Time to Say I Do!

We are so thankful to say our story started with God and we pray He remains the center of our relationship every day as we continue to choose to love and honor one another. We met at small group through our church, McLean Bible Church, in January 2024. Jenna saw Justin first - He was tall, dark, and handsome and she quickly discovered he loved God and exuded His Spirit in a rare way. She was iiiiinterested (🤩). Justin too noticed Jenna was tall and beautiful (🫠) with a touch of mystery that had him intrigued. His heart was all a flutter and he found himself feeling like a school boy seeing his crush walking down the hallway! We started talking and hit it off despite the initial conversations revealing some of our differences such as Jenna being a proud, classic cat lady 🐈‍⬛💁‍♀️ while Justin had pretended he had a cat allergy as a child due to his dislike of the *delightful* beings. (ps don’t worry friends, he’s a cat fan now ☺️. Ooooor he’s at least a Jenna fan, which makes him a cat purrrrson by default 😉). (pps Justin says he might actually have a cat allergy after all 🤧). Over the next month, daily looong text messages turned into calls and finally a date (🥳). Jenna had been backpacking in Patagonia 🏔️ in February and Justin smoothly asked if he could take her out for ☕️ (one of his most beloved passions!) upon her return home to hear adventure stories and see pictures. Jenna was swooning on the first date when Justin went puddle jumping in the rain (a simple joy of hers) in *suede* shoes - the man was making points! When he looked into Jenna’s eyes, Justin was at a loss for words, feeling like he was forgetting basic English and sentence formulation (Jenna didn’t notice as she too was lost in his gaze). In a classic “how do I get this girl to like me” moment, he reluctantly hailed a silent YOLO and jumped in puddles (yes, in suede shoes!). 2 weeks later, we had our first kiss 😘 while cloud gazing and picnicking in the park. We made J&J official 💘 with the Defining The Relationship talk a few days afterwards. We were off the market and thrilled about it. Next, we were exchanging I Love Yous (we’re both proponents of speaking your truths!) and freaking our families out with eeearly mentions of matrimony just a couple of months in (Sorry not sorry 🙃). As we continued to spend time with one another, Justin was head over heels for Jenna’s faith, intellect, and tenderhearted and kind soul. She opened his eyes to appreciate the beauty of nature and people in a unique and authentic way. And Jenna fell in love with Justin’s thoughtfulness, vulnerable honesty, lighthearted silliness, and his steadfast, earnest love for God. 9 months later and just a few days before Christmas during the loveliest of light snows, we found ourselves reminiscing on the past year as we walked through the park where we had our first 💋. Justin got down on one knee and asked the question Jenna had been daydreaming about, “Will you marry me?”. Through joyful tears (there were a lot 🥹), she confidently said, “Yes!”.

Now here we are planning a wedding. It’s surreal. It has us reflecting on this year in so many ways. We have loved traveling together, exploring both the glory of God’s creation (Justin has become a backpacker and camper this year!) as well as the wonders found in cities (from DC to NYC to our smaller, hometown roots in Colorado and Maryland). We have cherished discovering similar hobbies such as baking 🧁 as well as sharing our own unique and beloved pastimes including the art of coffee (Jenna is learning to both appreciate and detect the fine notes of a traditional pour over made from single origin coffee beans) and the soul-settling peace found in fly fishing (Justin caught his first fish 🎣 this year! Jenna was so excited that a rod maaaay have accidentally been dropped into the water and lost forever 😅.) We’ve delighted in newfound mutual hobbies too like rock climbing and salsa dancing 💃🕺🏾. And the greatest blessing has been finding a partner who encourages, guides, and convicts the other in their faith. We are both humbled by God’s blessing in bringing us together and are excited to say Yes! to committing our lives to one another in Christ all the days of our lives - both the ones easy to delight in and those where it is challenging to find the goodness. To those reading - Thank you for the support, encouragement, and wise guidance as we have pursued one another and as we step into a biblically founded marriage. We will be getting married this summer off trail in the fields of Colorado during a small ceremony. While many of those we love will not be there in person to celebrate with us, we wanted to share our story and the excitement of our union. We look forward to the next time we see each one of you (and hope it is soon!). Much Love, Jenna & Justin 💕

In addition to sharing the love-joy-and-wonder of how we met above, we also wanted to share a little more about our faith as God has been an integral part of our relationship. We hope to share the joy of living a life loving and knowing God, which is available to us because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. May this be an encouragement to you, those who we love dearly. We both grew up in Christian homes. From young ages, we heard about God and were taught how to live our lives in a manner that would honor Him. We learned and believed the story of creation, which says God created us in His image to delight in and live in relationship with Him. However, we chose our way instead of His, introducing sin into our once perfect world, ultimately separating us from God. Relying on our own strength instead of trusting in the goodness of God’s plans became human nature. But, there is hope. God loves us with an unconditional, everlasting, all-encompassing, forgiving, patient, and grace-filled love. He did not want us to live apart from Him. Because of this, He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to earth, where He was tempted yet lived a perfect life without sin, and willingly died for us on the cross to pay the debt for our sins. The Bible says on the third day following His death, Jesus rose again and defeated death. Whoever believes in Him, confesses Jesus is Lord, and repents for their sins will be forgiven and saved, and experience new life in Christ. This is the Gospel, the Good News. We both had heard this story throughout our lives. Many of you may have as well. We believed in God, prayed, and went to church, but it wasn’t until we were in college that our faith became a true priority. We started experiencing deeper relationships with Jesus and our lives were ultimately transformed. While the details of our stories are each unique, we have both experienced the promises found in the Bible including overflowing joy, otherworldly peace (to include in times of sorrow and uncertainty), acceptance, forgiveness, and love. These are gifts from God. In Him, we are made whole. We are loved and have worth as we are. It is easy to believe our lives are the works of our own doing, but He is the one holding it all together. When we place our faith in Him, He puts the Holy Spirit inside of us to guide us through all of life’s circumstances. It is His Spirit that convicts us and gives us strength, wisdom, and direction to live a life honoring to Him. While in this life we will never be perfect, God, in His infinite grace, is patient with us and continues to sanctify us along our journeys with Him. And our prayer is for all to know this transformative love of God and to place your faith in Him.