Welcome to our wedding website! We are so glad you are here and are thrilled you are considering attending our wedding! We realize many of you will know us separately, so we wanted to share with you a little bit of our story as a couple. We’ve been so humbled and surprised at how God brought us together and wanted to share a little snapshot of how it all happened!

Todd and Jess first met in late 2020 when Jess started working at her current Starbucks location between Memorial Park and downtown Houston. Jess always supervised closing shifts, so she was there when Todd started dropping by every six weeks or so. Little did she know that he was stopping in to decompress after his cancer treatment appointments in the Med Center, where he routinely had to go to monitor his chronic leukemia. All she knew was that he would always get a trenta unsweet green tea and a birthday cake pop and try to start a conversation with her. Todd, of course, works on cars (Jess calls him the “car surgeon” because he is a master at body work and can bring a car back from the dead😊), and after a few visits, he shared a story of how he had recently wrecked his green 1997 BMW. Well, he didn’t wreck it --the brakes failed on the West Loop, and the car was nearly totaled—but Jess only heard “wrecked BMW” and decided he was reckless. She decided after hearing that that she was not interested in a guy who “wrecked cars” and put him on the shelf, so to speak, for the next year and a half. Todd would still visit after every trip to the Med Center, but things did not progress.

Then came 2021. Todd was hospitalized in April after having an adverse reaction to the chemo drugs that stopped his heart (he still credits a miracle for saving his life when that happened). He was in the hospital for three weeks. The next time he visited Starbucks, he shared with Jess what had happened and that he was under treatment for leukemia. She felt terrible about it, but as he says himself, he knew that that was not yet the season to be dating anyone. He continued to stop by after his treatments, but the hospital visit had really taken a toll, and he was just trying to survive while running his business at that point. He, too, put any interest he had for her on the shelf.

Meanwhile, in 2021 also, Jess started a 3-year Master’s program while working full time. Outwardly, she was busy, but inwardly, she was fighting a strong desire that had been there for years to get married. She was in a 7-year season of singleness in which the Lord had provided many rich friendships. In 2019 at Hope Church, dear friends had prayed and fasted with her that the Lord would provide a spouse. But by the time she met Todd, several years had passed without anyone in sight. Todd also told her later that when he was in the hospital, he realized he needed someone in his life and started crying out to the Lord to provide. 2021, however, came to a close with no changes for either of them in that area.

2022 was a sweet year, however. Jess decided again to fast and pray on her own that spring for a husband. Also at work, Jess met a customer named Suzan and struck up a friendship with her. Suzan at the time worked at First Baptist, and when Jess complained to her one day of feeling like she would never find a spouse, Suzan said, “Hey, I have this great book you should read…it’s called ‘How to Get a Date Worth Keeping,’ by the counselor Henry Cloud. I’ve actually led several study groups for women on this book, and I’m not kidding, someone always gets married after reading it.” Jess was highly skeptical about reading a dating book, but she trusted Suzan and started reading the copy she gave her. It was surprisingly practical and gave great advice like “Just start talking to people and be open” and “Go on first dates, but, if the person is safe, always go on a second date, because first dates can be weird.” Jess was doing none of these things, so she committed to trying it with at least a few people. The first two attempts were complete misses, but she remembered Todd and that there had been mutual interest on both sides, so she decided to be more open with him and if it didn’t work, she would throw the book in the trash.

Well….Todd must have been doing a lot of healing in that time from the hospital stay (or maybe the Holy Spirit was setting him up for success), because the next time he came into Starbucks, he BOUNDED in. He boldly walked up to Jess, leaned very intentionally on the counter, and started a conversation with her. She was taken aback by how confident he seemed after the past few visits. Nothing was said or set in stone, but she decided to keep tabs on the situation and at least be a little more approachable.

Another week or so passed, and Todd was getting tacos one evening at what would become their favorite date spot, the Taco Stand on Shepherd Drive. After getting a meal (and a margarita---he says “for liquid courage”😊), he was on the phone with his good friend, Will, and told him, “I’m going to stop by Starbucks and see that girl.” He drove over to Starbucks and walked in 5 minutes to close. He got his tea and cake pop and settled in, but Jess was inwardly groaning. She knew she had to close shop and didn’t want to delay things for her and her barista. So she very pointedly grabbed a broom, came out into the lobby, and started sweeping. Todd did not get the hint and instead asked her what she was doing that weekend. Jess hurriedly said, “Oh you know, studying and then church on Sunday.” Todd perked up at the word “church” and told her about the singles group he went to every week at First Baptist. Jess was still skeptical but curious because not a lot of guys talk about attending a small group at a church. She suggested they meet outside work sometime, and he got her number. By the end of the night, they had set up a first date.

And…the rest is history! Almost. The first date was indeed a bit awkward…Jess had worked six days in a row and was exhausted, but Todd was sweet and patient. By the end of the first date, Jess had practically decided nothing would come of it, but Todd invited her to the singles group at First the next night. By 2pm the next day, she had decided to give it a shot. She went to the class and then to dinner with them afterward. The dinner was pleasant, but it was afterward that Jess made up her mind. She was teasing Todd about something related to his car, when his friend Rich walked up, gave him a side-hug, and said, “I just want you to know, this is a great guy.” Jess was so touched and impressed by that. Witnessing the respect and friendship between Todd and some of the guys in the group, especially Ed and Rich, Jess decided she could trust this guy. Two weeks later (at Taco Stand, of course), they decided to officially be a couple.

And now…we’re engaged! Almost. One last crazy, sweet detail that confirmed for us that the Lord was really behind all this: we had been dating for probably 4-5 months when Suzan finally came into Starbucks again. She had started working on her PhD, so she hadn’t been in in a while. Jess told her, “You’ll never guess what happened, but I started doing what your book told me, and I met someone!” In the process of describing Todd, Jess mentioned that he attended a singles group at First Baptist. “Wait,” said Suzan. “What is his name?” Jess told her, and she said, “You’ll never believe it, but Todd came to a prayer night I was at a few weeks ago and told me he had met someone and asked if I would pray over the beginning of their relationship. So I prayed for him on the spot. I had no idea that person was you!” Jess and Suzan were both in tears by this point and marveled over the kindness (and intentionality!) of God in this whole process.

If you’ve stuck it out this far and have read this entire story, first, wow. We’re impressed. And also, we just want to share how faithful the Lord has been to us in 2 years of dating and four months of engagement. Grad school is finally in the rearview for Jess. Todd got placed 2 years ago on a cutting-edge leukemia drug, and is, as far as we know, in remission. The Lord has, although it’s been a process, united our hearts on what part of town to live in after getting married and even (a miracle…literally) what church to go to, being from fairly different denominational backgrounds. We are so grateful to each and every one of you for having touched our lives in some way along our journey…we wouldn’t be here today without each of you, and we’re so very excited to celebrate our marriage with you in a few short weeks!

Love,

Todd and Jess

P.s. We also wanted to acknowledge the prayers of at least two people, Todd’s mom and Jess’ Grandmama, who is now with the Lord, in bringing us together. In the months leading up to us dating, these two were actively praying that we would find our spouse, and we know we would not have gotten to this point without the prayers of these two faithful women!