Once Upon A Time…

Our story begins long before we knew who each other even was... When Kayla was in third grade her mom worked at the local public school on Fridays, and Kayla would go with her after her Christian school got out early. One day Martin, who went to that public school, was passing by one of the classrooms when he saw, according to him, “the most beautiful girl in the world.” For the next couple months, Martin would make excuses to go to the other side of the school to once again see this mysterious blonde haired girl. Martin would not see her again until his freshman year of high school. Martin got saved in 8th grade at a Christian camp, and through a series of God orchestrated events, he arrived at Clear Lakes Christian Academy on orientation day. Kayla saw him that day and thought he was funny and cute, and Martin thought he recognized her, but it was not until Kayla’s senior year of high school, that they began to talk after a long miscommunication that led them both to believe the other did not like them for those three years. Their relationship started out as friends, and that final semester of Kayla’s high school year it quickly developed into something more. God directed both Martin and Kayla to West Coast Baptist College at Joshua Camps in 2021. Martin and Kayla had hoped to date when they turned 18 that fall, but God had other plans. Although it was not what they had hoped for, God used the past 5 years of their life/college career to develop them in ways they could have never imagined. God continued to confirm in many wonderful ways that they were His will for each other, but the answer continued to be “yes, just wait.” “God’s Got This”, learning to be content in whatever situation, and understanding patience and selfless love became key themes and characteristics of their relationship. After many prayers, tears, waiting for God to work on hearts, counsel, and faith building, God orchestrated everything out perfectly, and Martin asked Kayla to be his girlfriend August 14, 2025 on the edge of a canyon under the stars with a poem and flowers. During the year 2025, God developed Martin and Kayla in ways they could not have imagined, and throughout it all they have learned that God’s timing is absolutely perfect, and He is good. After Kayla arrived back in Idaho from college, Martin had already begun to thoughtfully orchestrate their beautiful engagement. On December 23, 2025, Martin brought Kayla into a beautiful canyon area where he had set up lights and made a beautiful engagement spot. After he proposed that was not all, and he took her to another spot in the canyon where he had bought a porch swing that was set up and had beautiful strung lights draping from it. The whole engagement was Winnie the Pooh themed, which is something very sentimental to Kayla, and after they had sat down with the Winnie the Pooh blanket and personally designed cups, they watched a video of favorite photos chosen by Martin from the past 4 years set to three of their favorite songs. The night was beautiful and filled with so much love, tears, happiness, and memories. Although, there were many times they both questioned God’s timing and the refining process, Martin and Kayla are so thankful to God most of all for the beautifully powerful story God has written for them. Every tear, test, and trial was worth it all. The past 5 years could be characterized in man’s eyes as just being defined by the many health trials both Martin and Kayla went through, family deaths, long distance, broken relationships, etc., but God. God got the victory, and His sovereign hand is seen through it all. God is good in all of His actions, and in all of His attributes, and we are so thankful for how He lovingly wrote our story.