James and I first met at a place we both went to often: Windy Hill Athletic Club. We would see each other in passing, never speaking, but always aware of the other’s presence. Later, he told me that he noticed me on his very first day as a member.

James never expected to end up in Atlanta. But after graduating from the Air Force Academy, he was sent to Georgia Tech on an 18-month military assignment to complete his master’s degree. Atlanta wasn’t somewhere he had ever imagined living, and at first he didn’t even love it—but as it turns out, that’s exactly where we were meant to meet, completely in God’s timing.

After a few months, James finally worked up the courage to come talk to me. He walked over to the bench beside me, pretended to be doing bicep curls (despite the fact that he absolutely did not need to be doing bicep curls), introduced himself, and that was the start. Four days later, he showed up to the gym at the exact time I always did and asked me to go to dinner, making sure I knew he meant a date. He says I thought about it for far too long (it was maybe five seconds), and then I said yes. Just two days later, we had our first date.

Dinner felt intimidating at first, but we ended up talking for hours. When we left the restaurant, we walked around for another hour, just talking and learning about each other. On our next date, we went to the botanical gardens to look at the Christmas lights and wandered around in the cold until the park closed and we were the last ones there. I went home that night and told my mom, “I’m going to marry him.” As cliche as it sounds, I’ve never been so sure of anything.

Fast forward a year full of adventures—meeting his wonderful family, traveling together, and sharing so many moments that made everything feel clearly guided by something bigger than us—we both knew that we had found our forevers.

On October 11th, while I thought we were on our way to dinner with my family, James pulled the car over at my favorite spot on our family property in Cashiers, NC. He took my hand and led me down to the pond by the bridge. The rest is a blur for both of us, but I of course said yes. My sisters then came out of the trees where they had been hiding (dressed in full camo), and we spent the rest of the night celebrating.

As we plan the wedding this coming year, we feel so blessed to have each of you as part of our story and to be there on the day we begin our life together. In the words of Song of Solomon 3:4, ‘I have found the one whom my soul loves.’~Madison