BEWARE!!! ⚠️ This is practically a book!

Our story began 12 years ago at a mutual friend’s 4th of July party. Our parents met, and hit it off quickly!!! They enjoyed talking and getting to know each other that evening.
The Calderon kids, however, didn’t have many friends at the party. Stephanie strongly encouraged Denae to come and introduce herself to me (which was something Nae did not want to do, and wouldn’t have if her Mama had given her an option!). My (Alyssa’s) first impression of Denae was that she was mature when I noticed her caring for her younger siblings. Her first impression of me was that I was spunky because I wasn’t afraid to go on the volleyball court with the big kids. 😂 Denae likes spunk and I like maturity, so we didn’t have much trouble becoming friends! Stephanie also asked Daniel to play with Austin. They didn’t hit it off so well…according to Austin, all Daniel wanted to do was play with sticks and sword fight. And according to Daniel, all Austin wanted to do was play and talk about football! 😂 I honestly don’t really remember Austin…although I may have a vague recollection of the fact that Daniel was playing with him. Little did any of us know that our new friends would become our best friends…❤️

We continued to spend time together as families here and there over the next few years. I remember making a blanket for Natalie’s baby shower. Denae wanted my family to come over for her 14th birthday party-and that is when something happened on Austin’s side…

I (Austin) remember noticing Alyssa at that party. I can’t say there was really an “I like you“ but I had a random thought about how she was a nice girl and I would probably marry her someday. After thinking that I thought I must have done something wrong and went to have a special conversation with dad about my random thought.😂 We were still just kids though, and I didn’t think that much of it. Deep down I felt like she was the one, but it didn’t effect our relationship yet.

For me (Alyssa), there were no strange thoughts at the party. I truly don’t remember the first time I really noticed Austin in a special way. It is like he kinda faded into my life. …I know that I started thinking about him more seriously in 2016. He finally hit his growth spurt that year and passed me up in height. He was also really maturing, and the little boy I always played with had suddenly become a young man…

But I am skipping a few years. In March of 2014 the Calderon’s moved across the street from us. The following years are full of wonderful memories! We played endless rounds of Spyteam (hide-n-seek and tag combined in a competitive team game [Austin and I were always on the same team😂]), enjoyed playing in the pool, and having water fights. We played speedy games of Dutch Blitz (Austin was a much slower player if we pulled out tortillas for him to munch on, but we weren’t on the same team so slowing him down was fun😂). We worked in the garden, and were rather proud of the fact that we were tough country kids. As families, we became best friends. Daniel and Austin bonded closely, and Denae and I also grew very close. As a group, they called us THE FOUR and we had lots of fun together! One thing that is funny from that time is that Austin viewed me as a babysitter because Nae and I were often watching the kids!😂 We called each other’s parents Aunt and Uncle and called each other cousins because it seemed more personable than saying Mr. and Mrs. all the time…but we aren’t actually related!😉😂

So when the little boy I had always played with passed me up in height I realized he was no longer a little boy. Bummer. That caused some problems! I liked him-but I was determined that we were only going to have a brother-and-sister-in-Christ relationship. I didn’t want to hurt a friendship, or dishonor my parents in any way. But the bottom line was that we were both determined to follow the LORD. Not only were we way too young to start a relationship, but we were both fully aware that God might have other plans for our lives. We didn’t want to get in the way of His plans, or make a decision that we would regret later. So we were both slightly restrained, but still enjoyed a casual friendship for several more years.

Summer of 2019 began to get a little stickier for me. It was getting more and more challenging to maintain our “casual friendship” because we both liked each other and we both knew it (well…I tried to convince myself otherwise😂). We were both teased about the other (sometimes with the other one present!) more and more frequently, which caused extra awkwardness. Determined to not move until God clearly said go (and we were still too young to start a relationship) we both began to withdraw. Avoiding each other seemed the best way to handle the situation, especially in group settings. I tend to think logically, and I was definitely not going to become emotionally attached to someone unless I knew we were headed for the marriage alter. So I started to look for reasons why a relationship wouldn’t work. It would have been easier to just stay friends if I knew we could never get married. The problem is…I couldn’t find one, and I sensed the LORD wanted me to just stay put and trust Him to lead us together or not, in His timing.

November of 2019 was big. I had a conversation with Denae, where she told me Austin’s timeline and intentions. The good news-it was a couple of years out. I didn’t have to worry about it right then. I knew he was handling it with maturity, and not going to move until God said to. He was surrendered. The bad news-now I could in no way deny his interest. But at least I knew I had plenty of time to think about it. (If you can’t tell, we are both very slow!).

I (Austin), was always getting teased about Alyssa. I didn’t want it to look like I liked her if God had other plans. So I began to withdraw more and tell myself “if” it ever happened, it would be years away. And I was trying to stay surrendered to God’s will. But I felt like the more I tried to distance myself the more God was impressing her on my heart. This led to tons of talks with my parents. I’m so grateful for their wisdom and guidance. In August of 2019 I heard through the grape vine the there was the possibility of Alyssa having some interest in a young man out of state. I feel like that caused me to admit that I really did have feelings for her. I continued to give her to God, but it did hurt. So I totally detached myself from her in any way other then just a brother/sister-in-Christ relationship. Until November, when I found out that that was just a rumor and wasn’t going to happen. I remember feeling kinda shocked when I heard that because I expected Alyssa to marry this other guy and I had totally detached myself emotionally from her. I remember going upstairs and praying “Lord, what are You doing??? Did You do that just to test me and make sure I was still choosing You over her?” I was super confused. But I remember the Lord telling me very clearly “This is my will, prepare for it.” It was so clear that there was no question in my mind what His will was. But I had no idea He would move me to start the relationship when He did!

The beginning of the year started off with us (the Fleshman’s) moving into our new house. I was seeking the LORD for direction on what He wanted me to focus on. At the time I was busy at home, and I felt that He spoke to me through a passage in Numbers. The Israelites were following the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night. They moved when it moved, and stopped and made camp when it stopped. The Bible clearly says that they didn’t know if they would be in the same place for two days or for a year. I felt that He was impressing on me to follow Him in the same way-content where He had me, but ready to move on when He said to move. Shortly after that, He directed me to “follow the cloud” by working a couple days a week for our dear friends and adopted grandparents-the Swadley’s. But I had no clue that He had another move in mind…

Austin was also working on projects for the Swadley’s, so we had quite a bit of time working together. We started with talking about light topics (those awkward “So…how’s the weather?” conversations🤪). We moved on to discuss different convictions, and our relationships with the LORD. It was during these times together that I found myself surprised at Austin’s depth. I couldn’t deny that the qualities that were the absolute most important to me were definitely evident in his life. He loved the LORD, was surrendered to Him, and was a man of character. I would go home and have long conversations with my parents, who have always loved Austin and were glad that I was having this opportunity to get to know him better.

I (Austin) started working at the Swadley’s about the same time Alyssa did. Most of my work was landscaping and remodeling the basement so at first we didn’t have much interaction. But after awhile our assignments for the day were in the same room, or we would run Grandpa Swadley to the store and he would send us inside to grab something. (Grandpa is a master matchmaker 😂) It was extremely awkward because we didn’t even always greet each other at church, but at the same time I was interested in getting to know this young woman on a deeper level.

The only problem was that now the cat was completely out of the bag-everyone knew there was an interest, and it was openly discussed. So if life wasn’t awkward before, it was now! I (Alyssa) began to get more and more of a hunch that we would start a relationship way sooner than either of us intended…which was something I did not want to do. I found myself praying and journaling a lot, seeking His will. My plan was to wait, but the LORD continued to confirm His plan-to move. It was a time of surrender for me. Giving up my plan for His, and choosing to trust and follow despite my fears. Around this time, working with the Swadley’s ended for me, and I was able to use the extra time to think and pray.

I (Austin ) was having frequent conversations with my parents about Alyssa. They gave me their full blessing and told me they felt like Alyssa was the one. This was a huge decision I had been praying about but I wanted to set aside a month to pray and do some fasting. I also texted and asked her dad if he would be willing pray with me about the possibility of us starting a relationship.
After that month I had an incredible peace about starting a relationship. But I was quite nervous about talking to Dad Fleshman. I was so sick 😂 (He’s amazing by the way). I stated my intentions and he said he would like to get to know me on a deeper level. We kept talking for a month or so and then he gave me his blessing to start dating his daughter!!! 😁😍🥳😱🤢
(We still have talks and I’ve grown to respect him very much. Couldn’t ask for a better father-in-law!)

When Daddy gave the go ahead, Austin called me (that phone call was 25 seconds long!) and asked me to meet him at the fence…where he asked if I would be willing to talk more and start getting to know each other in a deeper way. (That picture of us at the fence in the photos section was taken during this conversation). I (obviously) said yes.😉 We enjoyed starting a friendship, both knowing what the end goal was, but able to just focus on being friends. It was during this time that our families vacationed together in Arkansas. So yes, we went to Arkansas and shortly afterward started “courting our cousin!”😂
After about a month of enjoying a friendship, we were ready to “officially”start a relationship. With our parents blessing, Austin asked if I was willing to start a relationship (which of course I was!). We had discussed a lot of important topics during that first month as friends, and were excited to call our relationship what it had quickly become-which was more than a casual friendship.
Over the next 10 months, we gradually grew closer, asked and answered a lot of questions, and spent time praying and reading God’s Word together. We found that we are amazingly similar, but definitely have some differences as well. We had some hard conversations, some super fun times, and fell in love. Well, Austin was in love from the start. It took me a while-I tend to be a bit logical and wasn’t quite in favor of losing my mind as lovebirds tend to do. But he was so patient with me. The way that Austin loved me (and kept loving me!) before I really loved him was an amazing example of Christ’s love for us. It is a love that we can never repay. A love that suffers long and gives without reciprocation. A love that bears all things and endures all things. It took me a while because I am stubborn and slow, and God knew that I needed a very sweet, sensitive, and patient guy to wait for me to catch up! But I am head over heels now.😜
I (Austin) loved every moment of our courtship! I loved getting to know Alyssa in such a personal way. We have so many good memories with each other and our families! It’s not that every moment has been spent in the clouds, and there were definitely some hard conversations. But God knew I needed a someone like Alyssa and He’s used her to grow me in so many ways. She’s been so patient with me as I learn how to be a leader and love her like Christ loves His church. I’m so grateful God is giving us to each other. She’s so sweet, sensitive to my needs, she’s a blast to be around, she loves me unconditionally, and she’s beautiful. But the thing I love the most about Alyssa is her heart and love for God. She challenges me so much spiritually! I’m so blessed and thankful to have her in my life. She’s one in a million!😉

On June 10th, 2021, I met with Alyssa’s parents to ask Gil’s permission to marry his daughter. Even though I was asking her dad, I wanted both parents to be there. We both cried and he gladly gave me his blessing to marry Alyssa and get engaged. I then started planning how I was going to ask Alyssa to marry me. I wanted everything to be perfect! But I couldn’t exactly go ask her how she wanted to me propose.😂 Her parents were a big help with this because Alyssa shares her heart with them. I found out that she was hoping I would propose at our land. So I started working on setting up the perfect proposal. The parents and I came up with a brilliant plan to get her out to the land without being suspicious. But then it poured rain all day! 🙃 So I had to move it to the next weekend. God worked everything for good! On July 4th, we got together with the Fleshman’s for lunch after church. When we had finished eating, Daniel (my best man) was going to casually mention going out to the land because it had been awhile since any of them had seen it. All of the older siblings in both families were in on the plan and would agree to go do that. The parents would be “tired” and hang back and bring the littles out a little while after we left. So I’m sitting there eating lunch trying really hard to be myself. (Because I can’t eat when I am nervous or stressed, I went without breakfast that morning so I would be able to get seconds at lunch). Everything was going according to plan. We ate lunch and then headed out to the land. I thought Alyssa might be a little suspicious but she didn’t really seem like she knew for sure. We arrived at the land and I told her I made a new trail I wanted her to see. So we led the way with everyone tagging along getting left a little further and further behind. I had plenty of things along the trail to give them something to be sidetracked with. Cow bones etc. After we crossed the bridge that Dad and I built to go over our creek, she smiled at me and said, “You sure are in a hurry.“ At that moment I felt my countenance beaming and I told her “I am.” We rounded the corner and there I had a little table set up with a picture of us, a bouquet of flowers, and the ring. I also had a swing under a big branch in the middle of the path with white tulle draped over it. We both stopped and she said, “Ohhhh…my…word.”After just staring at it for a second, we walked over and I took her hands and told her I loved her for the very first time. (We had agreed to wait until engagement to say, “I love you.”) I told her how I felt about her for a couple of minutes before I got down on one knee, and asked her if she would marry me. She began to cry and said “YES!” Then we settled down on the swing and prayed together for the first time as a engaged couple. I will cherish that memory forever! We sat for a few minutes talking and praying, then we made our way to the front of the property where both of our families were waiting (some of them rather impatiently😂). I threw her left hand in the air and they shouted for joy! There were a lot of big hugs and a few tears shed, but everyone was so happy! We headed home and grilled out for supper, went to go see some fireworks, then came back for ice cream! It was one of the best days of my life! I’m so grateful for all God has done for us and how He has so faithfully led us. We are both so excited to see what he has planned for us in the future!


Alyssa’s version of the proposal!😂

On July 4, 2021, twelve years after we met, we greeted each other like usual at church and our families had lunch together. I knew that he might propose at any time, so I was watching!! But when he ate seconds for lunch (he can’t eat when he is stressed or nervous) I figured is probably wasn’t happening that day…
I didn’t really feel like going to the land, but of course I was going to go. I went upstairs and got freshened up (for just in case😉😉😉) and said goodbye to both moms. I figured if Austin was planning to propose I would pick it up by sensing excitement or something in them, but they were both very chill (so again I thought, okay, probably not). We climbed in Stonewall (Austin’s truck) and headed out…
When we got to the land, we walked around the clearing, then onto a new trail I hadn’t seen yet. It is beautiful, with tall trees making a canopy above you. It was at this point I was noticing that Austin seemed in quite a hurry, but I had practically convinced myself it wasn’t happening, so I didn’t think too much about it. We walked through the trails and then across the bridge with Nae and Ty and the gaggle of siblings behind us. Finally at the bridge I commented, “You seem in an awful hurry!” To the which he grinned……and we rounded a corner…..

I think we both just stopped and I said, “Oh. My. Word!” It was set up beautifully, just how I wanted…he notices the little things.💕
So I said yes…and we prayed, and talked, and held hands for the first time. Then we walked back to the clearing at the front of the property where our two families had gathered and everyone hooped and hollered! Lots of hugs and smiles and pictures and a few tears. It was super sweet and special. That evening we went back to the Calderon house for hamburgers and hotdogs, then we went to watch fireworks. It was interesting and sweet to watch fireworks while there were so many fireworks going off inside of us!🎇 Afterwards we went back to the Calderon’s for an amazing ice cream bar that Nae and the girls had set up. Ice cream is both of our favorite! Before the night ended our dad’s prayed over us. It was so special and perfect.❤️
Some things that I really appreciate about Austin is how he is so steady. He is faithful, sweet, and sensitive to my needs. He takes life very seriously, but can have a fun time and make me die laughing as well! He has never been pushy, but I have never had a reason to doubt his love for God or for me either.



Our prayer is that the LORD will continue to unite us as one in Him, and that our relationship and marriage will bring Him incredible honor and glory. We are so thankful for how He has led us together, and we look forward to serving Him as a team! One of our favorite verses is James 1:17, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” He has truly given us a good gift in each other, and we are so grateful! To God be all the glory!!!