Meet Hannah & Jared. I met Jared at UCLA and had the privilege of traveling with him on a missions trip to East Asia a year ago. Throughout our friendship I’ve always appreciated Jared’s zeal for life and his enthusiasm for the people around him. After he graduated, he moved back home to NorCal to intern at Bayside Church and soon enough became head of their college ministry. He is a dear friend of mine who is passionate about Jesus and loves working with college students. It was at Bayside that Jared met Hannah, and as they say the rest is history!

On her way home back from San Francisco yesterday, Hannah’s parents wanted to “stop and take a family photo” before “going to a nice dinner.” As soon as she stepped out of the car, a trail of luminaries led Hannah up to the center of the Fair Oaks Bridge. Earlier that day Jared, along with friends and family, set up a bookshelf that he built for her and lit the numerous candles that illuminated her pathway as the sun set. The bookshelf, stock full of some of her favorite novels, also displayed pictures of the couple, mason jars, candles, a record player (featuring Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’s album The Heist). In the center of this all was a journal that Hannah had given Jared, which he had completed. As soon as she was done reading the journal, Jared walked up from behind, pulled the ring from a hidden compartment in the shelves, and dropped to one knee. To the great excitement of their friends and family members looking on from a distance, Hannah said yes and everyone headed off to celebrate with sushi and champagne.

Hannah and Jared’s love for the Lord is so evident in their love for one another, and I’m both thankful for their friendship and excited for the great things ahead for them! I trust that this is a marriage that will point people to Christ for years to come.

Special thanks to Christy Johnston for helping me document the evening.