Their love was so powerful it brought AJ back to Jesus, then they got married in Cincinnati

The Mangines

I love stories like this. AJ and Rachel are so expressive in their gestures of affection. For a filmmaker it is paradise because there is so much emotion right on the nose—but way beyond that I’m in love with how much this couple sacrifices for one another.

Sawyer Point Park in downtown Cincinnati couldn’t have been chosen better on the warm April evening they came strolling down the riverside path. They were unabashedly in love with one another, but it wasn’t naivety underneath. It was more of two personalities that just loved. It wasn’t based on the other person because I could see the focus and intention they gave to everyone was the same. This man and woman walked out self-gift. That’s what it was.

Through the trials of their relationship AJ grew so much out of adolescence that he started listening to the greater calling of his Divine Master for his life. He had what he calls a “reversion” back to the Church, and interestingly enough, this was a sticking point for a moment in their relationship.

The shift that truly brought their relationship into a place of trust and acceleration was when Rachel relinquished her idea of who AJ was up to the Lord and surrendered control of how God was supposed to work in her life. What a seemingly small shift, yet what a praiseworthy outcome!

What I find most compelling about their story is just that: unity of mind and heart often has much more to do with other aspects than the significant other, per se. There are a lot of relationships where control and demand for change for the other are present; I would argue that oneness will be found more often than not once we begin to accept our beloveds not as projects but as ones we are called to listen to and learn from firstly.

AJ and Rachel learned the way of humility from Jesus and celebrated their nuptials at the heavenly St. Monica-St. George Church near UC and reception at The Grand Pinnacle Ballroom in Covington.