Our story began at our church, The Vineyard, in Wheeling, West Virginia. I (Ryan) had been helping my friend, Myron Jellison, and his wife, Emily, lead a small group of young adults. Sometime in 2019, Myron asked this girl, Gaby Hernandez, who was leading in the kids’ ministry at the time, to come and get involved with the young adults. It was in this small group that we first met. Then, COVID-19 hit. Our church weathered this storm by gathering outdoors while the weather was nice, but when fall brought rain and cold weather, this was no longer an option. When the church switched to a church-at-home model for the winter, we gathered our young adult group at the empty church building on Sunday mornings to worship and study the Bible together in a small community. Gaby and I decided to arrive early every Sunday morning to cook breakfast for the group. It was through this effort – the planning and shopping and cooking together – that our friendship grew into something more. I asked her out on a date (with plenty of prompting and encouragement from our friends) in the parking lot of Kroger on January 30th, 2021. For our first date, we went bowling at Rose Bowl Lanes in Wheeling and then had dinner at Abbey’s Restaurant on Wheeling Island, which is still one of our favorite places to this day. Our story is a story of friends, family, adventures, ministry, and above all, a loving God who has made it possible. He loved me enough to take the death on the cross that I deserved for my sin, and he did the same for Gaby. Marriage isn’t a reward given by God to people who are “good people” – if it was, neither of us would qualify – but it is simply the next step we feel he is leading us into to live out our purpose of glorifying him and enjoying him forever. His grace is free for anyone who will accept it, and if you want to know more, ask us and we’d love to tell you all about it.

After almost two years of dating, I was just about ready to take the leap and propose. The little nudge that was just enough to push me over the edge came from Alexis Wilson. We had her over for dinner one night in late October 2022, and while Gaby was cooking in the kitchen, she came out to the back deck where I was cooking on the griddle and said, “I am sure you are getting very close to proposing to Gaby, so I just wanted to let you know that I will help out as much as you want me to. So…when are you planning to propose?” And after some hem-hawing around, I sighed and said, “Alexis, I don’t know what I’m waiting for.” In late November, I met with Myron and Emily Jellison to talk about proposing, and at Emily’s encouragement, I decided to propose before Christmas, during Gaby’s favorite time of the year. The next four weeks were a whirlwind – trying to plan a proposal and engagement party, buy a ring, buy decorations and supplies, and invite people, all behind Gaby’s back. But with the incredible help of more friends than I can name, the pieces started to fall into place. On December 16th, after a day full of setting up for the proposal and the engagement party, I picked Gaby up for our “Christmas date.” I drove her to a beautiful overlook at Oglebay Park – the same place where I took her on a picnic for her birthday and asked her to be my girlfriend. My Christmas tree was set up there, and as we walked towards it, she started to realize what was happening. “That’s your tree!”, she said. “Is it?”, I replied. “Yes, that star on the top is yours, and that’s the tree skirt I bought you last week. That’s your tree!” I knew that was my opportunity, so I led into the proposal by saying, “Well, I was hoping we could make it our tree.” I told her I loved her for the very first time, got down on one knee, and asked her to marry me. And she said yes! By some miracle, I was able to keep her in the dark as to the final surprise of the night, and when we arrived at the engagement party, she was shocked to see many of our closest friends gathered, as well as my parents and brother in town from Tulsa, there to greet her and congratulate us. It was an incredible night, and we felt so loved and celebrated. We have been truly blessed with amazing people in our lives, and we cannot express our gratitude.