Our story did not exactly begin with love at first sight.

We met while working a disaster response mission in Carrizo Springs during COVID. Stephen walked into the medical shelter looking for the charge nurse. Teka told him she was the charge nurse. Apparently, once wasn’t convincing enough, because Stephen asked for the charge nurse again. And again.

By the third time, Teka was thoroughly irritated. Stephen wasn’t exactly impressed either.

Not the most romantic beginning, but somehow, it worked.

Not long after, Stephen started finding reasons to make sure Teka came to his morning meetings. When she said she wouldn’t come for coffee because there was no Italian sweet cream, Stephen went to the tiny H-E-B in Carrizo Springs and found some.

During the days of N95 masks, he developed another strategy: peppermints. Every time he offered Teka one, she had to pull down her mask to eat it, giving him a chance to see her face.

Teka, meanwhile, was completely oblivious to the courtship. She had spent her career in a male-dominated environment and didn’t think much of Stephen’s flirting. It wasn’t until someone finally asked why Teka was the only person constantly getting candy that she began to realize something might be happening.

But what really caught her attention wasn’t the coffee or the peppermints.

It was tools.

A conversation about home renovations turned into conversations about construction, woodworking, books, work, and eventually, life. Lunches together became long phone calls. Somewhere along the way, two people who weren’t necessarily looking for each other discovered a connection neither could easily explain.

Even their first real date was perfectly imperfect. After spending hours together, they ended up at Texas Roadhouse, where a roach made an unexpected appearance across Teka’s meal. Apparently, romance has a sense of humor.

But what began playfully became something much deeper.

Stephen found in Teka someone with whom nothing seemed off limits. She became his confidant, his best friend, and the person with whom he could be completely vulnerable. Over time, he watched the way she cared for his children, her children, their extended family, and the people around her. He saw a protector, a caregiver, and the person who holds people together. In Teka, Stephen found his safe place to land.

Teka found something equally unexpected.

She had built a life around independence, adventure, and taking care of others. She wasn’t looking to be grounded. Then Stephen became the anchor she didn’t know she needed. With him, she discovered that being anchored didn’t mean losing her freedom. It meant finally having a safe place from which to explore.

Together, they built a relationship where neither has to perform or become someone else to be loved. They don’t always agree, but they respect one another. They encourage each other’s strengths, support each other’s weaknesses, and give one another room to grow into whoever they are becoming.

And somewhere along the way, home stopped meaning a place. It became each other.

For two people who have traveled, explored, and experienced some incredible things together, some of their favorite moments are remarkably ordinary: sleeping late, drinking coffee, watching their shows under a blanket, sitting on the back porch, or simply being close enough to reach for the other person.

Stephen calls them a “party of two.”

Teka calls what they have created their sanctuary.

Then, on December 23, Stephen turned one of their famously elaborate date nights into something much bigger.

At the JW Marriott, what Teka thought was a trip to an ice sculpture exhibit had quietly become an intricately planned proposal involving family, friends, photographs, a videographer, a saxophonist, and seemingly half the hotel staff.

As they walked toward the pavilion, Teka slowly began recognizing familiar faces. Their family was waiting. Their grandchildren were part of the surprise. Photographs from their life together lined the walkway, and at the end stood a glowing “Marry Me” sign.

Stephen had planned what he wanted to say, but when the moment finally arrived, most of the words disappeared.

The important ones remained.

Their lives had not come together by accident. Through faith, family, unexpected turns, and countless ordinary moments, they believe God had been ordering their steps toward one another all along.

Teka said yes.

And on March 27, 2027, surrounded by the people they love, Stephen and Teka will take the next step in their story.

Not because either one needed someone to complete them, but because together they discovered something rarer:

A best friend. An adventure partner. An anchor. A safe place to grow. A sanctuary. A home.

And finally, husband and wife.