On the 21st night of September in 2023, I received a DM on Instagram from Mr. Jacob T. Layne himself. I was a little apprehensive at first, but I figured it was worth a shot, so I texted him. We chatted back and forth constantly, and he quickly asked me on a real date! YAY!

A few days later, he picked me up for a walk at Cherokee Farms Research Park. I remember him asking such thoughtful and intentional questions, making me feel so valued from the very beginning. I quickly realized he was the best listener I had ever met, and I had never felt so comfortable and at ease on a first date!

I still wondered how he had found me, though. Come to find out, he had seen me on the Jumbotron at a UT football game the Saturday before he messaged me!!! The more we talked, the more we realized we had basically been hidden in plain sight all along. We had even danced together at Cotton Eyed Joe two years earlier at a mixer between his fraternity and my sorority. Apparently, the Lord knew what He was doing long before we did!

One date turned into many over the next few weeks, and Jacob asked me to be his girlfriend on another Tennessee Saturday night after the Texas A&M game! We had the sweetest time dating in Knoxville before he graduated and moved to Nashville. Long distance was hard, but by the Lord’s grace, it grew us in ways I never could have imagined. There were plenty of tears, mostly from me, but there was also so much joy!

Fast forward to August 2025: long distance finally ended when I moved to Nashville for graduate school! Then, on March 28, 2026, Jacob asked me to be his wife in the very same park where we walked on our first date. It was the sweetest, most special day, filled with so many people we love! The Lord has been so, so faithful through every season of our relationship, and life by Jacob’s side only keeps getting sweeter!

Christin and I’s story may have started with a Jumbotron in Neyland Stadium, but it actually began two years prior at the Cotton Eyed Joe. My fraternity and her sorority were having a mixer, and Christin and I even line danced together that night. But God knew the timing was not right, and He sent us on our separate ways.

Two years later, I went to a UT football game with my roommate at the time, Josh, and noticed a stunning girl on the Jumbotron. I remember distinctly thinking to myself “it’s a shame I’ll never get to know who she is.” I think God did this intentionally, because out of everyone who makes the Jumbotron at sporting events, she’s the only one I remember.

I’m not sure how long after the game that I saw her page come up on Instagram. Apparently, we had so many mutual followers that it was hard to miss. I immediately recognized her as the girl from the jumbotron. I scoped out her posts looking for two things: Jesus and no boyfriend. I was in luck.

Christin followed me back, probably out of pity, but I took it as a sign. I did what any guy who was about to graduate and leave town would do, I shot my shot at the buzzer. I sent her my phone number, making it as easy as possible for her to ignore me. To my shock, she actually texted me.

We then went on a walk at the park a few days later, the very park where I asked her to marry me. From the moment I met Christin, everything just made sense. It was unexplainable, and something I thought only happened in movies. I thank God for preparing us for each other, and that our paths somehow did not cross until they did. I thank God for putting her on the Jumbotron in Neyland. Most importantly, I thank God for letting me spend the rest of my life with my best friend.