October here we come! Your love, & prayers mean the absolute world to us!

"You're TOO tall! Can you get behind me? I'm trying to be seen in this photo," was one of the first things I said to Jeremy. It was the last day of MVMNT Retreat 'On Purpose' ‘17. We were waiting in the lunch line & conversation instantly started. Once we made it through the line, & parted ways, we realized we were walking to 2 tables in the same exact direction, talk about AWKWARD! HA! I found myself wanting to speak more to this handsome man, & thankfully he felt the same about me. Soon after a mutual friend called me over to chat, but sadly it was brief. Being a leader on this retreat we were pushed to SERVE on purpose throughout the weekend, & I was asked to serve right in the middle of that conversation...come on Lord. LOL I'll be honest, I served for a few minutes before finding a reason to leave. As I returned to the food hall everyone was leaving to grab their bags & "pick their bus" home. So I RUSHED to my room, grabbed my bags & nonchalantly was one of the 1st outside sitting nearby the busses. (As most of you know, I did the world race-a missions trip where I lived out of a 70 liter bag through 11 countries in 11 months.) Jeremy made his way to the buses, & so sweet & kindly asked if I needed help with my bag. I told him "I carried this for a year in 11 different countries, I'm good." Poor thing walked away thinking this girl doesn't like me. But surprisingly I made it on the same bus as him...I fully followed him! HA! Tried to play it off by bringing my friends. On the bus we JOKED on each other, flirted a ton, & really hit it off! Back in BK before going our separate ways Jer hugged me TWICE. A friend teased me about liking him & I totally denied it. But I LIKED him! We started talking everyday. We truly hit it off & became great friends! We made things official on our 2nd sunrise beach date—this man woke up at 3:45 am for me twice in 1 week...DEF a keeper. 2+ yrs later-we’ve had lots of ups & downs, but God has sunstained us, & has been so faithful!

When they say God works in mysterious ways, they mean it. One of the main points of the MVMNT retreat in 2017 was "Hey, you might find the one". Now me, recently coming out of an unhealthy relationship, I by no means was looking for a relationship. I was there to grow with God. I was soon reminded by friends on the bus of the possibility of finding the one that will make me feel funny in my tummy. It became annoying & by now I had made it my mission to not entertain any idea of finding that someone. I was stuck in my ways & nothing was going to change my mind or so I thought. On the 2nd day of the trip, I was just minding my business when it happened. I saw her! Walking across the grass field to a crowd full of people. I asked myself "who is that?" but then immediately snapped out of it. "You're here for God!" I reminded myself, but I couldn't ignore the instant attraction I felt for Lydia. Remember how I said God works in funny ways, yeah that part is coming up. On the last day during a prayer session called power hour, I prayed for A LOT of things. One thing that I specifically prayed for was a woman of God to come into my life, that I could grow with together. I know, I know...what happened to "No girls, no way!"? Like I said it was an hour of praying, there's a lot to pray for & I had never prayed for God to impact my life in that way. Here comes God's punchline! After power hour, everyone on the retreat lined up for a picture. So I was standing there when all of a sudden I hear "you're too tall, get in the back!". I turn around, & there stood 5'1 Lydia with her hands on her hips looking up at me. I instantly got nervous and went to the back of the group of people. After the picture was taken Lydia came back to me & apologized for the way she spoke to me. This opened up the doorway for small talk, which eventually lead to us being on the same bus back home. Fast forward 3 years later and we are now getting married. It's crazy how God works right?