How Kody & Chelsea met could have only be orchestrated by the Lord. HE is the author of their lives, and what an intentional author HE is. On December 2, 2023, Chelsea was working Joe & Summer Farren's wedding in Dothan, Alabama. Before Summer was to walk down the aisle, she would ask Chelsea, "Are you married?" And, of course, the answer was, "No." She followed up with, "Are you dating anyone?" And again the answer was, "No." She proceeded to tell Chelsea that she would love for Chelsea to meet one of Joe's groomsmen! To which Chelsea replied, "Oh! No, no, no! I'm working and I can't!" It soon became time for the bride to walk down the aisle. Chelsea was not the least bit interested in meeting a groomsman named "Kody" and really didn't think anymore about it. Later in the night, during the reception and dancing, Summer walks up to Chelsea and begs her to dance with that groomsman named "Kody"! Chelsea consistently says, "No! No, I can't I'm working!" But, Summer, the bride, took a risk and went to Kody and told him that Chelsea DID want to dance! Kody Rinehart, as many of us well know, lives his life as a major risk taker, and had no problem walking right up to Chelsea and asking her to dance! He had had his eye on her all night and was pretty excited! Chelsea, on the other hand was freaking out! She didn't know this man. She didn't know how to dance his style. And, boy did he take charge, take her by the hand and dance her all around that floor! After they danced Kody pursued Chelsea. He tried to talk to her. He asked for her phone number twice... and got rejected twice. At the end of the night his Kody Rinehart traveling van had gotten blocked in by a huge UHaul truck and couldn't leave, so he hung around and helped clean up. Chelsea did not know he was blocked in. She thought he was hanging around just waiting for her in order to get her phone number, which she had no intention of giving up. The night ended with no future planned connection between Chelsea and Kody. However, thanks to the avenue of social media, Kody found Chelsea on Instagram and Chelsea found Kody on Instagram. At first they both just creeped on each other. Eventually, he followed her. She continued to creep, but eventually followed him. After a week, Chelsea noticed how he kept posting bible verses, and if you know Kody, you know this is a common thing. Well... Chelsea, pridefully, unfollowed him because she got it in her mind that maybe some of his postings were just to get her attention and therefore, she unfollows him. BUT......she couldn't help herself and she continued to look at his stories. He could tell that she was still looking! That's when Kody, the risk taker, took a leap of faith and sent her a message through Instagram that boldly said, "So, let me get this straight. You follow me then you unfollow me, but occasionally come back and look at my stories. A little curious aren't we???" Chelsea, still playing very hard to get, saw it as soon as he sent it, but held out and didn't respond for two whole weeks. In those two weeks, the Lord gave her a spirit of curiosity. She looked up podcast of him. She Googled articles of him. She did her research (as a wise girl should) to make sure love for the Lord was a priority in his life just as it was in hers. She realized it was. It truly was. She had found an article that was published after he won his world title the second time that told about taking the Lord's teachings and finding ways to connect them to bronc riding. A different article she found told that his favorite place that he had rodeoed had been Athens, AL. "Wow! That

is so weird!" she thought. "That's my hometown!" Not only did his favorite rodeo happen in her home town, but it had happened on her birthday. This almost unbelievable revelation, encouragement from her mom, Jennifer Farmer, and encouragement from her mentor, Megan Forman, gave Chelsea the green light to respond to Kody's question of, "Curious, aren't we?" Once Chelsea responded, Kody finally got her phone number. The very first phone call ended up being about a 3 hour call. They have talked on the phone every single day since. And so, at last, let me tell you about their first date that happened on New Year's Day of this year. She traveled up from Auburn and he traveled down from Nashville, and they met at a Cracker Barrel in Birmingham for a late afternoon lunch. They sat and talked so long that they eventually ordered dinner from the very same waitress they had during lunch. They finally left the Cracker Barrel and went to a nearby ice cream parlor where they sat and talked until it was closing time. It was a first date of fun, excitement, stories, and blessings that will continue forever! It was a first date that has lead them all the way to making plans for a permanent union to take place on December 31st, 2024!