When I first met Drew, I could immediately tell he was a good friend. The type of friend who keeps you laughing and always shows up. He was in a relationship at the time and I had recently ended a two year relationship so I wasn't quite looking for anything. After the girl he was dating moved and they ending their relationship, we continued to spend a lot of time together as friends. It was during this time that Drew took a step of faith which allowed him to have free time during the day. I would have him come by the church and help me prepare for Sunday mornings and he never hesitated and always did whatever I asked with joy. As we spent more time together, the Lord began to soften my heart and open my eyes to the man Drew was. However, due to past hurts I allowed my own fears to keep me from making any serious decisions. In fact, I declined over seven date invitations and refused any advances for months..even still, Drew pursued me. One of my favorite memories would be when I had surgery on my hands and couldn't wash my hair, he came to my house, pulled a chair up to my kitchen sink and washed my hair for me. He loved me so well far before I felt the same. In December of 2017, I finally decided to go out with him on a date to see the Christmas lights at Callaway Gardens. It was the most wonderful date and I will always cherish it. I wish I could say I was sold in that moment and the rest was history but it wasn't. It took me until June 28th 2018 before speeding back to Lagrange from a date with someone else because I realized where my heart really needed to be. To this day, I am thankful to God for leading my steps, changing my heart and opening my eyes to the man He created just for me and to Drew for his consistent pursuit and patience. Nothing about our story was easy but everything about it was perfectly written and I will forever love the friendship and partnership I have been blessed with in Nathan Andrew Smith.

When I met Katelyn back in the Summer of 2017, she was working at the church I attended after taking a position in Kids Ministry and moving to Lagrange. We started talking in the Fall right before Halloween and hit it off, immediately. The more time we spent together, the deeper our friendship became! You can ask Katelyn and she will tell you that I was the first to fall in love. I knew that she was the one the moment I first kissed her and we weren’t even dating at the time, but everything change in that moment. I just knew that she was my forever and I wasn't shy about sharing that with those around me. We still laugh about the fact I told a few of our students that I was going to marry her before we were even dating (turns out I was right). I knew she was having some doubts out of fear of being hurt, but I never quit pursuing her. She was the only one for me so after a loooong 7 months of *not* so patiently waiting, she finally said "yes" to beginning a relationship and the rest is history. She is my best friend and my one true love! I'm blessed that God saw it fit to plan our paths far before we'd even met. I can’t wait to see what else this journey of marriage has in store for us!