Well….the date has officially been set! We will be Mr. and Mrs. Denlinger on Saturday, June 12, 2010!!!  We had some details to figure out such as a pastor, caterer and location. Everything is coming together so quickly and smoothly. (Trust me, I know it won’t all be super smooth! There are tons of details to work out, but we have lots of people who are eager to help us and offer advice. It’s fun to see the people we love get excited with us and come together to help us prepare for a great celebration and a loving, God-glorifying marriage. So mark your calendars and stay tuned for more details as we continue to plan…

Lea and I are so excited to announce that Pastor Dan Houck will be marrying us. Dan has been a huge influence on both of us as a couple and especially for me (Jeremy). When Pastor Dan was serving as the youth Pastor at Pequea Church he saw potential in me as a leader and came along side of me and helped me to become the leader that I am today. Without his influence in my life I can not be sure that I would be committed to full time ministry today. Dan is a true mentor to me and we have had so much fun over the years.

This was not necessarily the easiest decision for Lea and I, being as we know so many different Pastors, and I work with 6 of them nearly every day, we decided that it would be best not to have a Pastor’s olympics! All joking aside it is very clear to us that Dan is the right pastor to marry us and we look forward to the upcoming counseling and planning sessions as we prepare for our wedding.

For those of you who do not know who “Pastor Dan” is you should know that he is currently the Pastor of “The Table Community Church“. The Table is a church plant from Pequea Church. The Table launched 5 years ago as a church that meets on Saturday nights around tables and features a coffee house style environment. Dan is a great leader in the Brethren in Christ Church, and we have worked together for many years through Xtreme youth group to YouthQuest and General Conference. Thank You Dan for your involvement in our special day!

I knew I was going to marry Jeremy about four and a half years ago…And for those of you who are mathematicians, you would be able to figure out that I knew I was going to marry him even before I even met him. …Crazy, you say?  About four and a half years ago, I was enjoying a fun girls’ night with my friends Ashley and Sarah-we spent some time praying for each other, and also enjoyed the typical “girl talk”. Of course we talked about guys and how we each hoped to someday meet one and marry him. I briefly mentioned how I am oddly attracted to fellas who are “techies”, make videos, and play the drums…Immediately Ashley blurts out: “Oh my gosh! I know who you are going to marry! I can’t believe I didn’t see it before!…Jeremy Denlinger is perfect for you!”  I responded with a laugh and commented that I didn’t even know who Jeremy Denlinger was! Ashley assured me that she would introduce us soon. ….And by God’s providence and her cunning matchmaking skills, I indeed met Jeremy just a month later at Creation music festival. I spent a few months after that with my eye on him as I observed him with his friends and serving at church. (I have to say that seeing him on the drums at church was a major selling point!)  At that same time in life, God challenged Jeremy and I (separately) to end the frustrating pursuit of finding a “mate” and just focus on God, and trust His timing….oh the way God works when we place things in His hands! And how amazing that He was teaching us the same thing at the same time!  So just about a month after this decision, Jeremy and I found ourselves enjoying fireworks in the city (with Ashley along). Ashley insisted that Jeremy and I pose for a photo (and “get closer together”) ….and that is the first photo we have together. So, just a few days later, “some man” calls my house (a very strange event for my family). Jeremy sneakily got my number, and called to ask me out on our first date. The rest is  an exciting blur of learning about each other and growing to love each other deeply.

So since that first date, we’ve had MANY conversations about getting married and what it would look like to spend our lives together. For  the past two years, I have consistently asked Jeremy, “When will you propose to me?” His response: “soon”. “But when is soon??” …And he smiles that sneaky smile.  …I admit, just a few months ago, I began to have some mental breakdowns, fearing we would never be engaged. But then the day came…

I can honestly say that I had no idea that Jeremy was going to propose to me on November 6. I did not see it coming that week, and I had no idea that day. He bought a new camera that week, and the plan was for us to have a fun hike/photo shoot to try out the new camera and enjoy the end of the fall colors. When I got to my house, Jeremy was already there talking to my Dad. Not a big deal, since I was running a little late. My Dad said, “I hope you have fun hiking…uh..um…maybe you weren’t supposed to know that…maybe Jeremy wanted to surprise you.” …Now this may seem like an obvious hint, but if you know my Dad, you know that he would say something like this on a normal occasion when we  went on a date somewhere. (But you also understand why Jeremy chose to ask my Dad just an hour before we went hiking! My Dad is not the best at keeping surprises, but I understand because I am not good at that either).

So we got to the park and enjoyed a beautiful day. We spent lots of time playing with the new camera and taking some fun photos. We were beginning to get to the point of turning around and heading back, when Jeremy suggested we climb a hill (mini-mountain) to “get some more light for the photos” since the sun was setting. While we were climbing the hill, I thought to myself, “Man! He’s making me climb this hill all for a stupid photo!”  When we got to the top, Jeremy set up his tripod for us to take some photos.  And this is how the conversation went as I can remember it: “Lea, do you know what day it is?”  “Oh yeah, it is the 6th–and we started dating January 6th. ….(my brain doing fast calculations)…that means we’ve been dating for 46 months!…Ugh! That is a long time! I hope someday we can celebrate a real anniversary. You know, like a wedding. I hope soon we can figure out when we will get married (in a sarcastic tone because I am always bugging Jeremy about not being engaged).”  Jeremy says, “Well, I was hoping we could figure out that date soon. I was hoping we could pick that date today.”  …Jeremy proceeds to get on his knee and pull out a ring. I make a shocked face, and say things like, “shut up!! …you’re kidding! …oh my gosh!”  Jeremy says, “Will you marry me?” and I say “YES!!”  Then Jeremy jumps up in excitement…we hug, kiss, cry.  Then we remember that he didn’t put the ring on my finger yet!  So he takes off my glove and puts the ring on. We are engaged!!

We spent some time getting photos. Jeremy tells me about the ring. We slowly walk back the hiking trail. …I sporadically yell, “We are engaged!!!!” at the top of my lungs.  Jeremy had a dozen roses in my car. We spent the rest of the night spreading the amazing news with our family and friends…and dreaming about joining our lives together. …I am still on the celebration high! However, there is much work to be done as we anticipate beginning our life together and throwing the biggest party you’ve ever experienced… in just 7 months….You can read Jeremy’s version of the engagement by clicking here.

Lea and I officially began dating on January 6, 2006 when I took her to see the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe at the movie theater followed by a coffee at Starbucks! Since then it has been an exciting journey! Obviously you are most interested in hearing the story of the engagement itself but it is worth while mentioning how this thing all began almost 4 years ago. I can remember thinking to myself just a few months after we started dating that Lea would be the one that I would marry. Before very long discussions of spending our lives began to be a pretty regular part of our discussions. We both agreed that we would not marry until Lea finished her four year degree at Lancaster Bible College. We also agreed that we would not have one of those 2 or 3 year engagements!

So just a few weeks ago I got very serious about finding the ring and making the final plans to ask Lea to marry me! I ended up going and designing a ring with the help of Carole from Brent L Miller Jewelers. I would highly recommend this Jeweler. The experience and service was fantastic! Anyway, there are obviously hundreds of ring designs available today. I knew that I wanted something simple but something that was a little unique. Thankfully I was able to find that combination!

On Friday November 6, 2009 I left the office early to go pick up the ring and do some final preparations for the special day! I had arranged with Lea earlier in the week that we would go on a photo-shoot. We had been hoping to get some fall photos, and with me getting a new camera (Canon 7D) it seemed to be the perfect set up! Thankfully Lea had an appointment at school and a planned shopping trip in the afternoon, this gave me access to ask Phil (Lea’s Dad) for permission to have Lea’s hand in marriage. Not more then 30 minutes before Lea arrived home I had a special and meaningful conversation with Lea’s Father where he granted me permission to ask Lea to marry me!

Lea arrived to her house where she met me and we headed out on our photo-shoot. We headed to seven streams just a few miles from her house. This is a place we had hiked before, in fact it is the place we went on our very first hike together. As we walked along the path we took many photos of each other individually and with the two of us using the handy dandy tripod. Realizing that it was getting dark rather quickly I made a suggestion to climb a hill. We climbed the hill so that we could get to more light. Once at the top of the hill we proceeded to take many more photos and enjoy the setting sun. After Lea almost hurried me along by finding the ring in my coat pocket I got down on one knee and asked for her hand in marriage. And of course, she said YES! After dating for 46 months to the day we were finally going to get married! You can read Lea’s version of the engagement by clicking here.

We took many more photos and celebrated this special day. You can see a gallery of photos by clicking here. When we arrived back at the car I had a dozen red roses awaiting her arms. We quickly scurried to her house to share the news and excitement with her family and then our friends via many exciting phone calls. Besides the question “when are you getting married” the most common response was “finally!” Finally indeed, we are engaged!

Welcome to our website! We are just getting the site under way as we prepare to officially begin our lives together when we marry in June of 2010. We plan to use this website to update our family and friends on our progress in planning our upcoming wedding. This blog will also serve as a record of this wonderful journey. We are bound to have great stories and memories along the way. We hope to share those memories with photos, videos, and words. Feel free to leave comments on the blog. We love to hear from you, whether it be a helpful tip on wedding prep or just on life in general, we are excited to share this journey with you!

Feel free to follow our blog through email updates delivered automatically to your inbox. You can subscribe by clicking here or by using the links above. You can also subscribe to our RSS feed through your favorite reader by clicking here. If you have no idea what any of that means, just keep coming back to our site for the latest news and updates on our wedding!