9/13/2025

There's a lot that could be said about the build up to meeting Garrett. I could talk about the hard nights venting to friends about a long-sustained time of singleness, or the times I cried out to God just begging for it to be my turn to find someone who would love every part of me, and I him. My number one dream in life was to be a wife, and become someone's other half. I spent years feeling like I was racking up mountains of unheard prayers, and questioning whether or not I needed to reconsider my dream. I believed at my core that I might not be okay if things didn't go my way, so I did everything in my power to control the outcome of my singleness, and fell short every time. During an arms-crossed, feet-dragging, pouting-child-fit-of-a-prayer, I finally let the Lord have my dream. I sat on my couch with literal open palms and told Him He could take it. I'd follow Him and His plans no matter what that looked like for myself. Whether it was an outcome I envisioned for myself or not, I handed Him the reins I was trying desperately to hold. I surrendered every part of my plan, to His plan, that I believed had to be better. Only 3 months later, I felt called to go on a retreat with my church's young adults group. There were about 1000 people at this retreat, and we were broken up into roughly groups of 10 where I met a girl named Mallory (shoutout to my match-maker bridesmaid!). We had become friends in the short time at the retreat and I was invited, along with the rest of our group, to her birthday party. Fast-forward to the day of her party... I almost didn't go. A lot of excuses were made to myself to avoid being in a potentially uncomfortable environment with other people I didn't know. I checked the invite list and saw Garrett's name- a name I had recognized from 12 years prior. I thought to myself, "what are the odds? It's probably not the same Garrett Loupe." There's no way it was the same Garrett Loupe from a tiny little high school, from our hometown, 8 hours away. I put my phone down, and made up some more excuses to not go. Something told me to go to the party anyways. Upon arrival, I parked and wandered aimlessly for a minute looking for the correct way to get into the backyard. Then Garrett appeared, coming out through the gate. "You can come through here," were the first words he spoke to me. "Okay," was the first word I spoke to him. From riding the bus together in the 3rd grade, to navigating school hallways together, to sitting near each other in the same church services, to familial connections- this was the first exchange we had ever shared. We passed each other and as I entered the gate, and I knew exactly who he was. I turned around for a brief moment to catch another glimpse and something in my heart knew things were about to change for me, though I couldn't explain it out loud. I went inside and found Mallory and immediately asked her what his name was to confirm. "Garrett," she'd said. "Yep," I thought, "I know him." But just to confirm again, "do you know where he's from?" She responded, "I'm not sure, but I know it's Louisiana." I felt, right then, a strong urge to connect with him... but I spent the better part of 15 minutes arguing with myself and my nerves. We stood outside near each other and I waited for the best moment to approach (yet also trying to talk myself out of it) when I heard a voice in my head say, "just move your feet." And before I could think again, my feet moved, and I was tapping him on the shoulder to ask him, "This might be weird, but did you go to Northlake?" We spent the rest of the party of only about 15 or so people sharing stories and talking about our past; a past with so many shared experiences, where we were so close to one another yet never actually connecting. We were always just missing each other. That following Monday when he texted me to hang out for the first time, I knew in my heart that this was different. I knew then that I'd met my husband.

I met Mackenzie just about 22 years ago in Covington, Louisiana on a school bus when I was in the fourth grade and she was in the third grade. Just a couple kids heading off to Northlake Christian School (NCS). It was less of an introduction and more of a passing by with a head nod, but an introduction none the less. We continued on the bus together for the next few years and continued at NCS until we both graduated from high school. From there we went our separate ways for just about 13 years…..until a fateful day in Sept of 2025 (I’ll get back to that later). In those thirteen years I had gone to college, gotten a job out of state, moved to California, moved to Texas, played a lot of golf… you know… all the guy adulting stuff… along with a lot (and I mean a lot) of dumb decisions in between. In February of 2023, I felt the Lord pulling me back to Him after my family had been praying for me and speaking with me for years. I had completely walked away from Jesus somewhere in the college days and for many years I had been far, far from Him. But in His perfect timing the Lord pulled this prodigal back to His loving arms and saved me. Thank you, Jesus! I started attending the Village Church (S/O Pastor Matt Chandler), and met a lot of great friends… one of them named Mallory. Okay, now were back to the fateful day in Sept of 2025. I was invited to go to Mallory’s birthday party along with my roommates and a few other friends from church. I was not 100% sure I was going to go at first, but my friends told me they were going so I agreed to go. I checked out the group me invitation, and saw a name “Mackenzie Tweedy” and my mind knew that name but couldn’t quite figure out why or where it was from. I thought about it for a couple minutes and then moved on. The next day my roommates and I got ready and headed off to the birthday party, and wouldn’t you know it… a really cute girl walks up to me and says “are you Garrett Loupe?”… I was stunned… I said “well…as a matter of fact I am." (You’ll have to confirm some of the details with Mackenzie- but, hey, this is MY PERSPECTIVE). “Are you from Louisiana?” she said. I said “yes,” and then she asked me one final question “Did you go to Northlake Christian?” …. And that was it… I knew who this was. I haven’t mentioned this yet, but Northlake was a K-12 school that had an average graduating class of about 50 people. You knew everyone. So, when she asked if I went to NCS, I finally put the pieces together. ... So, like I was saying, a really cute girl just walked up to me and let me tell you I was some kind of excited. Dating life in the church world can be …. Well… a bit cumbersome…. I was pumped because we were from the same small town, knew all the same people (including our 4th grade bus driver), parents live 5 min from each other, and MOST of all… she loves Jesus. It became my mission…I needed her phone number. I basically talked to Mackenzie the entire party and completely abandoned my friends and Mallory (sorry Mallory). I must have been some kind of smooth or something because I was successful at getting her number and, along with Mallory’s help, got my first date with the love of my life Mackenzie Katherine Tweedy (not for long) :) As everyone already probably knows, it did not take long before I knew she was my wife. I had prayed for her for quite some time and when all this occurred, I just knew she was the one. And after about 5 months I asked this beautiful woman of God to be my wife. Looking back at our story, I am astounded by God’s sovereignty. From riding the bus together in fourth grade to living in different states over the next 13 years, His handiwork is everywhere. The fact that we both moved to Texas, met a mutual friend, and ended up at the same party to finally close the loop is nothing short of a blessing. I give Him all the praise and glory. I wouldn’t trade our story for anyone else’s in the world, and I can not wait to marry my best friend.

It's undeniable how much God has had His hand in our story. We have each lived very separate lives, even from childhood to teenage years. We moved away from home in Louisiana to different states very far away (Garrett to California, Mackenzie to Kansas), then moved to Texas at different times. We'd each walked away from God, then were each separately pulled back to Him by ONLY His grace and- not so ironically in the grand scheme of things- around the same time for each of us. The odds of us, two people from a smallish town, and an even smaller school; bumping into each other at a house party of only about 15 people, 8+ hours away from our hometown, both invited by the same person (for whom Mackenzie had only met 2 weeks prior among 1000 possible other people, AND who technically went to a completely different church at the time- Garrett's church), connecting on the level we did, and falling in love with each other is truly a number so small that it would be impossible to call it only a coincidence. Had we connected during any other time in life, our story would not be the same. It would not hold the same weight, and we would not have been the people we each needed to be for the other. In God's perfect timing, He refined us in ways that were unimaginable and redeemed broken parts of us. We're still learning to walk in the Lord's grace daily, but are so abundantly grateful for His love, blessings, and sovereignty. His plans, indeed, are always better than our own. And we are so grateful that this was the way He chose to write our story- because it's allowed us to see first hand his goodness and faithfulness even in seasons of long-waiting. We've learned a strong lesson in trusting in God's timing, as He's written beautifully what we both love to call "A Great Story." And how sweet, sweet, sweet He is, for loving us enough to give us to one other to have and to hold for the rest of our lives. He knew what we each needed, exactly when we needed it in life. Our desire is to honor the Lord in all that we do, and in all the ways He's called us to serve Him; and we cannot wait to do that together in marriage. To God be all the glory forever, and ever. Amen. - Garrett & Mackenzie (P.S. We didn't coordinate or discuss with each other at all as we wrote our perspectives, so it was cool from our end to see how aligned things were and how similar the day we met actually was for both of us!!)