Happily Ever After!

Amanda had recently begun attending a new church near downtown Ft. Worth when a friend invited her to go to brunch with a group of young adults after service. Eager to meet people and begin getting connected with people at the church, she went to brunch and, soon after, joined the young adult small group they all attended. On October 4th, 2016 she went to the group for the first time where she met Jason who had been leading the small group for a little over a year. At that time, the group just happened to be in an abnormally social season and everyone was hanging out almost daily. This worked out well for Jason & Amanda as it gave them a lot of time to hang out and get to know each other better. Jason had noticed Amanda pretty quickly after she joined the group and, around Thanksgiving of that year, Jason asked Amanda to coffee. Amanda agreed, thinking he just wanted to get to know her better as a group leader and hear more about her walk with God. This was partially true, but Jason was also excited to finally spend some time getting to know her better to see if there might be something there. She, on the other hand, was pretty oblivious at the time that he liked her.

From Amanda: During our first coffee, I vaguely remember talking to Jason about my testimony - the household I grew up in, the ministries I was involved in, the challenges I had recently faced and the things God placed on my heart through it all. But more than anything, I remember there being a unity, an understanding, and a similar vision between both of us when we talked about what we thought it meant to live out a life fully devoted to Christ, loving others with the same love God had shown us. I knew God was working on my heart in that moment and through that conversation. It just took me a while to realize, that was the beginning of something much bigger - much better. From Jason: As our first coffee together began, we talked about simple things such as our families, how thanksgiving went, etc. However, after a few minutes of small talk, the conversation shifted to our testimonies and our relationships with God. I think we were both a little nervous at first, but as soon as we started talking about God we immediately relaxed. I loved hearing about her testimony, her spiritual growth and ministry in college, and about her desires to follow Christ fully. We both had such similar experiences with God in the past and had a surprisingly unified perspective on what it looks like to follow Christ. I liked her a lot and I remember just thanking God for that conversation even if it didn't lead to dating. Thankfully, that was only the beginning of many more wonderful moments to come!

Not long after the coffee, Jason asked Amanda out and she initially said no. Thankfully, she came to her senses and asked Jason to coffee about a week later. Despite the previous rejection, he agreed to meet up with Amanda and joined her for coffee at Mudsmith. Amanda fumbled over her words in trying to explain the reasoning for her previous rejection and let him know that she would like to go out with him if the offer was still on the table. To Amanda's joy, he said yes and they had their first date on Dec. 26th, 2016. Contrary to their decision to "take it slow", they saw each other almost every day that year. On Oct. 7th, 2017, about one year after they met, Jason surprised Amanda in her apartment and asked her if she would spend the rest of her life with him. This time she gave the right answer - yes! We are so thankful for God's hand that has been evident in every part of our story. We can't wait to celebrate with our friends and family on May 12th, 2018!