Christopher Shea and Bethany Wangler met at church around January 2022 (although Bethany is convinced she met Chris before she moved to Idaho). They became friends, slowly getting to know each other. Christopher thought Bethany was pretty cool and considered possibly doing something about that, but before he could decide to, Bethany came to the horrifying realization in the autumn of 2022 that she had feelings for him. She was really not interested in a relationship at the time.

After half a year of praying for her feelings to go away, Bethany was convicted that God was asking her to be courageously honest with Chris. She nervously confessed this to him, and he responded, "Huh."

Thus ensued a very confusing summer, during which time Chris prayed through whether he should reciprocate Bethany's affections or not, while Bethany tended to a broken heart and tried to move on.

Then, one day at the end of summer, just as Bethany was ready to move on, Chris asked Bethany to meet up with him. (Well, he texted to ask if he could call to ask her a question, then called to ask if they could meet up so he could ask her something. Altogether a very stressful experience for at least one of the parties involved). They got coffee at the Flying M, where Chris courageously shared his journey of seeking God's wisdom and his desire to spend time with her.

"Spending Time Together" was a trying time for Bethany and Chris. Bethany had to continually rely on God for help with severe anxiety, and it forced her to confront whether she truly believed that God was capable of resurrection: either resurrecting her relationship with Chris, or resurrecting her heart if things went poorly. Chris knew how Bethany felt, and he wrestled through whether to pursue an actual dating relationship or potentially hurt her more, which he certainly did not want to do.

On November 22nd, 2023, Chris and Bethany parted ways for Thanksgiving celebrations. As Chris rode to Washington, he decided he was ready to commit to a dating relationship with Bethany. Reading a letter full of words of affirmation from Bethany, he knew he couldn’t wait to tell her that. He texted her a beautiful love letter expressing his appreciation for her and readiness to commit to dating.

Throughout their fourteen months of dating, Chris and Bethany had to grow a lot. Both learned better how to communicate and slowly began learning how the other person functions. Chris supported Bethany through a very difficult year, including the loss of a job, housing challenges, unemployment, and more. They had to confront the ways sin habits were harming them and their relationships and confess to each other, which drew them closer together. Chris learned to be more selfless, and Bethany learned to be more patient. As a running joke between them, one person would say something they wished they could do (such as have someone to help pay rent) and the other would say “We could if we were married.”

Finally, in January 2025, Chris shared that he was ready to marry Bethany. There was a very exciting month of ring shopping and preparation, in which Bethany waited on tenterhooks for Chris to actually propose. She finally resigned herself to not knowing when he would propose and just focusing on one day at a time.

On Valentine’s Day, Chris and Bethany had a romantic, candlelit “concert” in his living room, watching Hans Zimmer songs on YouTube and eating mint ice cream. At the end of their concert, Chris fumbled around at the end of the couch (Bethany thought he was messing with cords) and said that he wished she could stay and not go home. That night, Bethany thought that she wouldn’t say the usual script, because she knew Chris knew how that would happen. She simply said, “Mmhmm, that would be nice.” Yet Chris waited, so she knew he wanted her to finish the joke. “We could if we were married,” Bethany said.

“Well in that case—” Chris whirled around and knelt before Bethany, holding up a beautiful ring— “will you marry me?”

Of course, she said yes—but she was so overwhelmed with joy that she later couldn’t remember if she’d actually responded. Thankfully, Chris was able to assure her that she did, and it was okay to say yes as many times as she wanted.

Now they are full of joy and excitement to begin their married lives together, and to celebrate this step with all those they love.