The parents of Colleen Marcelle Janecek and Stephen Caleb Mikeska request the pleasure of your company.

Once upon a time, a girl struts into Dominos pizza. She turns to her left and sees a face she had just met earlier in the night. She walks up, scoots up next to him, and gets to talking. Fast forward to right after spring break and in the midst of a worldwide pandemic. We went on our first date at Lick Creek Park because the pandemic shut down every business in town. Quarantine was filled with days spent together going on long walks, learning how to cook, reading our bible, and more long walks. We officially started dating in May.... fast forward 6 months... Caleb takes me back to Lick Creek Park and asks me to marry him!

We don't have to go all the way back to the begginning but I think that it’s important that we go back to the moment everything changed. On March 14, 2019 at the lowest point in my life, I surrendered my life to Christ. For the next year or so, I went through a period of loneliness and utter dependance on my creator. I assumed that I could not possibly be ready for a serious relationship, that is until I met Colleen Marcelle Janecek. She had patient eyes and a smile that assured me it all works out in the end. I had heard from her friends that she recklessly pursued Christ. So, for the first time I let myself hope that I had finally met someone who I could unite my life and my ministry with. Time was of the essence, girls like her are never single very long. Somehow she said yes when I asked her on our first date. I thought that everyone else who ever said they were the luckiest guy in the world was lying, that spot was taken. Looking back I think I could have asked her to marry me after that very first date and it would have all worked out beautifully. I know it sounds crazy but we had the most important thing in the world in common, Jesus was and is the center of our lives. There was no hole for the other person to fill, no unrealistic expectations we couldn't shoulder. We just wanted someone to share this fragment of eternity with. If our story sounds beautiful it is only because it mirrors the gospel. It is a story in which two broken people utterly lost in darkness, first found the light of Jesus Christ. Then they found each other all by God's divine hand. Sometimes the story didn't make sense, sometimes I wished that I was the author, but in the end it was far far better than I could have ever imagined. The valleys were just as lovely as the mountains because in the end they were both on the road to her.

This particular season of life for me had thrown me for a loop - a loop full of trials, which then lead me to a beautiful pursuit of Christ that evidently changed my life forever. In 2018, Jesus became my everything. My desire to link arms and run the race towards Christ with someone began to grow. However, at this time I was in no rush, (or so I thought) because I sure didn’t see Mr. Caleb Mikeska coming from left field. But there he was, straight outta left field, entirely unexpected. Caleb was and is quite literally the sweetest human I have ever met. In our first few encounters, there was no denying how he effortlessly radiated the joy and kindness of his King, JESUS! This attracted the heck out of me. I mean, I knew what I was looking for, and this man was giving me all the good Jesus vibes. Safe to say I was starstruck. Our first date consisted of laughs, chicken minis and ... ya you guessed it...Jesus. I was swooning to say the least. The immediate feeling of ease and comfort I felt with Caleb was everything. I knew our connection was a gift from God from the start. Caleb has honored me and acknowledged me as nothing less than a woman of God since we met. He has mirrored the familiar, honest and true love that Jesus has shown me - and that familiar love left me without a single moment of doubt that this man was the sweetest gift I would ever receive on this side of heaven. God’s will is SO GOOD. Marriage with Caleb will be a dream because his pursuit of me has been admirable and so God-honoring from the start, and I’m confident that nothing will ever change that. I know that in 50 years I will still be madly in love with Caleb’s heart that has been crafted and scripted by so much of God’s truth, shaped by the sacrifice of Jesus and labored by the Holy Spirit. Caleb is embracing the calling to be my husband, as am I, his wife. I feel the joy of our Savior when I am with Caleb and MAN am I glad I get to look up at the heavens with Him for the rest of my life.