Molly + Luke | Southern Christmas Wedding - Hannah Smith Photography | Southern California natural light, wedding and lifestyle portrait photographer

Molly and Luke both grew up in military families traveling from one place to next and the story behind HOW they got connected, moved away and then years later fell head over heels for each other is a great story and who better to tell it than sweet Molly Steele herself?

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How it all started…Her version:

“Luke and I apparently met at Jackson’s (my little brothers) birthday party in Hawaii right before both of our families moved to Ohio. Luke remembers meeting me, I don’t remember meeting him.)Luke was by far my biggest childhood crush… I didn’t know it at the time, but later learned that I was his too. That said, I was devastated to learn that my family would be moving to Japan and his to Virginia. I cried for about three days straight and didn’t get over him for another six months. (I had thoughts about writing him a note and telling him I liked him, but thank the Lord for the good sense Momma instilled in me. I couldn’t bring myself to do it because I thought, “What would Momma say? It’s not ladylike at all.” Luke told me recently that although he liked me and wanted to date me, when you’re 12, what else can you do? ) So we said our goodbyes – neither of us knowing each other’s secret. Little did we know it would be 8 years before we would see each other again….

How we met up again is a crazy story!! I’ve always known that God ‘works everything for good’, but it wasn’t until I experienced it in my own life that I was able to internalize it. My family moved to the Azores (Portuguese Islands) in the summer of 2013. (It’s one of the most beautiful places on earth, if you’ve never been!) I liked it there but had just undergone a recent heartache among other things that made me want to get off of the island.A dear friend on the island suggested I apply to the ‘Fellows Initiative Program’. (It’s a 9 month program for recent college grads designed to teach you how to integrate your faith in every aspect of life – specifically your vocation. It’s divided into four segments: theology classes from professors from RTS, a paid internship, host family, and volunteering at your church.) The moment I heard about the program my interest was immediately peaked. I began looking at all of the different programs and applied to 14 over the course of 5 months. Things looked promising, and I was sure having graduated from college with a 4 year degree by the age of 18 made me a strong candidate. However, things didn’t go as planned. Over the course of those five months, I was rejected by each program. “You have a strong application and we know you’ll make a great fellow… we feel you’re too young. Why don’t you apply again in 3 years?” they all said. Needless to say, I was discouraged. Finally, one sunny April morning, I was carpooling with Daddy to work and telling him of all my disappointments regarding my acceptance into the program. “Have you tried applying to ALL of the programs?” he asked. I told him that I’d tried all but one, but it was just a waste of time because all of them required a completely new application, which took me almost a day to complete. “Molly, you’ll never know unless you try… it could be that God made these other programs reject you to make it very clear that THIS program in Chattanooga is the one he wants you to be at,” was his reply. I heeded his advice and wasn’t long after that John Tomberlin, the Chattanooga Fellows director, asked for an interview. I immediately knew I liked him a million times better all of the other directors… John is just about the most down to earth, personable guy you will ever meet. I prayed that this was God’s will and shortly thereafter, I was accepted!!!

Our first stop returning to the states from the Azores was to pickup our truck in Dallas and from there, drive to Chattanooga. The Orth’s house was on the way (Atlanta area) and although we hadn’t seen them in 8 years, Daddy decided to ask if we could stay the night with them. They graciously agreed to host us. Momma called me later that night to see what I thought of the boys. I told her I wasn’t interested…plus, there would be a ‘fresh crop’ of guys in Chatt… (yes, I actually said that) In Ohio, Susanne would always ask my sisters and I if we could marry her boys. Her desires didn’t seem to wane over our eight years apart. She was constantly asking me to come visit (I did once in October and had a BLAST, but just wasn’t attracted to Luke then). After Christmas break, she asked me to come visit again and picked a weekend she wanted to have me. I initially said ‘yes’ because I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, (and I always had good time at the Orth’s) but after further contemplation, determined to decline the offer, as I was trying to be at the top of the class academically. Momma has always told me that life changes in a moment and you never see it coming… well, it was a rainy drive in the dark that was about to change my life forever.
February 16, 2016. That was the day it happened. It was raining cats and dogs as I drove home in the dark from a fellows event. A car at an intersection ahead was stopped, and since I had the right of way I kept driving. Suddenly the car slammed into me and I lost control of the truck. I was shaking when I called my parents to let them know I’d been in an accident. Some of the fellows saw the aftermath and were kind enough to stay with me. (John Tomberlin and Matt King changed my tires in the freezing rain!) Besides being scared, I wasn’t injured so I went home. A few days later I started throwing up nonstop. I had the worst stomach pain in the world (felt just about as bad as when I had salmonella poisoning – basically like death). I was unable to drive myself to the ER so two of the fellows came to help and practically carried me to the emergency room. I was given strong medication but it did little to no good. They kept having to increase the dosage as my body became acclimated to it.
Meanwhile, my family was still overseas. Momma was trying to leave the island to be with me, as I was going to go under for the first time and literally felt like I was on my deathbed. She called Susanne to see if she could crash at their house on her way to Chatt, since Atlanta was the airport she’d be flying into. As soon as Susanne heard what was going on, she immediately jumped in the car with Jackson and drove up 2.5 hours to be with me. I was so touched by all she did for me, and was relieved to have another ‘momma’ there for my scope. After I was released from the hospital, Susanne decided to take me back to Atlanta for a week to ‘nurse’ me back to health. Within hours of arriving at the Orth’s house, Susanne told me that the whole family had things going on the next day and since she didn’t feel comfortable with me staying home alone in my condition, I would have to go with Luke to his church event. It was about an hour drive there an back. I immediately assumed she was matchmaking and wasn’t too thrilled, but went along with it. The 3+ hours we spent driving to and from and together at the event was apparently all the time Luke needed. However, it didn’t take me too much longer to realize how much I liked him…. and the rest is history.”

Luke and Molly, y’all are a joy to be around. Your southern charm and sweetness oozes with every kind word and act you share! I am so blessed to have gotten to know you and share in your special day! Wishing you the very best from VA!

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