Montana Wedding Blog by Montana Bride: {Montana Bride Feature Wedding} Cindy + Scott

I don't believe in fairy tales when it comes to love in the real world, but I do believe in great stories lived by remarkable people. Those are the kind of love stories that reveal great characters who are willing to work hard, persevere and do what it takes to keep and protect love. I read the biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer in China the summer of 2011 and in one of his letters to his love, he wrote the following, "When I also think about the situation of the world...then I believe that our union can only be a sign of God's grace and kindness, which calls us to faith...And I do not mean the faith which flees the world but the one that endures the world and which loves and remains true to the world in spite of all the suffering it contains for us. Our marriage shall be a yes to God's earth; it shall strengthen our courage to act and accomplish something on the earth." This was the kind of love story for which I hoped and prayed.

Scott and I met in the fall of 2010. I had just moved to Utah from Montana to start working at Weber State University with Intervarsity USA and he was going to college. His older brother was a part of Intervarsity and encouraged Scott to join, so we soon found ourselves in the same organization and easily became friends. I found out later that he had quickly developed a crush on me, but I was oblivious. He even came to a study that I led weekly just to be in my study! However, timing wasn't right. During the summer of 2011, he came on the trip I led to China. That summer was the first time I felt drawn to him, but I didn't recognize it for what it was at the time. On that trip he even confessed the crush, but it came in the middle of a conversation and felt more encouraging that a baring of the soul. I discovered later that he was "testing the waters". It was the following spring, in May of 2012, that all was laid out on the table and the question of what this could be, if anything was discussed. It would be one more year of waiting, due to our circumstances, before we were free to be a couple. It was not easy, there were many who had strong opinions about whether or not we should be together, but for us, the bigger deal was our families. We are both fortunate to come from strong, healthy families who know us well and want what is good for us. We trust and respect our families and decided that if either side wasn't okay with our relationship, we would re-evaluate. Thankfully, they wholeheartedly supported us! Our families saw that we were strengthening and sharpening each other, the way only love can.

Four months later, at the celebration of my Grandma's 90th birthday in September, Scott proposed in front of my entire family! He didn't have a ring, so he tied a piece of ribbon around my finger. I was shocked and I think so was he! He is a planner and this was not his plan, but he said he knew it was the time. The next morning, he went down with the guys to the barn and bent a horse shoe nail to put on my finger. I LOVED IT!! I couldn't have asked for anything more suited for me! We decided on Memorial Day weekend in Montana, where I was born and raised, for the place of of the wedding. And from that point forward, our heart was to have our wedding be a reflection of our us and our community. We filtered every detail through the though process of whether or not we would act, dress, eat like this normally. We recognized that the day was special, but its special because its celebrating who WE are, not because its a fairy tale sort of day. We wanted a great story kind of day - one that reflected who we are day to day, living our lives, choosing love and saying yes to being a force of love and hope in the world around us.