Our story started so long ago that there is really no beginning.

About two months before he proposed, Dustin sent flowers to my office with a card that said “Our love is a story.” He was using a few sweet words to convey what we had been thinking and praying about since May of last year…the story of us and where it was headed.

If I knew the beginning of our story this would be the place to talk about it, but I don’t remember how we met. I don’t remember how we met because since day one of my life, Dustin has been in it. At the time, our friendship may have been a matter of convenience for our mothers. I suppose our families were the only people from Broken Arrow attending Asbury in the late 80s/early 90s so that made car-pooling to preschool a high priority, particularly since we lived in the same neighborhood.

In preschool, we introduced each other to fundamental differences in boy families and girl families. One has giant plastic pipes for building forts. The other has plastic tiaras and sparkly clothes for playing dress up. I remember thinking the Curzons had such strange toys and none of them were pretty. I’m confident Dustin wondered why all my toys were so dainty, pink and generally not conducive to the outdoors. I even remember being chased on the playground and told that the giant hole Dustin and another boy were digging was to bury me in.

When the Curzons moved a few miles south, we followed them. We followed them right across the street, perhaps so the car-pooling could carry on to middle school and eventually Dustin could turn 16 and start driving me to church on Sunday evenings in the beloved green Chevy truck. Those days we were always friends.

The courtyard at old Asbury holds a lot of significance for Dustin and me. We have taken quite a few pictures over the years on Easter Sundays standing on a rock in that courtyard. At the time those pictures were to appease our mothers, but now those pictures are for us. Dustin proposed in the courtyard on November 13, 2009.

We’ll spare you the details between the Chevy truck and the courtyard because our hope is that this story will not be solely about us. Our story involves people that have influenced us along the way with their wisdom, humor, and most importantly faith. It begins with the roots our parents planted for us in the church, roots that have guided us through wandering college years and given us unmatched community in our young adult years. Most importantly these roots have given us faith in a God whose wisdom and sovereignty are the central themes of our story. If we share our story, we want to share about who God is and what great things He has done for us. Even in times of confusion or hardship, we believe he was working on our hearts to make them more like His and point us toward each other.

We pray that when you join us on August 21, 2010 for the covenant ceremony of our marriage the music, the white dress, the promises will all remind you of a God who is faithful , a God who longs to be compassionate to us and who called us to marriage so that we can tell others about our story and give every ounce of credit to Him.

“I am overwhelmed with joy in the LORD my God! For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness. I am like a bridgegroom in his wedding suit or a bride with her jewels. The Sovereign LORD will show his justice to the nations of the world. Everyone will praise him! His righteousness will be like a garden in early spring with plants springing up everywhere.”

Isaiah 61: 10-11

Love,

Dustin and Emily