We are getting married!

Some love stories start with a grand romantic gesture. Ours? It started with a strong spiritual prompting, a bad date, a surprise award, and $20. In December 2023, Maristine had a completely unexpected but undeniable prompting: she needed to apply to be a counselor at For the Strength of Youth (FSY) camp. Not only that, but she had an overwhelming feeling that she had to go to Vermont. Why Vermont? No clue. But she followed the prompting, put in her request, and got it. Meanwhile, Hayden applied for FSY for a slightly different reason—he needed a summer job. Fast forward to the start of FSY, and things were not looking like a love story. Both of us were focused on serving God and helping the youth. The few guys Maristine was interested in? Cowards. The girls Hayden was interested in? Masters of mixed signals. When the time finally came for Maristine’s Vermont session, she was hopeful—not that she’d find love, but that she’d meet the one kid who really needed her as their counselor. That's why she was sent to Vermont, right? Hayden, meanwhile, was just doing his job—until he found himself at the same Vermont session. We met our kids, did our counselor duties, and somewhere in the middle of it all, a very determined guy started relentlessly pursuing Maristine. Then came the date to end all dates. A small group of counselors, including us, took a trip to New York City—a.k.a. The Big Apple, a.k.a. the setting of the worst date of Maristine’s life. It was so bad that on the way home, she refused to sit next to the guy she had gone out with. Instead, she moved to the back of the car, where Hayden happened to be sitting. And then, in what can only be described as a plot twist, she started freestyle rapping about New York City. This was the moment Hayden realized: this girl is something special. The next week, the guy who had taken Maristine out came up to Hayden, complaining that she was "acting weird." Hayden, in the most Hayden way possible, basically told him, Maybe that’s because you’re a jerk. And that’s when Maristine finally started thinking, Hmm. Maybe he’s cute. By the end of the session, we were happy being friends—until Brother and Sister Hoffman (our session advisors) decided to shake things up. During our final counselor meeting, they started handing out funny “Most Likely To…” awards. One by one, the awards were given out, but neither of our names were called. Then, at the very end, Hayden’s name was announced. He stood up to claps and cheers… and then there was an awkward pause. “Huh,” said Brother Hoffman. “This is weird. It looks like someone else got the same award as you.” Cue everyone looking around, confused. Then they called Maristine’s name. Absolute silence. And then Brother Hoffman revealed our award: "Most Likely to Be Shipped by the Session Advisors." The room exploded. People cheered, screamed, and laughed while we just stood there, blinking at each other. Hayden, secretly already in love, played it cool. Maristine, still putting the pieces together, smiled and laughed along with the chaos. Then, as if this wasn’t wild enough, the Hoffmans handed Hayden $20 and said, “You two should go out for ice cream.” And, well, when a church leader hands you money for ice cream, what else are you supposed to do? So Hayden turned to Maristine and asked, “Want to go out for ice cream?” And she said yes. That ice cream date? Best date ever. And that’s where our story truly began. From Vermont to New York, from bad dates to rap battles, from being shipped to falling in love—we wouldn’t change a thing. Now, we’re getting married (!!) and starting our new life together. If you want to celebrate with us (and we really hope you do), we’d love your support! Whether it’s contributing to our honeymoon fund, helping us set up our first home, or just sending us some love, we appreciate every bit of it. We are so grateful to have you in our lives—thank you for being part of our love story.