I had just moved to Dallas from California to participate in The Village Church's Training Program. It was the first weekend seminar of the year, when the director of the program made us all sing happy birthday to the sound guy. That sound guy was Wes. The next day, my table leader invited him to join us for lunch and he sat across from me. There were no magical moments, no instant connections, but on my drive back home that evening I told my friend Katie Zeller that I met this guy named Wes, he had a kind face, and I kind of hoped to be his friend. That night we dubbed him "kind-faced Wes," and I looked for him every time I came to church.

I first decided to ask Mishaela out after she started to sing in the church choir in September of 2019. Unfortunately, after her first weekend singing we did not get to see each other very often. In late October, the staff at the church had just gotten back from our annual retreat. I was at Edison (our favorite coffee shop) the next morning where Mishaela happened to be (she says she saw me instantly, and that I ignored her). I sat near a window at the front and within 10 minutes a car ran through the front of the building and pushing me, still upright, about 12 feet further into the building. This event would be irrelevant to our story except to say it was a good excuse to sit next to Mishaela and fill out my police report. Also, to give her our first hug. I still wouldn't have an opportunity to ask her out until the middle of November. I am an old fashioned guy, so I wanted to be able to ask her out in person. Eventually we found ourselves in a situation where I was able to walk her to her car after a church function and I smoothly asked for her number without her even realizing what was happening. That provided a way to finally get in touch with her. I never found a good place to ask her out face to face because our circles were so different at that point, so I called her one day and profusely apologized for asking her over the phone, but proceeded to tell her that I was very interested in her and would love to take her on a date and get to know her better.

Even though I had admired Wes from afar for over a year I was pretty hesitant at first. Wes was incredibly patient and understanding with me, and waited a full two months before I agreed to make it official. A month and a half later, Covid hit. The night before Dallas went under mandatory shelter in place Wes told me he loved me, immediately telling me he expected nothing in return. It was one of the most Christ-like examples of love I've ever experienced. We didn't get to see each other in person again for 6 weeks. It was rough, but quarantine was also when I fell in love. All we had were facetime and phone calls. We talked for hours. Things got real and deep. When we finally got to see each other again, my "I love you" came tumbling out almost involuntarily. Falling in love with Wesley has been the most unexpected event of my life. If I'm honest, he is not the man I dreamed of. When I imagined where I'd meet "the one" it wasn't a suburb of Dallas, and I certainly never would have planned to fall in love in a year like 2020. Wes is my near opposite in almost every way. I've lived around the world, Wes never left his hometown. I'm a bookworm, Wes preferes the movies. I am gentle, Wes is firm. I can't hear, but I can see. Wes can't see, but he can hear. I like to talk, Wes likes to listen. I am extremely emotional, Wes is pragmatic. I get stuck in the past, Wes constantly looks to the future. We learn from and balance one another. Wes has celebrated our differences from the beginning, and from him I've learned to do the same. I never would have imagined it, but God knew how much I needed my opposite. He has become my best friend. To love and be loved by Wesley Ashworth has been the biggest surprise and greatest joy of my life.

I didn't have a chance to meet Mishaela's family in person until the end of June at her sister's wedding. I was nervous as all get out leading up to that weekend, but Mishaela's family is wonderful and I felt like I fit right in. Since it's a rare thing for parents to be in the country, Shae and I decided to drive up to Kansas to spend some time with them in early July. While we were there I asked for her parents' blessing. They were thrilled and a week later I finalized the ring design. Unfortunately the jeweler was located overseas which meant it would take the better part of two months for the ring to get here. It finally arrived the last week of August, and the "burning a hole in the pocket" idea became all too real. Life events made finding the right moment a challenge, but my hope was to add the sentiment of engagement to something that Shae and I love to do, and will continue to do for the rest of our lives. This is how it happened... Mishaela and I love to go hammocking. It is undoubtedly our favorite past time as a couple. So on Tuesday, September the 8th, I took her to a lakeside location that we found on one of the first of our many aimless drives. We got out of the car and I immediately started to steer her towards the bank of trees nearest the spot our photographer and I had previously picked out. We were debating the distance of the trees for proper hammock use and I asked her to pause the search because I had something to tell her. I pulled her over to the grassy area next to us and began to tell her a series of inside jokes and sappy things that had us both crying. I knelt for my "last stanza," pulled the ring out of my pocket, and asked my best friend to marry me. Mishaela was speechless and could only nod her head to tell me she would be my wife. I had brunch for us, but neither of us could eat. We spent the rest of the morning attempting to take a nap in the hammock, but wound up just talking and enjoying that we were finally engaged!