We got married!

We eloped!! And we have already been married for little over a year now! But we wanted to still have a ceremony and to have an outward declaration of our union and have all of you as witnesses and celebrating what God has brought together!

Jin and I both started working for the same company in 2013, and were working in different departments, which meant, we never saw one another. At least not that I can recall. I worked as the administrative assistant, and Jin was in the framing department. The company we work for always throw Christmas parties, and so at our first one that we had attended is the first time I saw and noticed Jin. Standing in the opposite sides of the rented room at Apres Diem, I was mingling with coworkers, when I looked over in his direction and spotted him. He was standing alone, not talking to anyone, beer in one hand, and looking down to his phone in the other hand. I'm not 100% sure what it was, but I knew that I needed to go talk to him. Maybe it was partially because of my roll in the company, I felt as though I should know who works there, seeing the names of other employees, but also wanting to put a face to the names. I also hated the fact that he was standing alone and was talking with no one. But the main thing I felt was that I knew I was going to know this man. That I wanted to know him. I think for me it was love at first sight. I know, so cheesy. But I knew I was going to marry him. We met and became friends. We hung out some outside of work, sometimes with other coworkers, then eventually just the two of us. Then things just didn't work out how I wanted them to, and we parted ways. Of course, I took it as rejection, and that he just wasn't interested in me. That wasn’t true though. But as time went on, and positions changed work wise, I ended up working for the same artist as Jin, and we began to work side by side. Things picked back up kind of where they left off. Then after some time, I decided after talking with friends and getting advice from others, that I would tell him that I was serious about him, and not interested in dating anyone else. Well, that scared him away because he was not ready for all that. We stopped talking, and I began dating around, but had decided I never wanted to get married. That the only person I could ever see myself married to, and having children with, was the one person who didn't want to be in a committed relationship. Eventually, after not talking for months, despite working in the same department, he came back around. God's timing. And after that, we decided to make it official. Two years go by, and it was like so much had changed. We "grew up" a little. And of course, we still are growing. Then day after Thanksgiving 2022, he proposed. We decided after about a month that we would go ahead and elope in February of 2023, so that we could go ahead and move in together. Of course everyone tells you that the first couple of years are the hardest, but it gets easier. And that is true. In some areas that is. But let me just tell you, that Jesus had been changing me. And is still changing me. And I see now that His timing, and His will are always so much better than ours. In just this one year, God has drawn us closer to Himself, and has revealed Himself to us in so many ways. Marriage is good. Its not to make you happy, but it is to make you holy. Marriage has taught me to go to our Heavenly Father for not just the little things, or the hard things, but for everything. Good and bad. And He has been so faithful. Learning that marriage reflects Christ and the church. The joining together and becoming one flesh, how the body of Christ becomes one with Christ when we choose and follow Him. Marriage is work. But it is good. Learning something new about one another and ourselves, the challenges we face, is all to teach us and grow us. So thankful for our story, and the years it took for us to get together. All the heart ache and tears, was all worth it. God knows what He's doing.