Seth and I met on a camping trip with our campus ministry in August of 2021. I was impressed with Seth’s servant heart, when he volunteered to drive a couple of us from the campsite to a nearby lake, and it didn’t hurt that he had a Toyota 4Runner that was almost identical to the one I drove in high school... But I wasn’t interested in dating at the time and thought no more of it. Later in the semester, we discovered we had quite a few classes together and started doing homework together. Our small group leaders were married, so we saw each other at ministry activities quite often, as well. It wasn’t until Seth asked if I wanted to hang out outside of homework that I started realizing he was interested in me. At this point, I was drawn to his dedication and passion for things in his life and his ability to truly listen. So, I agreed to let him pick me up from the bus stop in December 2021, and we went to Barnes and Noble and to dinner at Torchy’s Tacos. A couple months go by, with us hanging out more intentionally, and I realize I need to ask what his intentions are. I knew that I, at this point, was not ready to be in a relationship, with not having a strong relationship with the Lord and working through some bigger things in my personal life. So… I friend-zoned him. I told him not to wait, because I had no idea how long it would take, and we agreed to only hang out in group settings in the ministry. This time turned out to be difficult but very good for my relationship with the Lord. In a time when I felt a strong desire to be in a relationship with this godly man, I was able to, instead, turn to the Lord to satisfy all the desires of my heart. Over the next summer, things had shifted in my life, and Seth and I started hanging out again. After MANY conversations with friends and mentors, I decided that, if Seth was still willing, to give dating a try. On a work trip to Arizona, I called Seth and told him this conclusion, hearing the surprise in his voice when he said he’d pray about it during the next week. After a little more praying and discernment, we went on a sunrise hike to Horsetooth Rock, and he asked me to be his girlfriend. Since then, I have continuously been amazed by the gift the Lord has given to me, by bringing Seth into my life. His intentionality in pursuing me and his commitment to always pointing me back towards the Lord, along with many other things, has helped to show me the character of God. I can’t wait to journey through this life with him, and continue to strive towards glorifying the Lord together, in our lives and in our home.

Carina and I first talked at the Labor Day Chi Alpha campout at Loch Lomond, but I first interacted with her at a joint small group dinner that our leaders put on for us in October of 2020. We had done up someone’s house as a fancy Italian restaurant, and we served the ladies homemade, albeit not very tasty, Italian dinners. After this, Carina and I never spoke again until the campout. This wasn’t out of malice or avoidance, but I truly believe out of the Lord’s providence, our paths were kept from each other. During this period of time between October of 2020 and August of 2021 was one of the hardest seasons in my life. I was being faced with trials of many kinds, and, through His grace, my life did not ruin Carina’s. All the while, she was facing a similar season full of growth and development. When the Lord was ready for us to come back together, He put us in the same Electrical Engineering class, together in the front row, and blessed Carina with all the homework answers. I’m joking on the last part of course, but she was wicked talented in this course. I worked up the courage during one of our worship nights to come up and talk to her about “working together on homework” fully intending to take her out someday, but willing to settle for the side bonus of passing Electrical Engineering. (Our best man, Nate Bennick will tell you that he predicted that this interaction would be the start of our relationship, and his wife Alyssa Bennick owes him $20 for that prediction). As we started to grow together as homework buddies, she became comfortable enough to let me take her out on our first date, but heaven knows I didn’t call it that. I didn’t want to scare her off! I was willing, and she wasn’t ready, so I settled for a bookstore and a taco (no burgers or grape snow cones in sight, this was in fact a Christian relationship) ;). Over time, we kept going on more and more “almost dates” where we would be hanging out, alone, with a planned event, and usually me paying for it, but, of course, we would never call ourselves boyfriend and girlfriend. That would be FAR too serious. We were cooking dinner together, seeing movies, going to the shooting range, and learning how to swing dance at the local honky-tonk, the Sundance. It was during this time that I confessed my newfound attraction about this women to, among others, Nate Bennick, my best man. As Carina has often done since, she observed this trend and decided to bring up to me that we need to define what the heck is going on here. Carina decided to friendzone me, but, looking back, for all the right reasons. She was bitter with the Lord and didn’t feel comfortable going into her first relationship with a man, without the firm foundational strength that a relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ provides. She told me not to wait, and naturally as a man in “like” with her, I wouldn’t listen. I patiently waited (in excruciating agony) for her to be ready, and when she called me and told me she was, I freaked out. The very next day, I decided to get out of town and go to the top of Horsetooth rock by myself and just pray about the decision. I earnestly sought the Lord and my spiritual counselors (to include Austin Mancey) to discern if I was ready to date this women. Because if I started to date her, I had intended to marry her too. One week after I went up to Horsetooth alone, I took Carina with me and asked her to enter into a relationship together. It has been the second-best decision I have ever made. Second only to the one I made at 6 years old in the back of my mom’s car to as her, “What does a relationship with Jesus look like?”. I stand here now, about to marry this woman, and I know that He has been by my side every step of the way. Through every other mistake, poor relationship, bad decision, and life altering ones too, my friend Jesus Christ has guided my steps and actions to be wed to this woman. And for that, I am thankful beyond words.