We are truly an example of the Lord bringing two different people together. Sean was born & raised an Okie boy. A Tulsa-native born north of the Red River, he attended Broken Arrow High School. To the south, Tori was bred a Texan. She was born in Austin, but moved up to Edmond, OK, where she attended Deer Creek High School. After school, they both moved to Norman to attend college at the University of Oklahoma. This was the first time that they both lived in the same city, but their paths wouldn't cross until two years later. Tori was a student government event chair and a sorority girl, busy studying politics and journalism, while Sean was on the other side of campus, participating in the Naval ROTC unit and inhaling black coffee to make it through his civil engineering classes. Although they frequented many of the same coffee shops around Norman, it wouldn't be until April 1st, 2017 that their our paths would cross. Making that April Fool's Day the biggest joke and best blessing of their lives.

It was a Saturday night & Tori was waiting for her friend Lauren Jablon to pick her up. Sean’s friend Tanner Baum, who played football at OU & dated Lauren, had been begging him to come to Six-Shooter Saloon for weeks. After a convincing phone call Sean agreed to go. With his cowboy boots on he got in the truck with Tanner & Lauren and headed to Alpha Chi Omega to pick up the person who would change his life forever. According to Sean, from the backseat he saw a blonde-haired sweetheart in denim shorts & boots jump in the passenger seat. Without looking in the back she reached her hand over the headrest to confidently say, “Hi I’m Tori King, nice to meet ya!” The two exchanged hellos & when they arrived Tori smiled, “Okay Scott are ya ready?” Not my name, thought Sean, but let’s be real, as cute & happy as Tori is Sean was okay with whatever name she called him. According to Tori, she didn't see what Sean looked like until he stepped out of the truck & man oh man was she starstruck. He was handsome, muscular, & wow his eyes were nice to look into. She wasn't dating anyone at the time but she brought her guy friend Stanton with her, so most of the evening they were apart. Everyone rode mechanical-bulls, line-danced and two-stepped but right before midnight Tori went to talk to Sean, which led to their first dance. As Randy Houser's "Running out of Moonlight" was playing they twirled around & around. Sean stepped on Tori's feet a few times while they talked about food, their dreams & their faith. Instantly they knew they had something special: they found a friend who truly loved Jesus Christ. They ended the night with some honey-butter chicken biscuits at Whataburger before dropping Tori off. Sean wanted to see Tori again, so he asked her to dinner. They exchanged numbers to keep in touch & Sean decided to put his contact in as "Sean not Scott", so when Tori got her phone back they both laughed as she sincerely apologized for getting his name wrong the entire night.

Over the next few months they spent time together as friends. Sean attended her Sooner Scandals show & Tori joined him for study sessions at the ROTC Armory. The more time they spent the more their friendship grew. Sean adored Tori’s enormous work ethic & genuine concern for others. He loved the way she intentionally loved other people & wanted to be more like her. Tori loved Sean’s servant heart & willingness to sacrifice for people he didn’t know. The last thing either of them wanted was to distract the other from pursuing their faith, even as friends. Especially since at the time Tori was participating in an intentional season of singleness to help prioritize her walk with Christ while pouring into her friends. This meant she didn't have 1 on 1 time with guys after midnight & avoided dating altogether. What set Sean apart from others though was that he totally supported her in this season. He would hold her accountable to her standards even if it meant he couldn't hang out with her as long & would have go home early from study sessions. During Finals Week her season of singleness came to an end. After a study session at the Biz library, Sean took Tori on a walk & admitted his feelings for her & that he cared for her deeply, but gave her time to see where her heart was at. Tori was heading off to Kaleo, a discipleship program in Panama City, Florida for two months while Sean was leaving for Marine training in California. This separation tested both their feelings for each other & their friendship, but they spent the summer having many phone & Face-time conversations. After a long 9-weeks apart Sean bought a one-way ticket to Florida to see Tori. Sean watched as she got baptized July 17th before they drove the 14 hours back home to Oklahoma. It would be the first of their many cross-country road trips together. When they got home Tori realized she too had feelings for her best friend. They went on many dates before deciding to make it official on August 6, 2017.

They spent the years learning more about each other & growing their love. Sean, being an early bird was both out of bed and in bed early. Tori, however, stayed up late & slept in. Sean’s life was very regimented & disciplined & Tori’s life was spontaneous. They struggled making time for each other & reconciling their different lifestyles but their priority remained the same, “Us, I believe in us”. They made an interesting pair from two communities that often don’t mix: ROTC & Greek life. As they became closer their friend groups merged. Everyone they came in contact with they tried to love the way Jesus intended: unconditionally and genuinely. Over the years they traveled from coast to coast together. They went to California for the Rose Bowl and Parade, snowboarded in Colorado, & attended every OU football game they could. Their Junior summer they were separated again. Tori went to Spain to learn Spanish while Sean attended Marine Corps OCS in Quantico, VA. This time they would only get to communicate through letters. It was tough but the priority was the same, "us". They continued to pray for each other as often as they could. Senior year Tori got accepted into the accelerated Master’s program for Public Administration, meaning she would be staying in Norman another year to finish her Master’s degree. Although life was busy they still continued to do what they do best, adventure. They made it to New Orleans for New Years & spent spring break out west in Utah. They never let the pressure of life getting hectic take away from investing time & effort into each other. In May, both Tori and Sean graduated with their Bachelors degrees and Sean commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Marine Corps. He received orders to go to the Basic School in Quantico, VA where he would spend 6 months training as a rifle platoon commander learning how to perform his duties as a Marine Officer. The thought of long-distance made them sad, but they knew God had a plan.

About a month before he left he staged a surprise marriage proposal that Tori never saw coming. With the help of friends, Sean brought Tori to the OKC Myriad Botanical Gardens for a fake photo-shoot. In the same spot they had shared their first kiss years ago, Sean got down on one knee & asked Tori to spend the forever with him. Of course she said yes, and later Tori helped Sean move to the DC area for his 6-month TBS training. They had never been apart that long & since dating had never permanently lived in different parts of the country. There was no question in either of their minds that they were going to make it. They were going to make every effort to still be there for each other & still pursue one another. They believed God had a plan for them even in their season apart. The future was unknown & unpredictable, but they reminded themselves daily that everything the Lord sets in motion works out for good. With whole trust & dependence on God’s plan they pressed into their season apart. In early November, 2019 Sean was selected to be a Communications Officer & was told he would move to Twentynine Palms, California in January of 2020, where we would spend another 6-months training. Sean & Tori both make intentional efforts to keep in touch by talking on the phone & buying plane tickets to see each other every couple of months. They both enjoy planning their wedding together, especially when they get to taste free food. As it was in the beginning, the foundation of their relationship is always loving the other in the same way Christ unconditionally loved them. Tori and Sean saw each other’s flaws. They knew each other’s hurts, wounds and scars yet they chose love. Regardless of performance & circumstances they choose to love. They pursue each other with a reckless heart because they knew anything less than total pursuit wouldn’t be worth it. Without God's love, they would never have made it this far.