I remember the first time I met Libby. We were just about to get our puppy, Zeke, and I was talking to my friend Shelby at church about the things that we needed to get to be prepared to bring him home. Libby was standing right next to us and she piped up, “I have an old dog crate that’s too small for my dog, you can have it!” So we started talking dogs and Libby told me a list of things that she would pass along to me to help us in our transition with a new puppy.

A few minutes later, once Libby was out of earshot, I whispered to Shelby, “who WAS that girl??” Hahaha, I ended up having this whole conversation with her and was willingly taking hand-me-down dog donations

but I never got her name or formally introduced myself. But that’s just the kind of person Libby is. She can talk to anyone. She is generous and thoughtful, and makes everyone comfortable. She was so confident and outgoing that I thought for sure she had been going to our church for a while but that we had never crossed paths. Turns out, she had just recently started coming. Those type of people always impress me!

Oh wait…was this a blog post about Libby and Yusuke?? Not about how I met Libby? Oh okay, moving on…

So Libby and Yusuke also met at our church, The Chapel. While Yusuke just said, “hey” and continued with no further conversation with Libby when they were first introduced, that didn’t stop them from becoming friends and shortly after, they started dating. One would think that after a disastrous first date where Libby got sick, it might end there. But certainly not with these two! The dating continued and I remember thinking at Emily and Zach’s wedding, “I wonder if those two will be getting married someday?”

I love how their story crosses continents. Yusuke was born in Japan and moved to New Jersey with his family when he was a baby, but his family had planned on being in the US for only a year. Turns out, God had better plans. They stayed in New Jersey and his parents are still there today. One time I asked Yusuke about how he ended up in Cortland, NY and I remember him telling me that he just “had this feeling” that he was supposed to be here. I had one of those feelings once too. One of those feelings that you just can’t explain but you know that you’ve got to listen to it (that feeling also brought me to Cortland!).

Libby was originally from the area, but college had taken her away and she also lived in New Jersey for a short while. But God had plans for her as well and brought her back to Cortland just in time. Just in time for these two to meet each other and fall in love.

Libby and Yusuke got married at The Center for Arts in Homer, NY. This venue happens to be .4 miles away from my house, so I particularly loved that. I don’t think I’ll ever forget watching Libby walking down the aisle and seeing the real, true love on her face. And Yusuke’s tears! Oh my goodness the tears. I see a lot of groom’s cry, but they don’t usually make ME cry as well. And even though I’m a very emotional person and can cry at the drop of a hat, I don’t cry too much at weddings because I’m just in the zone. I can’t say

that for this wedding though. Sure I was in the zone, but this zone was full of tears and emotions and thinking THIS IS WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS MORE OF!!! Their vows had me crying too. Make sure you grab your tissues before you watch this one.

After a tear-jerker ceremony and some pretty shots on the Homer Green, we headed off for the dance party back inside The Center for the Arts. Libby did an awesome choreographed dance with her dad, Yusuke had an emotional dance with his mom, we heard some great speeches, cut a giant tuna, and danced the night away. I’m so glad the heat didn’t keep anyone from dancing. It was pretty toasty in there, but we all had a blast!

I like to keep in touch with many of my couples and just follow their journey and see where life takes them. I’m grateful that that’s so easy for me to do with Libby and Yusuke as I get to see them at least once a week on Sundays at church. And sometimes more than that!