How did you two meet?
Erin: "If there is anything good that came out of the pandemic, it was getting to meet Parker. We met at a Bible study back in 2020. It was obviously the Lord that brought the two of us together, but we had a lot of mutual friends rooting for us from the beginning. I remember sitting at the Bible study the first night, listening to him talk about the glory of God, and thinking, 'I could listen to him talk for forever.' And thankfully have gotten to ever since."
Parker: "When I met Erin, my thoughts were that I was just interested in her from the start and who she was. I thought she was very pretty and as the night went on, I just wanted to get to know who she was and what she was about. As I got to know her and hear her thoughts over the next weeks and months, I just wanted to be with her all the time."
How and when did Parker propose?
Erin: "Parker proposed on October 23, 2021. We had been wanting to take a trip to Pursell farms to visit a couple he was close with so that was the story he was going with. When we got there, he told me Mrs. Chris had made an arrangement for us to go on a tour of the grounds. I was secretly hoping that was just a cover-up for the proposal, but when we got there, we did in fact hop into a giant 18 passenger van for a tour of the property. I kept telling myself not to get my hopes up, but once we made it up the mountain to the 'secret place', and I saw a Bible on the ground, I realized what was happening. It still doesn’t feel all that real to me, and I couldn’t tell you anything Parker said, but I think I said, 'yes!'-- and have continued to say yes since then! I can’t wait to marry him and pursue Christ together."
Parker -- describe Erin in three words:
Parker: "Erin is joyful, kind and beautiful."
Erin-- describe Parker in three words:
Erin: "Parker is intentional, honest and personable."
What are some things you two enjoy doing together?
Erin: "We love to spend time with our friends and family, being outdoors, hunting, going to the lake, eating good food :)"
Has the Lord taught you two anything through the process of meeting and deciding to get married?
Erin: "For me, the Lord has shown me so much of His glory through this whole process. As sweet as it is to get married, it is all just a glimpse and picture of what is to come. The marriage of Christ and his bride. The wonderful truth is that those who love and trust in Christ for their salvation, will one day be fully redeemed and with Him forever. He came to earth to prepare the way for us, and is even now perfecting us into the image of His bride. Dating Parker has been the best; He is home to me, a safe place, intentional in the things we do and how we date one another. He’s also just fun to spend time with and loves people as much as I do. But in the end, being married to Parker is not the goal. Instead, I have learned that through this marriage, we will get to daily be a picture of the gospel to the rest of this world so that God would be made great, and His name glorified! He is worthy! We have come to behold even more of His greatness in dating!
We have also learned how imperfect we are. Both of us would say that we have seen so much of our sin in this season. Learning to choose someone else over yourself and serve them is not our natural tendency. We like to think about ourselves first, but it has been a joy to get to be humbled and sanctified as we look to Christ who gave up everything to save sinners like ourselves! We are so thankful for the mercy and abundant grace we were shown and by God, and to get to live in light of that with Parker."
Parker: "One thing I have come to learn is patience. Patience as we waited to date and waited to get engaged, and now wait to be married. But also patience with one another when we fall short. I know I have really come to cherish the Lord as a creator through dating as well. As I have gotten to know Erin better than I’ve gotten to know any human ever, it has allowed me to see his detail in creating her and crafting her into who she is."
