We were nervous. Very nervous. It was evening and there was a chill in the air. The house smelled like slow-cooked barbacoa meat and fresh, homemade salsa. All the smells that indicate warmth and fullness. But we were anxious and excited and anything but relaxed. When the doorbell rang, we had no idea that opening that front door meant opening up another door that would never close.
We were still new in town and hadn’t made any new connections yet. It was a time in life we’d later look back on and joke about how we spent so much of our time at Dutch Bros Coffee. And not just because we liked the coffee, but because the baristas were the closest things we had to friends at the time. Jon had just gotten involved in the music ministry at our church and played his first Sunday with a guest artist who was releasing his CD. His name was Mikey Moore, and he’d be moving into town soon. It just so happened he was going to live only 5 minutes from us. When Jon realized he was married, he stepped out on a limb and invited them over for dinner. Neither one of us had met his wife, and only Jon had met Mikey. But something just felt right.
When we opened the door and met Amber and Mikey, we didn’t realize that our life was going to change. We didn’t realize in that moment that a lifelong friendship would be formed. That God would bring people into our lives that would make us laugh and make us cry. We didn’t know that He was providing a couple that we could be completely real with and live out life with. A support that we could lean on in hard times. Friends that would come over for games and not leave until the early hours of the mornings! And as much as God provided memories in that moment that we will cherish forever, He also provided the deepest of friends who would encourage us with smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes as we told them we’d be moving away. Friends , best friends, a brother and sister that would selflessly encourage us toward what they knew God had for us, instead of focusing on what that meant for the routine get togethers we’d grown to love.
Amber and Mikey, we thank God for the day He brought you two into our lives. You’ve been and continue to be one of the greatest things that we gained from our Washington adventure. We were thrilled to have you with us in the flat, dry desert and to show you around our hometown! You were one of the first couples we photographed together as a husband and wife team and we were so honored to have you in front of our cameras now, two years later, living out the dream you encouraged us towards! We are so glad we opened that front door two years ago, and opened the door to a friendship that will continue until we are all old and gray. We love you guys!!
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