Jake and Halle met at Dotson Memorial Baptist Church in Maryville in the summer of 2023. Jake is a member at Dotson and a part of their young adult group. Halle was invited to a Bible study one night in Dotson’s gym, and that’s where it all began.

As time went on, we spent more time together in the group. We all went to Bible studies, worked out, played frisbee, and went to the rodeo!

Halle was going to college in Cookeville, so we spent time on the weekends together. One of the first dates we went on was a stump grinding job for Jake's business.

Jake proposed in the Dotson Memorial Baptist Church gym, where we met for the very first time and got to know each other so well. Dotson is a very special place for us. Halle was definitely surprised — she thought she was just showing up for a workout with the group! We didn’t even mean to wear our matching Woodchuck Stump Grinding shirts!

We are so thankful to God for bringing us together and all that He continues to do in our lives. He is incredibly faithful, even though we do not deserve it! We will attend Dotson together once we are married, and we want to keep serving the Lord in all the ways we can. We can't wait to see the plans that God has in store for us!