 (this is two months before we talked), I was training my bench press exercise by trying to push progressively heavier weights. I had loaded up enough weight to make me nervous, and was mentally gearing up to take it off the safety guards and push it up. Suddenly, a guy came up to me and asked me if I’d like him to help grab the weight if I dropped it. I gratefully said yes. I let it down off the safety guards, got the weight back up without incident, thanked him, and went on my way. That August bench press was how Connor started the conversation in October, and in my lack of observation, I hadn’t recognized him at all. As soon as I realized he was the one that had helped me though, that feeling of gratitude rushed back and kicked me out of my originally non-talkative mood.

Supporting me through that bench press was the first thing Connor ever did, and since that first interaction, he has become my greatest earthly support. Our joint prayer is that we would accomplish at least these three things through our marriage and in our lives together: