Goin' Courtin'

The story of Chase and Gabby began quite some time ago. As family friends, we spent countless hours, days, and even weeks getting to know each other. The kids went on near-constant adventures, which eventually led us to a Colorado vacation in the middle of the pandemic.

One day we were out hiking, I say we, I mean my NGF's kids and youngest brother and my kids were out hiking, in a beautiful, secluded pocket of mountains tucked away in Eleven Mile State Park. As the sun began to fade and handfuls of kids returned without some of the kids they'd left with, we thought, "Maybe sending them back into the woods, unattended, with no cell phone service, was not the best move on our part as parents."

As it turns out, we were correct. Gabby fell into a crevasse and couldn't get herself out. Chase appeared (I'm sure backlit by blue sky and beams of sunlight, just as a hero should be) and helped her safely escape what could have been a pretty dangerous scenario. It was at that moment that they both realized they liked each other . . . but they kept their feelings to themselves.

Fast forward to the spring of 2021--after their choir concert Chase confided in Gabby that he cared about her in a special way, and Gabby, delighted, said that she felt the same! They were both walking on clouds :)

But they were both young, and in Chase's family's eyes, still far too young for a relationship. And so, for the next year, they entered into a major time of trial. They had to trust God to work in His timing, and that was not easy to do. Their months filled with lessons about honoring their parents, trusting generational wisdom, and hoping that the required separation would not last. But it did last, for longer than they would have liked.

Then suddenly, in the summer of 2022, something changed. Chase spoke seriously to his dad for several hours, and his parents realized this wasn't a childhood crush. Gabby and Chase really care about each other. So, Chase's parents invited Gabby to church, then to lunch, then to movie night . . . she started spending more time with them than with us ;) We decided it was probably time to visit with Chase, so when he contacted Buck to set up a time, we scheduled a chat on the day we planned to leave for Ohio.

At the Scooters coffee shop, Chase opened up our time with a word of prayer. "Getting to know you" questions weren't really necessary, as we know so much about Chase and his family already. He's a great friend to our boys, he's generous, kind, and a hard worker. He's a talented musician and knows how to do all the scary things farm kids know how to do :) But we hadn't ever had the chance to hear his thoughts and to get to know his heart. So, we started by asking him to share his testimony--praise God for Christian parents raising their family to glorify Him and for summer camp! Then we asked about the year or so when he and Gabby were not permitted to spend time with or communicate with each other--which they were not always 100% successful at doing. Chase basically said of those months, "I love Gabby and I knew she was important."

We talked about his future plans and goals, and he's doing a lot of solid thinking at 17 years old. It was a good conversation and we felt comfortable permitting him to continue to pursue Gabby's heart. So, he hopped on his motorcycle and rode to wherever Gabby was (I think on campus?) I sent this message to Gabby . . .

And a few minutes later, this showed up on Facebook . . .

I think they still have some time to wait to be like official, official, official (when Chase is 18 in the spring), but I'm not sure there is much unofficial about them currently :) We're glad our girls have found really special guys! Thank you, God, for that!