like milk and honey

Kathryn's Story: After a tough breakup in 2018, the Lord began a deep work in my heart, reorienting me to know what weighty, real, expensive love authored by Him really felt like. During this time, He showed me a vision of a home dripping in honey. I felt like He said "your home will be known for kindness, not because of your presence - although you are kind - but because of the presence of your husband." I knew Shaun by his tremendous kindness. He has the most gentle spirit and is equipped with such a capable, strong inner structure that I lean into often. His words are like "healing honey" to my heart, and our relationship has allowed some of my most tender wounds to be healed by the intentionality of his words. Shaun's Story: I had been on and off dating apps for years and didn't find much success. A whole lot of first dates and occasional seconds that were nice enough, but over time I found the process more and more exhausting - and never really growing up with any kind of dating advice didn't help either. In early 2024 I felt like I was ready to start looking again - and then I got hit with a surprise job layoff. I was hesitant at first but decided to stick with it and just be honest about my situation. Most of my failed efforts were on Bumble/Hinge, but I also created a Facebook dating app out of desperation a couple years back. At some point I stopped getting notifications so I forgot I even had it - until Kathryn's like came through. We instantly realized we had so much in common, but most importantly was our common faith in Jesus. On our first date, my first thought when I saw her was "oh crap, she's even cuter in person!" But after some initial nerves, our conversation took off and 6 hours of talking felt more like 1. Time just flew by, as it still does with her! We have so much in common, but I also came to realize our differences also complement each other's weaknesses as well! I often find my faith grows through a deeper understanding of history and context, while Kathryn is so incredibly in tune with the Spirit - something I've always lacked, but her strength has already helped me grow in that. I can be a bit introverted meeting new people, while she is able to speak into their life as though she's known them for years. Her boldness, the way she always has both words and time for the weary soul, and her never-ending patience and encouragement with me are a blessing beyond what I could have hoped for. I always knew I wanted both a lover and also a best friend. God blessed me with both, and so much more. Our Story: We matched on FB dating in March and had our first date at King State in April 2024! Our love was an honest, open slow burn from there and involved lots of deep conversations, submitting timelines to God, and learning to see, hear, love and accept one another. We are so excited for the journey of deepening our love and walking in who God has called us to be individually and as a couple, embodying "milk and honey" (truth, strength, empathy and healing) in how we treat each other and our community around us.