Born the second child of Bill and Sharri Emmerling, Rinnah grew up in southwest Missouri/southeast Kansas, where she developed a great love of creativity and artistry.

In an odd twist of fate, Rinnah’s family once visited Colorado for a vacation and planted the seed of a love for nature and mountain scenery. This seed took root, and once Rinnah began to live independently, she was drawn again and again to the mountains, which she has eventually come to call home.

Living in Estes Park over several summers as a seasonal resident and employee, Rinnah met many people and found that the draw of adventure was too great to wait for others to join in. Often traveling solo, she has collected many great adventures, including: learning to surf in Hawaii, dog-sledding in Canada, and touring Italy.

All the while, the draw of Colorado has remained deeply engrained in her heart, and kept bringing her back.

While living in Colorado, Rinnah took online classes from Moody Bible Institute, and for a school assignment had to interview a pastor. Little did she know, the pastor she chose to interview was the senior pastor of the church that she would eventually call her church home, and would also be where she would meet someone special.

Fourth in a line of six children born to Erle and Debbie Ross, Caleb is a true native born in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Being raised surrounded by mountains instilled a deep love of nature and beauty in Caleb, as well as an imagination full of dragons hiding in caves and hoarding gold in the hidden valleys of his homeland.

Despite his love of mountains, Caleb spent some time in southwest Missouri when he went to Ozark Christian College and achieved a BACM, with a focus on New Testament theology and preaching. While in Missouri, the experience of midwest nature reinforced his preference for the mountains he was raised in, and so when circumstances brought him back to Colorado he was only too willing to make the journey home.

Utilizing his Bible education and deep love for the church he grew up in, Caleb eventually started working at the Christian Church of Estes Park, where he would eventually meet an unexpected and delightful addition to his life.

The first step of our story together begins at church.

Both Caleb and Rinnah were raised in Christian households, and both came to their own faith in their teenage years. The walk of faith has been a challenge in its own way for both, but the rock of Christ has never been far from their feet.

Meeting in the Christian Church of Estes Park, during a church picnic event, Caleb and Rinnah interacted personally for the first time, despite having been attending the same church for a few weeks at that point.

Caleb's first impression of Rinnah was surprise, since she was able to understand and accurately replicate a method of completing a task with only one demonstration where others took several. But he didn't give much thought at the time.

Rinnah's first impression of Caleb was one of a scholarly hermit who played video games and read books in a cave with no real sense of humor to speak of.

Neither had a particular interest in pursuing a relationship with each other at the time, though God had other plans in store.

As Rinnah continued to attend CCEP, she started attending the Bible Background classes that Caleb was teaching. Caleb was delighted to have a new student, and especially one so engaged in the material with excellent questions and perspectives during discussions.

It was during these classes that Rinnah began to catch Caleb's eye as an intelligent and humorous woman, and it was here that Rinnah began to be intrigued by Caleb as a potential good friend. Neither realized that they would get along far better than just as friends.

Within a year, Caleb and Rinnah had both realized that the other was a potential candidate of life partner, and the slow dance of courtship began to take root.

When both Caleb and Rinnah realized there was a mutual interest, there was quite a bit of fear. Neither was looking for, expected, or even desired a relationship. God's hand was at work, though, and within a few months of beginning their relationship, and through several spiritual experiences for both of them, Caleb and Rinnah felt God guiding them to come together.

Caleb's spiritual experience came primarily in the form of a 3 day fast. Seeking God's will in all things is important to Caleb, and so he sought God's wisdom and guidance about a relationship with Rinnah from God. The process of the fast was meant to come up with different plans of action, and pursuing the one that he felt God led him to. In his surprise, the answer to the paths he set before God came within a day after he finished his fast - a solid response to pursue Rinnah.

While Caleb's experience was while fasting, Rinnah had her own unique spiritual experience. Filled with fears and concerns over the idea of getting into a relationship, Rinnah spent time talking to God about Caleb and whether or not the relationship would be within God's will. Each day Rinnah focused on these fears and concerns, God responded with a clear answer. In the end, Rinnah's answer was to draw close to Caleb, and pursue a relationship with him.

A few months into the relationship, a conversation came up in which these spiritual experiences were explored. To the surprise of both, these experiences occurred at the exact same time. With the knowledge that God had orchestrated a spiritual experience for both Caleb and Rinnah at the same time, leading them both to the same conclusion, solidified the belief that God has drawn these two souls together. What the Lord brings together, let no man separate.

The process has been a delightful one - though not always an easy one. God has worked a long time on both Caleb and Rinnah, and while He is not finished with them, the time is right for the two to become one, and grow into a masterpiece together.

Honorary story (courtesy of our life group):

*caveman grunt* "Me see woman. Me want woman." *bonk with club* "My woman." *drags her off to a cave*

Her story:

We had a shopping trip planned in the valley on the way Caleb pulled off onto this sketchy dirt road and parked the car. Then he drug me up a mountain and shoved a rock on my hand.

His story:

I took the time to learn what Rinnah's favorite hikes were. I had thought there would be one, but with a soul as adventurous and outdoorsy as her, I shouldn't have been surprised that there were a couple options.... In any case, I suggested a month or so beforehand that we should go on a hike sometime soon. The reason I gave was because it had been a while since we'd gone on a hike of any sort, and she needed to take the time to enjoy nature and refresh a bit. The real reason was so that I could propose to her in one of her favorite spots.

The time came around on March 1st, when it was sunny and warm and there wasn't a ton of stuff to do on the schedule. I suggested we take a short hike to help relax after several high-stress weeks.

The hike is in the National Forest, and the trailhead is about halfway down highway 34 from Estes to Loveland - it seemed perfect, because Rinnah wanted to go shopping in the Front Range. Two birds, one stone kind of deal. The hike was more or less a walk, taking about an hour - and the views at the top were spectacular.

While Rinnah was facing away, looking at the mountain range, I pulled out the ring, making sure that it was snug in its box. After a couple minutes of enjoying the beauty of God's creation, I decided it was time, got down on one knee and asked her to marry me.

She said yes, otherwise we wouldn't be here - but she and I weren't the only ones excited: the ring tried to jump out of the box when I opened it. Clearly it wanted to be on her finger really badly.