It goes without saying that our story is one that only God could have written, a testament to His unfailing love and care for His own. The story of us, in many ways, is a tapestry woven with all the vibrant moments — both the joy and the heartache — that brought us to where we are today. Through every high and low and all the quiet in between, one truth has always remained: we love, because He first loved us.

 

It was a hot summer night in 2020, the kind that hangs heavy in the air, with dust swirling in the glow of the setting sun. Clay wasn’t racing that night, and I shouldn’t have been there. I rarely went to races, and that night I almost stayed home. But that’s the funny thing about God’s timing: it never feels extraordinary in the moment. Two strangers, from two different worlds, happened to meet on a night neither of us expected, in a place we weren’t supposed to be. Looking back, I can see His fingerprints all over it, quietly guiding two hearts to cross paths long before either of us understood what He was doing.

 

From the very first moment our eyes met, something inside me stilled. Time seemed to slow, as if the world had paused for a single heartbeat, a quiet, gentle moment in which my soul seemed to whisper, “There you are.” Clay will tell you that it was love at first sight. For me, love came softly — full of laughter, friendship, and a kind of quiet understanding that grows from simply knowing someone’s heart. There were no fireworks or butterflies, yet love took root all the same, slow and steady, like sunlight softening the morning sky. By the next fall, love revealed itself in the quietest way — a gentle knowing that my heart had always belonged to him, just as his had always belonged to me. On October 10, 2021, our friendship became something more — the beginning of a love that felt both brand new and beautifully familiar.

 

Ours hasn’t been a perfect story, but it’s real — one marked by grace, patience, and a love that has weathered both joy and pain. Through every season, God has been faithful — leading us, refining us, and reminding us that His timing is always perfect. On August 23, 2025, Clay got down on one knee and asked me to spend forever with him. And exactly one year later, we’ll stand before God and the people we love most to promise a lifetime together — celebrating a love that came softly, endured gently, and by His grace, will last forever.