Nate and Janelle Phinney- “Nate Phinney and I met at church when we were both graduate students at Yale. Nate was the leader that year for the graduate student group at church. The first day I attended the church, I went to the grad group table to see what activities were planned for the year and Nate greeted me. We talked a few times that year and eventually started dating. Our first dinner dates were to Thai and Indian restaurants, my favorite food. He took me to Shakespeare in the Park in New Haven and to the Metropolitan Museum in NYC. We had quite a few New York dates and took our honeymoon in the city. Funny thing – there was a Nate Phinney and a Bill Phinney both attending the church grad group (not related) and both of them were interested in asking me out. Nate won that contest and I guess I was just destined to be a Phinney!”
Rebecca and Beau Koerselman- “The first time I met my future spouse, we were both seniors in high school and met at NWC during the Peale Scholarship interview day (they used to host in person interviews for a top academic scholarship). He was in my interview group, wearing a teal suit. Quite a statement. He was very pleased with himself, and I was not impressed.”
Molly and Harrison Wiebe Faber- “Harrison and I are from the same small town in central Kansas. Though Harrison is a year older than me, we grew up knowing each other because our older sisters were friends and teammates. In high school we became part of the same friend group, but somehow found ourselves hanging out in a smaller and smaller group until it was just the two of us. Harrison asked me on a date my junior year of high school. We dated for a couple of months, until I ended things. He went to college in our hometown, and my senior year of high school we reconnected and began dating again. I attended the same college as him, and in the summer of 2016 he proposed. We got married that December, and this past December marks 8 years of marriage, and almost 12 years since our very first date. Since being married, we’ve lived in London, England and Denver, Colorado before landing in Orange City in 2022. We have a daughter, Junia, who is a year and a half old, and can often be seen toddling around campus saying hi to people.”
Jay and Lindsey Medenwelt-“Jay was hanging out with one of Lindsey’s friends. They invited Lindsey to come along. Tracy (the friend) had an internship with the local college hockey team. She created a media guide and brought it into the office where Lindsey and Tracy worked to show it off. She opened the book and immediately spotted Jay. It said that french toast was his favorite food, which for some reason, stood out to her. She turned to a coworker and said, “I’m gonna marry this guy.” Low and behold it, actually worked out that way!”
Bill and Ann Minnick-“Both of us were at a crossroads with relationships. I had moved on by going to Sioux Falls from Iowa City; leaving behind a high-powered and all-consuming administrative job at the University of Iowa Hospitals to work in marketing communications at Avera McKennan Hospital. As part of my administrative duties, I was asked to be a representative in a new Avera community group. I went to the first meeting in January right after work in my business suit, pumps and nametag which had my formal name “Annette Vander Kooi” on it. Bill was asked to facilitate the group and I was somewhat intrigued by his ability to manage conversation in a diverse group of people, as well as his western hat. The next meeting in February, I was able to get home to change, so no nametag. Bill managed to sit right next to me and greeted me with “Hi, Lynette!” (give him credit for trying) and conversation about if I was Christian Reformed. What??? He figured out I was Dutch and he worked with a Dutch, CRC woman at the University of Sioux Falls. I was impressed that they guy from Nebraska had done some intel, and after the meeting was over we spent an hour talking in the Avera McKennan parking lot. It was the middle of the winter, dark, cold and windy, but a lot of warmth was present. The rest is history.”
