Forgiveness. Perspective. The desire to learn, overcome and grow in Christ. These are a few key words and phrases that could be used to describe our relationship and the reason we are still together after more than seven years. We know relationships are hard work; we aren't afraid of that challenge. Skyler and I started attending premarital counseling after we were engaged to make sure we were properly prepared and equipped for this lifelong commitment. This has included regular meetings with our favorite pastor/wedding officiant, Zach McCue and his wife Becki, going through a guided workbook titled "Before I Say I Do", and reading a selection of books independently. These resources are providing us the tools and information we need to improve our knowledge and awareness of each other's feelings, emotions and thoughts. Plus they are equipping us with Scripture to help us weather any storm, and help us navigate things which can be difficult to discuss such as communication, finances, in-laws, and simply just how to love and care for each other better everyday. Let’s just say by the time we stand in front of you all at the alter we will be ready! We have not only been preparing for a wedding, but more importantly for our marriage. We hope and pray that our marriage will be one that represents Christ. We want others to see the love we have for each and know that there's something far greater behind that; our love and faith in Jesus Christ.

Let’s just say I feel like the luckiest girl in the world! Sky took me all the way to Taiwan for ten days of sightseeing and unforgettable memories. But the BEST moment of all was on the evening of September 13th when he took me to the "Mid-Autumn Festival" in Shifen, Taiwan (aka sky lantern galore). We got to write all our hopes, dreams and prayers on our own lantern to set off together. The man selling the lantern offered to take photos for us (the people in Taiwan were so incredibly nice) and led us through this weird, awkward, but super fun photoshoot.😂 I was watching the lantern disappear into the night sky while Skyler was getting down on one knee to ask me to be his wife. The moment I turned around, I was surprised and filled with happiness! And of course, I said, “Yesss!” 💍 Funny side note, the guy literally happened to stop filming right when Skyler got down on one knee so we are missing the very beginning of it in our video 😭 I appreciate Skyler's level of dedication and love he put into planning this amazing proposal for me. I LOVE sky lanterns and always said the scene from "Tangled" with all the lanterns in the sky was my dream, but knew it was too big of a dream to ever really ask for, (although I may have hinted it in the first two years of us dating😂). However, Skyler heard my dreams and saw my heart. We explored many different cities and landmarks while on this adventure and began to dream about forever together.

When it came to 2020, we were all in the same storm, but not the same boat. Every single person was affected in some way, shape or form. We feel so blessed that the Lord protected us and our families so well during this time, and we don’t take that for granted. We all lost something, and for us it was a “perfect wedding day.” We were unable to celebrate the way it's meant to be. What's a wedding with no dancing, hugging, standing close to loved ones who traveled far, with masks covering all our smiles? As most of you know, Skyler and I met at a young age, so saying we were ready to make it official was an understatement. After our first scheduled wedding in June of 2020 got cancelled, we decided to try our luck with scheduling one in September of 2020 instead. Even though we were excited to try again, we still didn’t want to wait that long to get married. So, we made the choice to elope on May 23rd, 2020. It was a beautiful, simple day, at a little spot in Logansport, Indiana called France Park. I wore a simple white dress I got from the mall and Skyler wore a nice outfit he’d wear to work. My little sister put flowers in my hair and we played a song on our bluetooth speaker as my father walked me down the aisle. Yes, Skyler cried and I was full of excitement. The sound of the little waterfall behind us was peaceful and a unique find for our area. We wrote our own vows and read them to each other through tears. Because of the stress we had already been through, and the “Covid gathering limit” at that time, we chose to make our elopement extremely intimate. We are confident we made the right choice and enjoyed how simple and stress free it was for us. Fast forward a few months, and we got the news that we would have to cancel September’s celebration. Disappointed and frustrated, we decided to trust that God had a bigger and better plan for us. We realized we needed to release our control to Him fully this time.

Friends, there are many reasons we still want to celebrate with you in a traditional wedding style, even though we are married in God’s eyes through our elopement. Here’s a few reasons why we should still celebrate: We want to honor God through this day. We see it as a third chance to try again and point it to Jesus and all He taught us through this time. We have been together since 2013 and that is definitely something worth celebrating. We want YOU with us as we originally planned. We have so much invested financially and emotionally. We know you who love us will want to celebrate with us even though it’s a little different. And guys...I have the dress. The most beautiful dress, it will be worn! Even though we are very happily married and loving it, we can not wait to celebrate in the right way with you! We can’t wait to see you there! Thanks for reading a small part of our story and be sure to save the new date- May 20, 2022.

After two cancellations of our wedding date and an elopement, we decided to put more trust in Christ. Once we did, we started to feel more peace and our relationships with each other and Christ grew. It might sound silly to some, but these feelings of loss were very real to us. God never wastes a hurt. Later on, God actually revealed to me why He took our June wedding away. I was brushing my teeth on one of the last days of my recent New York missions trip. I heard God tell me that this was the reason he didn’t allow us to have our June wedding. If our plans had gone the way we wanted, I wouldn’t have gone to NYC. We would’ve been on our one year wedding anniversary trip and that would have been my priority. On this mission trip, our team was blessed to help lead multiple people to Christ and share the Gospel with so many. God grew me in many ways and led me to be aware of the spiritual gifts He’s given me too. What a blessing this mission work was to my soul. I felt in perfect harmony with the way God wanted to use me. I embraced every moment. I am so happy He knows what's best. I am so honored He removed the wedding from us for His greater good. People's salvation and their finding hope in Jesus is far more important to us than anything else. I believe that with all my heart. My trust in Christ increased through Him revealing this to me and I wouldn’t trade leading others to Christ for a silly wedding any day.