Because He first loved us…

We first met in Year 12 at Monkton Combe, where Nancy Rose quite literally stumbled across Rory—and from that moment, Rory was smitten. It didn’t take long for us to realise we felt the same way about each other, and within three weeks, we had confessed as much.

One evening, after a Bible study, Rory decided to put his feelings into words. He wrote Nancy Rose a letter, telling her just how much he liked her and that he wanted her to be his girlfriend. As Nancy Rose walked with Rory back to her boarding house, she was already late, and her teacher was waiting at the door, unimpressed. But with a huge smile, Nancy blurted out, “Miss, I’ve just been asked to be Rory’s girlfriend!”

Her teacher, momentarily taken aback, took the letter from her hands and read it. To Rory’s horror, when he returned a moment later to give Nancy Rose back her phone, he found Miss still reading the letter. “Miss, that’s not for you!” he called out. But she only smiled and sent him on his way.

It was a week before Rory’s 17th birthday, and Nancy Rose decided she’d had enough—yep, she broke his heart. But hey, we like to think it was the God’s way of setting us on the right track. In all seriousness, God was doing some beautiful work behind the scenes. We spent the next year apart, each of us figuring out how to let God take center stage in our lives.

One year later, after some growth (and a bit of maturing), we found our way back to each other. Looking back, we’re both so thankful for that season because God taught us that for a relationship to bring life it has to be founded in Him. The Lord is so kind to use a school romance to grow and mature us. Turns out, he really does know what He is doing!

The years that followed have been an adventure — Rory spent a month working in Belgium, while Nancy Rose spent six months with YWAM in South Africa. She then went to Durham University and Rory did a discipleship year in Birmingham before moving to London to study design management, where he has been ever since. Through all the twists and turns, all the growing up, and all the time apart, the Lord’s hand has been over our story.

We wouldn’t be here without Him. We wouldn’t love one another the way we do now without Him. We are deeply thankful for how He has led us, shaped us, and loved us. He has taught us that our relationship is only a small picture of Christ’s love for us.

Our prayer is that our relationship would always point to Him, that it would be used for His glory, to build His kingdom, and to show others just how loved they are by Him.

We are so excited for all that He will do through us, and we can’t wait to step into this next chapter with Him at the centre.