The Story of Us In Words:

The story of us is a story of many things, but perhaps the two clearest words that come to mind are love and grace. Love, because that is what we share, and Grace, partly because of Miss Grace Goodfellow, but mostly because of God’s grace. A grace evident through God crossing our paths and keeping them crossed through both triumphs and tribulations, as well as pain and hard lessons.

We first met each other in March of 2022 at Admitted Students Weekend at Indiana Wesleyan University and remained in contact prior to the beginning of our college careers. Through that summer and into the start of the semester, our friendship blossomed. For us, this was a time of sharing highs and lows, making dream vacation plans, competing in game pigeon games, and getting to know each other as friends. This time wasn’t all rosy, but it is something we both cherish immensely.

For those who don’t know what comes next, we started dating in November of 2022. One thing to know about our relationship is that it’s one in which first moves were made by both parties. For example, Andrew initiated the first kiss and proposed, while Grace was the first one to bring Andrew home to her family. When it comes to dating, however, it was Grace who made the first move by floating Andrew the question, “Are you ever more than just nice, or are you just a really friendly guy?” Long story short, I certainly was…we both were :)

Since our freshman year, we’ve grown a lot together…in our relationship, in our faith, and in our callings. Like all relationships, in the years we’ve been together, there have been some constants as well as some changes. Although our 2 am taco bell runs have gotten fewer and farther between, we have continued to try our best to honor God in our relationship. Although our talks of what the future holds have increased, our relationship maintains a childlike joy and simplicity. Although we have begun to prepare more and more for our forever, our loyalty and devotion to one another in the everyday moments has remained firm.

For those who know us well, the next bit of the story should not come as new information. But recently, one of the things we’ve spent much time reflecting on is our loves. We know that the things we love shape who we are, so in a section about “the story of us,” we can hardly think of a better way for us to share about who we are than in sharing the things we love. So join us in looking at these 10 things we love together:

*Each other. Hopefully this is a given since we’re getting married!

*All the wonderful people in our life who support us, love us, and encourage us. Yes, that includes you, dear reader! We love you and are so thankful for all of our family and friends.

*God. There is truly no better example of how to love one another than the example of Christ. Neither of us would be here without His love, patience, mercy, and kindness.

*Nature. Whether it’s hiking the Appalachian Trail, reading about the different animals of the Arctic, or teaching biology, we love God’s creation immensely and love to spend time in its beauty.

*Skyline Chili. This should come as no surprise to those who know Andrew well, but yes, even Grace is crazy for those chili dogs.

*Justice. Although our world today has a lot of good in it, there is a lot of brokenness too. We care deeply about mercy and justice for all people, especially for those often overlooked.

*Simplicity. We are low maintenance people who appreciate the little things in life much more than fancy gadgets and toys (unless we are talking about backpacking gear lol).

*Clearance Aisles. You really just can’t pass up a good bargain.

*Deep Conversations. One thing we both enjoy is really getting to know people and wrestling through the challenges of life together.

*Learning. Although we have our own preferred areas of study and Grace perhaps shows her passion in this area a bit more, we are generally curious people who love to learn about people, places, connections, and events.

So after spending some time reading about how we’ve met, how we’ve grown, and some things we love, we now arrive at the point, what’s next? To us both, one of the most beautiful things about the story of us is that it is still unfolding. We don’t know exactly what the future holds, but if we know that it will be full of love. It will be full of simple joys. It will be full of making mistakes and ample forgiveness. It will be full of so many of the special people and places that make our lives so full. So although we don’t know the next chapters of the story of us, we are trusting in a good God who has a plan, and that’s confident enough to make us know we’ll be just alright. And more than alright at that 🙂

With so much love,

The Waples