Hello, everyone!

To be completely honest, when I sat down with this wedding website, I realized that I was at a bit of a loss of how to tell our story. I didn't know if I would dive into our engagement story or one of the countless of lessons that we have learned over the last 5 years. But after thinking about it for a while, I realized the best way to tell a story is by starting at the beginning! (Wow, that sounded like the beginning of a rom com about a blogger who falls in love. Anyway, moving on!)

I know in most wedding websites, the story of the couple is typically a gushing tale of engagement. While I absolutely love that and don't think there is anything wrong with it, I wanted to take a bit of a different approach. Rather than sharing the story of our engagement, I wanted to share the story of our foundation. Which brings me to the title of this post... "Mystery Man & Encarnacion" may sound a bit like some off brand superheroes to you, but those names bring a grin to my face and some incredibly fond memories to my mind about the beginning of Jared and I's story.

For those of you who don't know, Jared and I met at a homeschool Bible study when we were in middle school. We acknowledged one another, but nothing much came of that night. (Or, so I thought.) It wasn't until two years later at a charter school in Myrtle Beach that we really got to know one another. We were a part of a group that decided to start a Bible study at school.

It was from August 2013-January 2014 that Jared Saleeby and I went from leaders in a Bible study to becoming friends. To be completely honest, I did not realize how much this young man meant to me until a ski trip we took with his youth group in late January. After hitting the slopes for a day or two, I ended up twisting my knee coming off of a slope. I made the call to stay at the house in order to help with meal prep and cleaning... and Jared Saleeby opted to stay with me. It was that afternoon of vacuuming, talking, and laughing about Nacho Libre that I realized this young man had become a best friend and someone I wanted to know everything about. I also couldn't ignore the butterflies that were in my stomach anytime he looked at me.

Now... I have something to confess... Jared and I were both in relationships at the time. (Dun, dun dun!) It was during that ski trip that I realized I wasn't 100% certain about the man I was currently with, which wasn't fair to that man. Fast forward two weeks and I had ended things with this guy. Ironically, in those two weeks, Jared also ended things with the girl he had been with.

I know a lot of people hear that part of our story with suspicion, but I can honestly say that we did not know the other one was planning on ending their relationship and neither of us were looking to start a new relationship.

Now, back to the narrative... Jared and I continued growing closer in our friendship. We exchanged phone numbers and began talking quite frequently. One of the things I valued the most about my relationship with Jared was that we would often ask how we could be praying for one another. It was through prayer for this man that I began to see Jared as my best friend. It was also through sharing prayer requests that I found out he was beginning to develop feelings for someone. I'll never forget the text where he asked for me to pray for clarity about some feelings he was beginning to recognize for someone. My heart raced and I asked if he minded sharing the name of this girl... his response was that he wasn't exactly sure how things would develop and would rather just call her "Encarnacion". (Encarnacion is one of the main characters from Nacho Libre.) A part of me ached a bit at the thought of praying for this girl he was beginning to like, but I wanted my best friend to be happy and I agreed to be in prayer for his heart in regards to her.

It was then that I realized if I was praying for clarity over his heart about this girl, maybe he could pray for clarity for my heart... regarding my developing feelings for him... it sounded crazy, but I also figured it was worth a shot. My response to his request was that I would most certainly honor it/pray for him and Encarncion. I then told him I was facing a similar situation and asked for prayer regarding my feelings toward a "Mystery Man". He agreed and we began to pray. From February to May of 2014 we occasionally checked in on the other regarding their feelings towards "Encarnacion" and "Mystery Man". At each update, I was torn by excitement that he was feeling more confirmed in his feelings towards this woman... but confusion, because I was feeling more confirmed in my feelings towards him and did not entertain the thought I could possibly be this "Encarnacion".

Well, May 19th, 2014 was the last day we checked in about "Encarnacion" and "Mystery Man". The night before, Jared asked if I could come over after school to talk. I was a bit confused by this request, but readily agreed. I got ready for school the morning of the 19th with the afternoon's conversation the only thing on my mind. (I don't think I learned a thing in school that day.) When I got to Jared's house, I walked in and was greeted by a nervous looking Jared Saleeby. He asked if I wanted to go on a walk and I said yes.

We got approximately 25 steps into our walk when he asked if I remembered meeting at a homeschool Bible study in middle school. I laughed and said I remembered. We talked about how crazy it was that we had met then, but had taken a few years to actually become friends. He then got rather serious and said that his dad had always told him that if he was going to like someone, he should wait and watch how they lived their lives. Jared talked about how his dad encouraged him to pray for the woman he liked and to observe how she lived before diving into anything.

I will forever remember him turning to me on that walk and saying, "Not to be weird, but I've been observing how you live your life. I've been praying for you and I've actually asked you to pray for me... I should just go ahead and tell you... you're Encarnacion." I immediately blurted out that he was "Mystery Man", to which he responded with a laugh, a hand to his chest, and a comment about how thankful he was that worked out. We spent the next 3 hours walking circles around his neighborhood and talking about how we would move forward in our relationship.

Now, the reason I share all of this is because I love and value the foundation we were given by the season of "Mystery Man" and "Encarnacion". That season in our relationship allowed us to pray for one another.... without actually knowing we were praying for one another. I know I can be long-winded in my stories and explanations of the seasons of Jared & I's story, but I didn't want to miss any detail. I love that we spent months cultivating a best friend relationship. I love that God gave us a foundation built upon Him & prayer. As we reveal in this season of engagement, I don't want to forget the season of building a foundation. The story of our engagement is a dear one, but it is one that could not have occurred without the story of "Mystery Man" & "Encarnacion".

One of the things Jared and I discussed on that first walk was the importance of running after Christ with your whole being. And as you run, to take time every now and then and glance at the people surrounding you. Then turn your eyes straight back to the Lord and continue running. After a few times of observing those running next to you, it is then wise to begin taking note of the people who are consistently running beside you. That day, Jared talked about how he had been striving to do that and the last few times he had looked around, I was running next to him. That statement humbled me and pushed me to run with even more fervency towards our God.

Fast-forward to 5 years later. I am striving to run after Christ and, to be honest, there are days I do such a terrible job at pursuing the Lord. I tend to get caught up in the stress of college and obsess over the details of day to day worries. But it is my goal to pursue the Lord every day. To run to my Creator and First Love with my whole being. Every now and then, I glance around... and you know something? Jared Saleeby is either right next to me or up a head.

This season of engagement has already swept me up in the temptations to fixate on venue details, reception menus, and bridal party attire... but an ever grounding (and ever humbling) truth is that Jared and I are about to embark on a marriage covenant. In a lot of ways, we're still "Mystery Man" & "Encarnacion"... two kids who still strive to pray for one another, run towards Christ side-by-side, and develop a deeper best friendship everyday.

Our story is only our story because of our pursuit of Christ first and our pursuit of one another through Christ's guidance/prayer. We can't take any credit for it, but wow, we are so thankful.

I think those are all the words I have to say... I so hope those of you who stuck around to read the whole thing enjoyed hearing my heart. I'm honestly really humbled to write about our story/foundation, because it is such a reminder that Christ alone makes the incredible love I have for this man possible. ((Because, wow, without the Lord, I would have screwed this up a long time ago.))

Here's to a lifetime of building upon a foundation set up on Christ by two dorks who called themselves "Mystery Man" & "Encarnacion".

P.S. I hope you enjoy the first picture ever taken of the two of us that preceded this post.