Once upon a time in July of 2022, there was a guy who was a camp counselor. He was energetic and fun and Ash was naturally gravitated towards him. She even made a joke referring to his good looks to her friend saying, "I want to be on that guy's team." Well, nothing happened and neither of them really gave any thought to the other. Little did she know, God was working on Shane's heart and he would come intern at their church the next summer. The summer of 2023 was a good and packed one. Ashlyn worked summer camp and Shane was the church intern. They saw each other often, but there was still no interaction or interest from either of them. Ashlyn saw Shane as a guy who had good character and she respected him, but she was looking towards the future of transferring to Pensacola Christian College and did not give him much thought. She completed her Sophomore year of college at PCC and Shane stayed back at Liberty, her home church, for a year and worked full time on staff there. She would see him on breaks, but that was really it. Summer rolled around and as Ashlyn was finishing her Sophomore year, Shane felt that he needed to go back to where his dad was and help him out in his church. Summer flew and before she knew it, it was junior year of college. That year came and went, and Ashlyn was going to fly out and see her brother Titus and road trip back with him back to California from his internship. Shane was going to be out in California at the same time to watch TJ graduate, so he ended up flying to Kansas, where Titus and Ashlyn were, and they all road tripped back together. Ashlyn enjoyed catching up with Shane and asking him how his time has been in Colorado and the ministry and life there. It was on this road trip that Ashlyn and Shane caught up a lot, but nothing (to Ashlyn's knowledge) was happening between them. The road trip ended and by the end of that visit to California, Shane had asked Ashlyn if she would be interested in potentially being more than friends and getting to know each other more intentionally. Immediately, Ashlyn prayed and read a Psalm and told the Lord, "If it's not of you, close these doors completely. Make it evident and clear to me. If it is though, please make it clear that he is the one." Ashlyn had greatly respected Shane and his character from knowing him and being his friend over the years leading up to this. Ashlyn said she would be interested, and they began their long distance journey. Ashlyn quickly realized that this could be the man for her and was falling quickly for Shane. She loved the way he loved his God, his church, his family, his prayer life, his work ethic, and his drive and passion for life. He made her a better person and Ashlyn was in love. He visited her for her birthday in July, and that's when she really knew she liked him. A couple weeks later, she met his family out in Colorado, and it was there after some good conversations that she was positive she was in love. She visited him in September, and they became official on September 7th. Lots more visits came, and they shared the special words "I love you" over Thanksgiving break. From there, it was dreaming and praying about the future together and what it would look like. On March 18th, 2025, Shane pulled off the surprise of the century. He got down on one knee and proposed to Ashlyn and she said an immediate "Yes!" Truly, Shane is God's biggest and most perfect gift to Ashlyn. She couldn't do life without him and she is so grateful for God's impeccable timing. She can't wait to continue adding to their love story in the coming months and years!
Once upon a time in the hot heat of the Mojave desert at a camp called Ironwood, there was a blonde haired, super athletic, energetic and competitive girl that came up with her church to counsel some of their teens for the week. This girl’s name was Ashlyn. The first time Shane interacted with Ashlyn was during one of the camp games. He remembers her going wild and getting insanely hyped after her team won. He immediately thought to himself “wow that’s a little crazy...” Little did he know, it was that same energy, craziness and passion for life that would become one of the many reasons he fell in love with her. Well, nothing happened between Ashlyn and Shane during that week of camp. Really, the only good that came out of that week was the youth pastor of her church offering Shane a potential internship at the church that next summer. So, Shane graduates from college and heads out to Newport Beach to start his internship there at the church. Shane and Ashlyn interacted a little bit that summer and built a friendship, but it was really nothing more than that. One of the conversations that Shane had with Ashlyn that summer involved Shane trying to convince Ashlyn that there were indeed paved roads in Colorado. Apparently Ashlyn, the city girl, thought that Shane was some rancher/cowboy who road horses on dirt roads everywhere. Shane did notice however Ashlyn’s love and compassion as she was working with the kids in the day camp. Shane saw her patience and kindness towards the kids and saw how she handled and treated them. He was impressed. Well like the previous summer, nothing really happened between Ashlyn and Shane during the internship, so let’s fast forward to the summer of 2024 . Shane had finished his internship a Liberty Baptist and decided to go back home to Colorado. Every now and then Ashlyn would reach out to Shane just to see how life in Colorado was going, Shane was an idiot and always took weeks to respond to her and never once thought to pursue anything with her. Anyways, that summer, Ashlyn's brother TJ and another guy from the church, Bryan, were graduating high school, and Shane decided to make the trip to watch them graduate. Instead of flying directly to Cali, Shane decided to road trip out there with Ashlyn’s other brother Titus AND Ashlyn. Ashlyn decided to fly out there and road trip with Titus for the same reason that Shane had, which was to catch up on life and to see what God was doing. Well, It was on this trip that things started to happen! It was on this road trip that Shane really got to talk to Ashlyn and see her heart for the things of God. He got to hear how she handled adversity, what God was teaching her through His word, and her goals and desires for life. During one of the conversations between the two of them, Ashlyn was sharing something about her life, but Shane wasn’t listening at all, all he was thinking about was “Wow I got to keep talking with this girl, I need to get to know her better” It was on this trip that Shane knew he wanted to pursue Ashlyn not just as a friend, but with the intention of dating and eventually marriage. Shane could see Ashlyn’s love for God, the church, and for people. Well that week Shane asked Ashlyn’s dad if he could call and text Ashlyn and get to know her on a deeper level. So for the next few months they called and face timed multiplied times throughout the week. As each month passed Shane’s love for Ashlyn grew more and more. From September 7th, when Shane asked Ashlyn to be his girlfriend, up until March 18th when Shane asked Ashlyn to marry him, over and over God made it increasingly clear to Shane that Ashlyn was the one. In so many ways she makes Shane better, from finding joy and excitement in the little things in life, all the way to being a better communicator (not waiting multiple weeks to respond to a text) In Shane’s eyes Ashlyn is the girl of his dreams and he is beyond thankful to God for the perfect gift that she is to him.