Welcome to the Greatest Place on Earth

This line comes from Jen's common (slightly) tongue-in-cheek way of describing her homeland of the Dominican Republic. As a true native daughter of that island, she will regularly reference it as "the greatest place on earth." This created the basis of a humorous competition between herself and Brian when they first began dating, as Brian maintains that his birthplace of North Carolina is, in fact, the greatest place on earth. It is with an eye toward this playful banter that we chose "The Greatest Place on Earth" as the theme for our wedding, showcasing a fun blend of icons and staples of both cultures. We have sought to reflect this mixing of cultures in our colors, food, music, and other elements throughout our big day! And, of course, there is yet another layer to this. While we can have fun picking with each other and arguing about whose birthland is the "true" great place on earth, we believe, as Christians, that the greatest place on earth does not lie in any geographic or political entity. Instead, we believe the Greatest Place on Earth is the place where God's name is proclaimed and worshipped, and where His presence is made evident. In this, we believe and affirm that the Greatest Place on Earth does not currently correspond to a location, but to a people, namely, the church. We believe that there will come a day when the Greatest Place on Earth will be a physical location, specifically when, as it says in Habakkuk 2:14, "...the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." However, we recognize that this is not the current state, but that this is a prophecy of the future, which will ultimately be fulfilled in the New Heavens and New Earth (Rev 21). As of right now, there are many people who do not know God, and who do not give Him glory, and indeed, there are many places in the world where this is the overwhelming reality. But, there is good news amidst this tragedy: God, through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus His son, has reconciled sinners to Himself, to those who would place faith in Christ. As followers of Christ, we have also been invited into this amazing work to take the Good News of this reconciliation to the places that have not heard it yet (Matt 28:16-20)! We have tried to include reminders of this reality in the celebration of our marriage, to point to the true marriage of Christ and His church, and to celebrate our call to "seek the Greatest Place on Earth" in the worship of God among the nations! We hope you will see these reminders, and that it will stir your heart to worship and reverence for God, and that you will pray for us as we go, and, if the Lord is leading, that you may consider coming with us! If you have further questions, please ask! We are happy to talk about it.

...or How We Didn't Date, and Then Did.

Sometimes, in life, you spend your entire life looking for the one person you’re meant to be with—the one who completes you—and sometimes, in a moment, you meet that person and you both instantly know it. …this isn’t that story, but I hear that sometimes that happens. *** For years, I believed the ultimate goal in life was to get married, settle down in a nice house on 80 acres, and raise a family. I was convinced this was God’s plan for my life and the best way to serve Him. There was just one problem: I was terrible at relationships. Few women I asked out said yes, and none of those relationships lasted longer than a week. This seemed to directly contradict how I—I mean, God—had planned my life. In the midst of this struggle, in 2023, God led me to go on a mission trip to Perú with my local church. The precise reasons aren’t important; suffice it to say there were both good and bad motivations involved. The team was a ragtag group of nine people who couldn’t have been more different, yet we quickly became close. It was in this context that I met a short Dominican girl who had joined the trip at her small group leader’s encouragement. She was traveling with her best friend, and the two were inseparable. For reasons unclear, we were often seated together at meals, which gave us plenty of time to talk and get to know each other. What a joy that was! She was quiet at first, but lively once comfortable—kind, gentle, with a servant’s heart, paired with a rowdy sense of humor and plenty of snark. We got along well, and before long I found myself thinking, “I could see this going somewhere.” That realization complicated things. I hadn’t come on the trip to date, indeed I was hoping to gain distance from that mindset. Still, our interactions made that increasingly difficult. Indeed, when I fell ill at the end of the trip, her concern for my well-being sealed my resolve: if the opportunity arose back home, I would ask her out. After returning to the States, I interacted with her and her friend several times over the next few months. While I got to know her friend better, she herself became distant—not unkind, just reserved. I resigned myself to the idea that this wasn’t meant to be and settled for friendship, trusting God had someone else in mind. Over the next couple of years, God redirected my life in significant ways, making it clear that overseas missions were not an occasional calling, but a lifetime calling. He showed me that there were callings greater than becoming a husband or father, and that true joy in Him required laying those desires aside. I entered my church’s missionary training program, a nine-month experience living with a mock missions team. Of course, who should be one of the team members, but the Dominican girl’s best friend! I thought little of it at first, having long consigned the idea of a relationship to the “never going to happen” pile, but that would eventually change... In the spring, I was assigned to lead an evangelism group with both of those girls! Though initially unenthusiastic, I was committed to making it work. Over ten weeks, it became clear why God had placed us together. We worked well as a team, and I rediscovered all the qualities in the Dominican girl that had first drawn me to her in Perú—and more. She grew warmer toward me as well, and our friendship deepened. After seeking counsel from wise friends (and obtaining permission from her best friend) I asked her out. The rest is history.

You know when you meet someone and observe their ways and you think to yourself "what is wrong with this person".... Well, that's how this story began for me! Not knowing how the story would unfold. *** Early 2023 comes around and my friend Heather and I are sitting in community group on a random Wednesday. Our group leader starts off by telling us that she's decided to go to Perú on a missions trip with our church. Then, she immediately looks at the two of us and goes " you guys should come with me". And we said, "say less!" We signed up for the trip and had our first team meeting in March 2023. That is when Brian and I met for the very first time. With him being an introvert, and I being a reserved extrovert, we did not interact very much until we started traveling to Perú in late May 2023. The dynamic starts to get interesting very early on because here's me, experienced traveler, then there was Brian, first time getting a passport and flying out of the country. Imagine that... After lengthy travels, we arrived at our destination and began our mission. The first few days go by and our team of strangers quickly begins to become close friends. Towards the end of the trip, brother Brian wakes up sick and has to miss the full day. That wasn't fun... by the grace of God, at this point the group had formed a close group dynamic and being 1 man down was felt by all. Thankfully he was able to regroup the next day, but some symptoms lingered and we could tell he was not fully recovered. On one of the last days in Perú our national partners had decided to take us to a waterfall so that we could experience a little bit of the beauty that surrounded us. When we start trekking there, here comes Brian after all of his struggles and clearly still recovering from the earlier infirmity, bouncing from rock to rock and defying all sense of self-preservation that a person might have. This was the clearest moment of "what is the world is wrong with this guy." When we come back from the trip, we keep crossing paths at church, and I begin to notice that he wanted to be a little bit more than friends. Well after the interactions in Peru, and the whole reckless hiking scenario, I am determined to friend zone the brother. At all cost. So I start being shorter in communication, and sometimes even intentionally redirecting my course so that I would not have to deal with crossing paths. But God had other plans… Let's fast forward to Fall 2024. Heather has now moved into a new place to participate in our church's 9-month missionary training program. Because her an I are really good friends, I'm around the group all the time and start forming good friendships myself with them. Well… guess who was in the same group… None other than Brian M. Wilson. This time was different. I did not immediately friend zone him for the second time, instead I just let the relationship grow. Come Spring 2025, Heather and I are asked to lead an evangelism group together. Then a couple of weeks later plans change, and we're asked to add a third person to our leadership team. Guess who it was… Indeed. Brother Brian. Again… The next ten weeks put us in frequent close proximity, and I begin to see him differently. He's no longer annoying, but a good friend. It wasn't long before I too wanted our friendship to develop into more… What happened next? Our first date was May 16, 2025. Guess how it went

We are so excited to serve the Lord together as we build our family on the foundation of Christ. In the words of the apostle Paul, we ask that you join us in prayer. Pray that whenever we speak, words may be given to us so that we will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which we are ambassadors in chains. Pray that we may declare it fearlessly, as we should. Ephesians 6:19-20 To God and God alone be all the glory.