The ‘love month’ is upon us and although my husband and I don’t really care too much about Valentine’s Day, we desired to share a little more about us with you.  As a wedding photographer I get the amazing opportunity to hear people’s love stories and it brings back such fond memories of mine own!  Along with this, Kyle and I wanted to give you some ‘practical tips’ for being intentional in your marriage.  Things we have learned and are continuing to learn and apply even now.  So each week in February we’ll be blogging those ‘practical tips’ for you!  We are both excited to be a little vulnerable with you all as well as grow with you all!!

Hope you enjoy our love story below.

Young and innocent I headed to college with goals planned out and dreams yet unseen.  I had no intention of meeting the love of my life that freshman year.  Young, yet seasoned with college days nearly over he set eyes on a short blonde haired cross country and track runner and knew he had to get to know her better.

Our story isn’t filled with romance or the fairytale dreams come true, but it’s ours and we love looking back and remembering that which brought us together; our relationship with Jesus.

One of our fondest memories and what solidified Kyle’s interest in me and what started my interest in him was the conversation we had while I was in the ice bath after a long run. (I know, how romantic, right? ;))  Hey! At least I knew by then that if he could stand the smell of me after a long hard run and continue to take interest he was a keeper!  He was a part of a Christian college ministry called The Navigators and I was in search of a ministry to get involved with.  We found out we had some connections through that ministry and instantly I wanted to find out if he was a believer, so without hesitation I popped the question!  ‘So do you know Jesus as your personal Savior?!’ I asked.  Ha!  He was a little taken aback at first, but that forwardness caught his attention :).  I was pretty fearless about my faith in high school and in college.  You could say it came ‘naturally’ to me. 

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With that simple, but profound discovery about one another, it set the tone for great and intriguing conversations in the months ahead.  We would see one another here and there and I would catch him sneaking glances over at me, but you see, I was totally oblivious!  In my mind he was ‘older’ and ‘out of my league,’ so I didn’t think too much about him.  {Sorry baby!} But little did I know that he was praying for me and about me…

To have a boy pray for you and about you without you knowing it is pretty amazing.  He knew that if I was the one he was to pursue the Lord would guide Him to it through prayer.  And I’m so so thankful that the Lord did!!

SOoo how did he FINALLY gain my interest and my attention, you might wonder?  Well, it was on a LOoong trip back from a Cross Country meet in Indianapolis on a cold October day.  He was a student athletic trainer that year for the cross country and track teams at KSU, so he was around us A LOT.  On the way back from the meet, he grabbed a seat in the bus close to mine, but not too close ;).  We had been talking here and there and knew that we had our relationship with Jesus to talk about, if nothing else, so after leaning over and around and below others to talk he finally just stood up and sat down right beside me J  It was a nice surprise.  After hours and hours of talking and getting to know one another, we discovered we had tons of things in common and I began to really appreciate his sense of humor and his kindhearted approach.  The Lord softened my heart that day.

The days that followed were simple, yet inviting.  He began messaging me on FB asking if I’d like to go on a walk through campus together, or head to the library to ‘study.’ {Yes, he pulled that card…many times}  We enjoyed time at coffee shops, Hale Library, Navigator events, and lots of fall walks.  But a few months had passed and I began to wonder what this boy’s intentions were in coming around so often…  He had yet to bring anything up about he even really ‘liking’ me, so I began to wonder, as most any girl would!  I was trying my best to protect my heart, but knew my heart was drawing a fondness to this boy, so this ‘friendship’ couldn’t continue if we weren’t on the same page.

Kyle must have read my mind because he began asking deeper questions and it wasn’t but a few weeks later that he took me out on our first ‘official’ date and there he asked if he could pursue me.  Little did I know that he had called my father over Thanksgiving break and had gotten permission from him if he could pursue his daughter!!  I was all kinds of nervous and anxious that evening, not knowing what the evening entailed, but my heart was overjoyed and ecstatic that he took the time to pray and think and consider counsel before dating me.

We dated a year, almost to the date, then he got on one knee, on the top of a hill after sending me on a 12 step scavenger hunt that was absolutely amazing, told me he loved me for the first time ever, and asked me to marry him!!  This is the story of our love and how we met.  The 12 step scavenger hunt and the proposal coming soon ;)!

Now that you know a little more about our love story, tell me ONE fond memory of how you met your love in the comments below!