THE NAUS FAMILY: 2009

Our life & love story

Sean's Story:
I was born in Mesa, Arizona on March 28, 1981. Growing up in the Naus house was a blast! There was always something fun happening between the six of us. From a young age, I was made aware of the deep reality of Jesus Christ and His Church. Eventually, this faith in God led me to Moody Bible Institute where I studied Bible Theology and Music. After college, I headed off to Australia to work with Youth With A Mission. The last four years of my life have been spent traveling the world with YWAM, preaching the Gospel, leading worship and discipling college students. Along the journey, I spent a few months in France working with some missionary friends. My time there was one of the best in my life and the Lord used these friends to challenge, encourage and strengthen my resolve to serve Jesus with my whole life. Now, right as I was about to leave France, Darrin (missionary friend) told me about a girl that would be coming two weeks after I was leaving. He told me she was cute, loved Jesus, and spoke French... He also said that she would be renting the same flat that I had been renting. So, as any kind soul would do, I left the mystery girl a coffee press, water kettle, and my bus pass... then I ran away. It was months later, when I was back in Australia, that I called Darrin to see how the ministry was going. We talked for a while before I slipped in a "oh, and how did that girl like France?" To which he simply responded, "Why don't you email her and find out?" I was in a hurry at that point, but I did jot down the email and threw out a "Dude, I live in Australia and she lives in Caifornia, there's just no way!" Two weeks later I mustered up enough courage to email the mystery girl and she just so happened to write back a few days later. Well, we then started writing emails and more emails and then started talking on the phone (some calls lasting seven hours!). Finally, we decided that after six months of long distance without ever having seen each other in person, we should meet! On March 2, 2007 I flew to Hawaii to meet Emily. She had spent a lot of time growing up in Hawaii and was already headed there to stay with some friends for Spring Break. I stayed with her surfer guy friends and she stayed with her girl friends and for a week we just sat on the beaches of Hawaii talking and holding hands and.... falling in love.... Later that year Emily came to Australia to work with YWAM and after six months we decided to move back to the US for a while so that we could get married! So here we are, two and a half years later, brought together by God, excited to see where He leads us and more in love than ever!

Emily's Story:
I was born during the Christmas Light Boat Parade in Newport Beach on December 19th, 1984. I had an amazing childhood growing up in Orange County with my parents and brother and spending time with my mom's family in Hawaii each year. I have always been a beach girl at heart. I grew up in a home that loved Jesus and at a young age He quickly became my first love. When I was 9 years old, I started studying French. Learning about this different language and people planted a new love for other countries and cultures in me. I went to Europe for the first time when I was 15 and I was in awe! At age 18, my pastor and his family moved to the South of France to plant a church. I had to go! I started flying over to this gorgeous little town of Aix-en-Provence as much as I possibly could. I would go and help with VBS, translations, etc. It was amazing. During these years, I had the most incredible college experience at Point Loma University in San Diego where I studied Child Development and French and made the sweetest friendships. The summer between my junior and senior year the Lord opened the doors for me to go to France and work with the children's ministry. May of 2006 I flew to France and moved into a tiny, lavendar-colored studio out in the middle of the vineyard covered countryside. When I walked into my little studio I saw a french-press, a tea pot and a bus map that had been set out for me. As I began to live my life in Aix that summer, I met many new and amazing friends who all started making comments about how this guy "Sean" and I should have met... saying that we were "the same person and that we wanted to do the same things in life". I was once out to coffee with a friend who stopped me mid-sentence and said, "what you just said to me, this guy Sean just said to me last week!". Sean had left an incredible impression on the people in Aix. Fast forward 6 months and I was back in San Diego finishing my senior year of college when I received an email from an unknown name "Sean Naus" - it was entitled "Out of Nowhere!". I couldn't believe THAT guy who I'd heard about all summer was writing me! :) We wrote very long emails for about a month and then started talking on the phone from SD to OZ. We talked for hours all about who we were, how we knew and loved God and what we felt God was calling us to do with our lives... I fell in love with him... without ever seeing him face to face. After 6 months of hearing about each other and 6 months of a long distance realtionship... we FINALLY met! On March 2, 2007 I met Sean at the international airport in Honolulu where my friend Linsi dropped me off and yelled out the window "These are the moments we live for!!". When Sean finally walked out of the terminal with his suitcase and guitar, he walked up to me, shaking, and gave me a hug, saying "you're real". We held hands, but could barely stand to look at each other. It was the most bizarre feeling - my heart said "you know this person and you love this person", but I had never seen him before. It took the next 5 days with my friends in Hawaii to let the happy reality of it all sink in... we were finally together and all the we had loved and hoped for in each other was better than we had ever imagined. And so, my God is the God who loves to do more than I could ever ask or imagine - His ways are SO good! Now, our real adventure had begun... we dated in California for a few months, I graduated from PLNU and I moved to Australia to do a Discipleship Training School (a story in itself of how I got there). We loved getting to do ministry in Australia together and yet after 6 months we knew we needed to move back to California to get married and get ready for our next adventure together. So here we are! I had prayed that God would give me a man with a "matching heart". Through my life's different seasons I have learned that all that I have is from God and the only way for me to live is with my hands open - trusting Him with everything because He is the only foundation in my life that will not be shaken. I am so very thankful to God for giving me a man who loves the Lord with all his heart, all his soul and with all his strength. We're getting married so soon and I can't wait to see where God will take our lives together as we love and serve Him with all of our hearts.

"Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. I say to myself, the Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him. The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him, it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord." Lam. 3:23-25

First Date: 3/2/2007 | Engagement Date: 12/7/2008 | Wedding Date: 3/15/2009
~Taken from our wedding website~