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Our Story
(as told by Kyle)
the first sight
2005.06 If you can picture yourself on a beautiful Caribbean island, surrounded by clear blue sea, tropical fish, palm trees, and your church
choir then you'll be close to where Esmeralda and I were when we first really enountered one another - on a mission trip
to the United States Virgin Islands, St. Thomas to be specific. That's right! There in the midst of doing the work that God
called us to do, we were led to at least begin a friendship that will last a lifetime. You see, Esmeralda had only been coming
my church for a couple of years, at the time, and had only recently joined the church choir, with whom I've played the drums
for several years. We had acknowledged each other's presence prior to going on this trip, but we never actually engaged in much
conversation until this point. I'll have to say that it really was not planned that way - certainly we were there first and foremost
to fulfill God's call, but it just so happened that we shared a similar interest in exploring the island on our free time, which
left us wandering away together on a few different occasions. Over this time, I became enthralled with this amazing woman of God! Her
testimony is one of strife, rebellion, pain, survival, divine intervention, submission, and, finally, obedience! Simply amazing, I thought.
Each time I hear of another's conversion to Christ, I just have to stand in awe of the God of this Universe, and of the awesome blessing
He bestows on each one of our lives. So, from this point forward, I continued to learn from this woman; to try and use her experiences, trials,
and wisdom, to bolster my own faith. And what a joy it has been ever since!
the courtship
2005.10 With four months of a growing friendship under our belts, and with several changes haven taken place in both our lives, we came to a point
where we felt we would like to have more than just a friendship, but not simply a casual dating relationship, either. We chose, instead, to begin
courting. Courting? If you're like many, you may be asking yourself what courting is. Well, from my experience, courtship is different things to
different people, so let me try to explain it as how we define it in our relationship. Courtship, to us, is a dating relationship with an intentional
purpose of determing whether we, as a couple, are compatible for marraige. Neither one of us were looking for someone to just hang out with, or
to make out with, or to make us feel less lonely - we were looking for someone we felt that God may be calling us to in a marriage. To us, the casual
dating that is so prevalent in modern western society has left many people believing that marraiges are not permanent - that, just as in a dating
relationship, it is OK to break off a marraige if it gets difficult, or if you can't agree on a given issue, or if he leaves the seat up, or whatever.
Unfortunately, both of us subjected ourselves to some of this behavior in the past, but nonetheless we were very forthcoming in what we desired for our
own dating relationship, and thus we began our courtship.
the engagement
2006.05.29 Scenic imagery test #2: Picture you're in Red Rock Country, ie. Sedona, Arizona - near the Grand Canyon. You've driven on the back of an open air
jeep for the past 45 minutes, or so, headed up the side of a mountain to a scenic outlook in a gulch. Once there, you unload the picnic, and set up right on
the edge of a cliff overlooking one of the greatest landscapes in the United States. BOOM! Now you've visited the place that I popped the big question to Esmeralda
at! Yes, I pulled a little wool over eyes and 'secretly' transported her to Sedona, Arizona over Memorial Day weekend. It was on Memorial Day itself, that
we took that ride into the mountains, and in the midst of God's almighty creation, I asked her to be my wife.
Proverbs 31:10-31 was my reading of choice before
the big question, as this passage gives the very depiction of what I know Esmeralda will be as a wife of noble character. Lucky for me, she said "Yes!"
the wedding
2006.11.11 Well, we made it! After six long months of exhaustive planning, we had the most beautiful wedding in the history of wedding-having (or
at least we think so). Thanks to all of our friends and family who supported us through the whole process, and we look forward to seeing what God
has in store for our lives together!
Here's a few snapshots from the ceremony (there will be more to come!):
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