Name: Davina Kahler
Story: My husband, Wayne, and I met@ Outback Steakhouse nearly 8 years ago. He was a server there and I was eating with my church. (I had wanted to eat at Chili's, but was out voted.) Wayne was not our server, but made a point to come over and fill my glass up. (I would love to go into more detail, but am limited to 250 words.) A coaster was set in front of me with a phone #, but no name. I got up to go to the restroom and was cornered by a woman who said, "I just have to see this young lady that my server can't stop talking about!" I didn't want to leave the bathroom! I mustered up the courage to call him the next day, but had to leave a message..... Forgot to leave my # and then had to call back to leave it. I thought for sure he wouldn't call me back because I was such a dork! We became friends at first and then dated for three years. He asked me to marry him the day before Valentine's Day which was Friday the 13th! Good thing I'm not superstitious!!! We married on our 3rd year dating anniversary and have now been married for a little over 4 years. We have a beautiful 17 month old daughter who is super smart and we are more in love today then we have ever been. God has truly blessed us!

Name: Toni de Leseleuc
Story: It all started with a man’s voice over the phone." Hello can I speak with Toni Walker." That was in July of 2002. Luke was selling advertising for a publication in Canada and I was a sales assistant in Baltimore Maryland. Over the next few months Luke and I spoke with each other. Long conversations and $1900 phone bills was the beginning of our romance. We had fallen in Love over the phone. I went to Canada in December of 2000. I took a Greyhound bus and spent 3 days riding a bus to meet the man that I fell in love with. I had to love him when I got to Winnipeg it was -40 degrees . On New Year’s Eve Luke got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. It was beautiful and of course I said yes. The next day I left to go back to Baltimore. I was crying and Luke gave me a little statue of a bulldog with the words I Love You engraved. For the next two years we continued our Long distance relationship and Got Married on Nov. 9th 2002 in Canada. 2 months into our Marriage I was diagnosed with Fibroids and had surgery to have them removed. No Health Insurance and $20,000 in debt we forged on and new the Lord would work it out. No matter what the obstacles were, The Lord saw us through. We are more in love today than our first phone call.

Name: Kimberly Anderson
Story: I woke up on my wedding day and something just didn't feel right. By the time we were supposed to begin pictures I began violently throwing up and was also incontinent of diarrhea. Therefore, no pictures. I couldn't even stand up -- let alone get my dress on. Somehow I managed to walk down the aisle, but I had no energy. I had to sit throughout the entire ceremony and had to run out in the middle of it to throw up...and more. I was gone for more than 20 minutes DURING the ceremony. We had to cut out just about everything. I didn't even get to hear my parents sing to me. Not to mention I walked out at the wrong time because I was going to vomit again. And, I couldn't go to our reception -- no cake, no toasts, no fellowship. Plus, my husband was sick during our entire honeymoon. But we are in love. I have never been so happy! I'm so thankful to have such a wonderful, Godly man to be my husband. He understands me, encourages me, and holds me up when no one else can. He has the ability to make me smile in any situation. He makes me feel like I'm loved. He is truly amazing! I can't wait to grow old with him and begin living our own love story! Our saying is, "Always and Forever". That proved true on our wedding day.

Name: Ruby Johnson
Story: Being born handicapped I would ask my mother, "will I ever find love." She smiled and said, "oh yes, honey from high up above." I was tired of being teased and called names all day long. Are you sure mom that a loving husband will come along? Oh don't you worry she would whisper in my ear. God has that special person just for you dear. Are you sure mommy? Are you sure? Sometimes my life feels like such a blurr. I'm struggling with pain every single day! Someone wanting me for their wife, oh, no way! But I heard the saying that God would make a way and my heart leaped with gladness...yes, I would be a bride someday! Then one sunny, summer day; as I sat in the park. I saw a handsome young man coaching some very cute girls, baseball. My heart felt so small; because I thought didn't have a chance. As I watched him throw the ball I caught him peeking a glance at me. He walked toward me and I was nervous as can be. My heart pounding loudly even skipping a beat. We talked for a while my heart still beating a mile. We exchanged phone numbers and our romance began! We fell in love even after he heard about my medical problems. We will be married 31 years in May. And God continues to bless our marriage every single day.

Name: Whitney Calloway
Story: My husband and I met at the beginning of our first year of college. It was a Tuesday morning, and I noticed Jonathan for the first time while our professor was checking attendance. The professor said "Jonathan Calloway", and I was immediately intrigued. Three years before, I had gotten a kitten, and strangely enough named him Calloway. (Who names their cat Calloway?!?) I immediately connected the name to his face and hoped to talk to him eventually. Later that afternoon, we had another class together. As I walked into the classroom, I noticed Jonathan was sitting by myself. I walked up and sat down next to him. I asked him his name and he responded. Next came the most memorable words of our love story-- "Dude! My cat's name is Calloway!" Needless to say, Jonathan was caught off guard, smiled, and was held speechless for a moment. After our unforgettable meeting, we became very quick friends. We began dating about a month later. We were married after dating for 4 years, on July 7th, 2007. I will always be thankful for my cat, Calloway, for allowing us to have such a wonderful introduction, and most of all to God for his impeccable timing and apparent sense of humor in creating our love story.

Name: Carmen Hysong
Story: For the last few years, my girlfriends and I run a mini-marathon. We see fun shirts in the crowd, so last year we thought we would like to have our own. We wanted something to inspire us and hopefully others as well. We designed a little picture on the front with Hebrews 12:1 on the back. As we're standing in our corrals on race day, waiting for the race to start, a certain guy approached me because he liked my shirt and wanted to know where I got it. (Luckily it was special made, so he had to go through me to get one. :) That was in May. We were married in November in the middle of God's splendor, on the beach. He is a wonderful, compassionate, sweet man, in love with God, and luckily with me! He is amazing and I'm so glad that I listened to God's small voice, "Be patient child, I have just the one for you!" I love that he helps my walk with God and does his best to encourage me in whatever I'm doing. God sent him just for me, and I'm so thankful! His name is JD, but to "the girls" he is lovingly referred to as "T-shirt Boy". We were hoping to impact some people in the race with our shirts, but I never thought it would have such an impact in my own life! Have faith, God is Awesome! Carmen (Mrs. T-shirt Boy)

Name: Brianna Phillips
Story: When I was about nine years of age I would beg my mother to drive through the local carwash in our hometown DeRidder,La just so I could see the boy who would prep the cars for the automatic. His name was Brandon, he was a local preacher's son that most of the girls in my church had a crush on, myself being part of that group of course. He was always nice even to the little girl who had a crush on him. When I was eleven he worked with my father selling cars. He was eighteen then. I would come by after school to see my dad and Brandon would let me sit at his desk when he wasn't completing a sale and even help me with my homework. Later that year he left for Bible college in and I didn't see him again until January of 2008. I was in college at NSU and he was back in DeRidder. A mutual friend of ours not even knowing we knew each other told him that we should meet and gave Brandon my number. Needless to say when I received his call I was in complete shock. We met up later that night and talked for hours about our lives since we last saw each other. There was an undeniable connection between us from the moment we met. I'm happy to say that the boy from the carwash is now my husband and best friend.

Name: Amanda Spring
Story: 3 years ago tomorrow a friend and I were going to paint pottery: “girl time.” On our way, she received a phone call from her boyfriend, which said one of his friends was on his way to paint pottery with us. Ooooo, was I upset! Who did this guy think he was invading on our Friday night pottery time? The entire night, he tried to engage I conversation with me, but I was not interested. He decided to hold my pottery for ransom until I went on a date. I told him the pottery I painted was for my mom and he felt bad. He brought it right away, but I still needed to go on a date. A week later he bought lunch for me, later that night I sent him a message “thanks for lunch”… that started it all. We talked from 8pm until my alarm went off at 5:30am. We shared where we were in our relationship with Christ and the love grew from there. I knew that God had brought him into my life. During the past 3 years, we have been through some difficult times with our families, from divorce to his dad passing away. Through it all, the Lord has strengthened us and brought us closer together. On Saturday, we will be married. I am so thankful that the Lord brought a very Godly man into my life and I pray that our wedding day will bring Honor to HIM!

Name: Dori Witt
Story: It was our wedding day. I had already walked down the aisle, I looked at my sister who was my maid of honor and pointed at my finger. Right then she realized she did not have my husband-to-be's wedding ring. I worried what is going to happen when we get to the point of exchanging our vows and rings and I have no ring to put on his finger. My sister got my mother's attention who told my aunt we had a problem. My aunt runs up stairs to the room we changed in to find my purse, she dumps out my sister's purse and my mother's but mine is left sitting there unopened at the same table. She comes back down into the ceremony tells my mother she cannot find the ring. So she gets my uncles keys from him takes off all the keys, gives it to my cousin who is coming up to sing, and she slips it to my sister. My sister tells me she has got it, I was thinking awesome she has his ring. It came time to exchange the rings and she hands me the key ring. My husband and I were laughing so much that the pastor had to explain the situation to the audience. Now almost eight years later, with the addition of three boys, our marriage is still going strong and we still have that key ring in his wedding band box.

Name: Rebecca Robitzsch
Story: The first night my husband and I met, we talked for six hours and he proposed to me TWICE! When I left that night we both knew there was something between us. Nine months later we were engaged and planning our wedding for the following Spring. The wedding was 6 months away and I suffered a stroke at the age of 22. The whole week I was in the hospital my husband never left my side. We will be married for four years in May. We have been blessed with a wonderful surprise, her name is Madelyn and she will be three also in May. My husband and I have been through our share of ups and downs and even counseling but we know our strength comes from God. We also know that since we are still young that there will be many more hardships that are yet to come but through God we will be able to withstand the roughest storm.