As a child, I was blessed to grow up surrounded by beautiful examples of marriage. My parents, my aunts and uncles, and my grandparents showed me what love, commitment, and partnership truly look like. Even then, I knew I wanted that someday. In their marriages I saw strength, I saw beauty, and I saw something sacred. By the time I was ten, I already longed for that same kind of love in my own life.

As I grew older, I searched for it... for love, for companionship, for the marriage I had dreamed of since childhood. But the path the Lord set before me wasn’t the one I imagined. For reasons only He fully understood, God asked me to wait. To trust Him. To believe that His timing was better than mine.

And then, on October 4th of 2025, God introduced me to Amanda.

From the very beginning, I sensed something different... something holy, something I knew God did not want me to overlook. We started slowly, but my heart recognized her quickly. It felt as though God had been writing her name on my heart long before I ever met her.

Within days, I knew. I knew she was the long-awaited promise God whispered to me in my youth. She was the love story He had been writing all along... the one I had been waiting for, praying for, trusting Him for.

In those early days, we texted constantly… and with every message, I fell more in love. I had prayed for someone who loved the Lord, someone kind and compassionate, someone intelligent and thoughtful, someone who could make me laugh, someone who could be my best friend. In Amanda, I didn’t just find those things... she exceeds them. Her heart is bigger than I ever imagined. Her character is deep and tender. Her intelligence is vast and beautiful. And in her eyes, I found the most captivating soul I have ever known.

Each day, I fall more in love with her. With every blessing God gives us, I am reminded how grateful I am for this woman He so dearly loves... the woman I will spend forever with. I love her beyond the bounds of time.

Amanda has changed my world. She is in the sun, the moon, and all my stars. And I am endlessly grateful to the Lord for His perfect timing and His perfect plan in bringing our lives together.

Caleb and I met on October 4, 2025 and I had known of him for at least 2 years before we met. His sister, Alli, is a good friend of mine and we met through work. She had been telling me about her brother off an on but I think mostly she just wanted me to come on their family Scotland trip in the summer of 2026. I was flattered but I tried to be clear that I wasn't looking to be set up and I felt like I was in a space in my life where I wasn't ready for a relationship.

My church does a concert series during the spring and summer months and I had been inviting Alli and her family to come to all of our events. Alli and her husband, Bill, had come to a couple of our dome concerts and she would periodically tell me that she was going to bring her brother but he never ended up coming. That was fine with me. I didn't want the pressure.

In the spring of 2025, I took a new job where I wouldn't have an opportunity to work with Alli anymore and at our last meeting I had mentioned to her that our church was hosting a country music festival where the proceeds would benefit the local school district fine arts department. There would be vendors and a carnival and a concert. She told me she would be there with her family, which I was very excited about but things got busy during the summer and I had forgotten that she said she would come.

When the concert day finally arrived, I was very pleasantly surprised when she walked up to my vendor booth where I was selling my handmade crochet items. I was even more surprised when she introduced me to her brother...Caleb. Honestly, I didn't think anything of it. I had no expectations. I was just meeting a new friend.

Alli, Bill, Caleb and I walked around the carnival and the vendor booths. We sat and had lunch together. We talked about my church, the events we do and why we do them and our ministry. We talked a little bit about work but I think I talked to Alli more than anyone else. Caleb seemed like a very nice man and I was grateful to get to meet him but I wasn't thinking it would be anything more than that.

Alli messaged me not long after they left asking if she could give Caleb my phone number. I decided to take the night to think about it and I didn't know this until later but Caleb was stressed about how long it took me to respond about whether he could have my phone number. I texted Alli back and told her it was okay for Caleb to have my number but that he should know that I wasn't looking for anything other than friendship.

Once we started texting, it was clear very early on that there was a connection between us. With each message we exchanged, I just wanted to know more, wanted to communicate more and felt like he was becoming my best friend.

We talked about everything and even covered some very deep topics on our first date but the thing that continued to draw me closer was his love for The Lord. The way he talked about his faith and how his entire life revolved around how he could serve The Lord and learn to be more like Him. All of the other commonalities were just icing on the cake and as we continued to get to know each other, I fell more and more in love with him.

What I feel so grateful for is how clear it was, pretty much the entire time that Caleb and I were supposed to be together. Any obstacle that may have come up, was resolved before it even became an issue. The path was and is so straight.

I love Caleb more and more every day and I am overwhelmingly grateful for him and how amazing he is. He is the perfect match for me and I am looking forward to the life we are building and all we will get to experience together.