we are getting MARRIED!

While many of these "How We Met" stories are written in a way that feels almost like a real-world synopsis of "The Notebook", our story can be summed up in the words of a song from Big Daddy Weave. They simply say "To tell my story is to tell of Him". For us to start this saga from any other place than pointing back to Jesus would be to steal glory from the God of all creation who showed us over lifetimes of seeking after Him that this marriage was set apart by Him for His glory.

Hey y'all, this is Taylor. This is my portion of the story! Looking back through high school and college, dating was always something that felt like a formality that I wished I could avoid. I always prayed, "Lord, please just send me "The One" so I can move past this whole dating thing and just start the rest of my life with my wife". Both fortunately and unfortunately, He didn't choose to honor that prayer in my timing. He knew that His plans for me required patience, but would be filled with other joys in serving Him that I never anticipated. Waiting was no doubt an arduous process, yet He proved time and time again over a decade that this was no accident; He had FAR better for me coming down the road! Over the last 10 years post-college, my story has taken me from school in Texas, to engineering Tide Pods in Cincinnati (not eating them), to living in my favorite city of Nashville while attending Vanderbilt, to planting a church in Seattle while working for Microsoft, to returning to Indianapolis where the Lord began a new and clearly intentional work in my life. He aggregated all of my experiences and brought me to a place where He called me to serve men and re-build the American family through launching Heart of a Man. As deeply fulfilling as this has been, hitting age 30 as a single man sparked a new level of earnest, daily prayer that the Lord would bring my future wife quickly and refine away anything in me that would keep me from loving and serving her with every ounce of my being. The honest truth: at the point where I felt least likely to meet her (In isolation amidst COVID, no live church, no friend events, no socializing), He gave me the most wonderful gift. He said "It's time".

In August 2020, I had the privilege of shooting engagement photos for Jacob and Ashley Noorbergen (Ashley Straut until July 18th!). While I thought using my love of photography to serve my friends would be nothing more than that, those photos ended up being the gateway through which Shelby and I would speak for the first time. We had met VERY briefly a year and a half earlier at a worship event, but since that day, we were nothing more than distant Facebook friends. I woke up a day or two after posting Jacob and Ashley's photos to about 12 notifications from Shelby "liking" all of the photos I had taken! On a whim, I glanced at her page to see where she was and what was going on in her life. She had recently written a small devotional; it was well-written and really encouraged my heart that day! Without thinking too much of it, I sent her a short note thanking her for writing it and telling her how much I valued what she had said. Where only a "Thanks!" was expected…. She had far more to say. And I'm sure glad she did! A week later, on September 6th, we were going on our first date in Cincinnati! We quickly realized that our foundational pursuits, our love of Jesus, our hopes for the future, and our dreams lined up in a way that we knew weren't a coincidence. Shelby joined my family for Thanksgiving and for Christmas that season. This was the perfect opportunity to see her around those I loved and build the beginnings of a deeper relationship that involved those who I loved the most. I knew without a doubt after those couple of weeks that I wanted to marry her. Mid-January, on a bit of an impulse purchase, I designed and purchased a ring! After another agonizing 2 months of waiting for it be created, I FINALLY was able to propose. Thank goodness she said yes!

When I think about the journey of what it took to get to where we are now, I can't help but tear up. Where my plans seemed great, the Lord's were always clearly better. His timing was perfect; without the wait, Heart of a Man would not exist, I likely would never have met Shelby, the growth required to be the man the Lord needed me to be would never have taken place, and Shelby's path post-graduate school would have looked very different. He has given us everything we needed in exactly the right moment. He's now given us each other as a means of seeing the depths of His love for us on display. She has built me up in my insecurities, showed me grace when I've been a bit of a bonehead, brought laughter and joy into every portion of my life, served me, allowed me to serve her, and shown me my value as a man in a way I could never see on my own. I'm constantly praying for the wisdom around how to show her Jesus through every word, every action, every meal, and every moment. I'm just so excited to run through life with her! With hope, humility and gratefulness, we are so excited to begin our journey through life together, carrying each other back to the cross when the journey gets challenging, celebrating together in the highs and mourning together in the pain-filled moments, building each other up and creating a family of our own. We ask that you forever keep our marriage in your prayers, that the Lord will be near to us always and will give us exactly what we need each day to serve and love each other as we pursue Him together forever.