Well, it happened. On October 10th I married the love of my life, Juliette (Piwiec) Genteman!!! For those of you who weren’t around to witness our romance, here’s a brief history, as described by Juliette on our wedding website.
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We met on January 30th, 2009, a few days after Todd’s 26th birthday and a few days before Juliette’s 25th. A band called Fiction Family (comprised of Jon Foreman of switchfoot and Sean Watkins of Nickel Creek) was playing a show at the historic Belcourt Theatre in downtown Nashville. Todd had driven down to Nashville from Missouri to see the show with some friends. Juliette saw Jon Foreman perform six times in 2008, and wasn’t about to miss his very first tour with Fiction Family. Juliette’s phone was running out of juice by the time she found her seat at the show. So while she waited for her two friends to show up, she sat there alone, with nothing to do. Seated in the center of the theatre, Todd noticed Juliette’s bright red peacoat and purple flowers in her hair just a few rows in front of him. After a few minutes of deliberation, he made his way over to say hi.
Juliette thought it was a prank, that someone had dared him to come over and strike up a conversation. But it was not a prank. :) After the show, Todd got Juliette’s phone number and texted her later that night, inviting her to hang out with him and some friends. Juliette blew him off to meet Jon Foreman and hang out with her own friends.
The next day, Todd persisted and called Juliette back, this time inviting her to a birthday party. After several hours of texting and much deliberation, she arranged to meet him at his friends’ house across town after work that night. So at 10:30pm on a Saturday night, Juliette made the trek to East Nashville, while Todd’s friends sat in their living room in disbelief that he’d convinced her to come hang out. That night, Todd and Juliette got kicked out of 3 Crow Bar because Todd’s license was newly expired. But shortly after that, they braved the smoke and the blaring hip-hop music, and made their way into another bar called Beyond the Edge. It was there that they had their first hilarious, scintillating 3 hour conversation, filled with talk of all their dreams and favorite things... which just happened to parallel each other.
At the end of the night, Todd asked if he could see her again the next time he was in Nashville. She said ok.
The next day, he called her and they talked for an hour on his drive back to St. Louis.
The next day, he called again. They talked for another hour.
Three days later, he sent her the perfect birthday present.
Nine days later, (Valentine’s Day) he showed up at her front door with donuts and roses and Season 1 of the Cosby Show (a mutual favorite).
He’s called her every. single. day. Since February 1st.
And on June 1st, he arranged to have her brought back to the Belcourt Theatre, where they met...
and he asked her to marry him.
She said, “Absolutely.”
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So there you have it! After an agonizing 4.5 months of being engaged and planning a wedding while living in different cities,
Juliette and I were married in downtown Nashville. The ceremony was held in the concert hall of a local music school and officiated by my best friend and partner in ministry, Josh Jones. We were so blessed by all the incredible people who lended their talents to us and/or came out to be a part of this amazing day. We were told by multiple people after the event that it felt like summer camp; a short-term mingling of remarkable people that was over far too quickly. One of the groomsmen suggested that we get married once a month, just for the party.
Our wedding night hotel was spectacular. Keith Urban and his crew were actually staying a few floors above us in the Penthouse Suite. I passed him on the elevator when I checked us in that afternoon! And after a long day of traveling on Sunday, we made it to our honeymoon destination-- Riviera Maya, Mexico. We had a beautiful week together, but by the end of it, we were excited to get back to the states and our new life together in St. Louis.
So we’ve been married for two months now! We are loving life in the city and enjoying the challenges of figuring out married life. We’re living in South St. Louis, in the historic neighborhood of Soulard. We’re renting a great 2 bedroom apartment in a 100 year old building, just one block from the huge, Soulard Farmer’s Market and one exit from Busch Stadium. We are also praising the Lord because I (Juliette) JUST got a full-time job working as a photographer at the Gateway Arch! Yay employment!! :) Todd’s is working at Starbucks (praise the Lord for good health insurance), but hoping to
eventually acquire a position outside that company that would allow him to work with August Gate to connect churches throughout the city.
In other news, we retired my 16 year-old Honda Civic coupe in favor of an all-wheel drive, 2003 Honda Element. Todd feels much better about me spending my first St. Louis winter in a dependable SUV and its also just a great, versatile vehicle that we both really enjoy driving. We named the car Rufio and broke it in by roadtripping to Dallas to see my family for Thanksgiving. We are VERY grateful for our new ride!
And speaking of new additions that require names... we’re getting a puppy! (Repeat: we are NOT pregnant!) By the time you read this, we will officially be parents of little black and white boxer boy. And since he’s mostly black and we’re assuming he’ll grow up to be pretty fierce looking (and because we both really like superheroes), we’ve decided to name him after the home of the Dark Knight: Gotham. We both love dogs and are delighted to be bringing Gotham to be part of our new family.
So... there’s a lot of new stuff happening! We are excited for the future and so grateful for all the Lord has provided for us.
As of this past August, we are on staff at August Gate; a church plant in the Soulard neighborhood of St. Louis. The past few months have been an amazing time of foundation building. Our launch team has become family and we are excited to bring new people into the mix and share the love of the Gospel with them. We just finished up our first round of Covenant member classes and are gettting ready to launch small groups in January. Small groups will be a major part of Todd’s responsibilities as Community Pastor and a huge part of how we connect with the city. Our hope is that these small groups will produce a desire for deeper study, accountability and service as we gather together throughout the Metro area.
The other large part of Todd’s responsibilities is the Mercy/Service aspect of August Gate. For the last few months, we have been working primarily with 12th and Park Rec Center. The rec center is about 3 blocks from our house and right across the street from the Peabody Projects, a large government housing project just south of downtown. We have painted the weight room there, helped to organize a night of games and a haunted house for the neighborhood kids on Halloween, served Thanksgiving dinner to the local elderly, and partnered with other local ministries to provide an affordable Christmas shop for local families who otherwise wouldn’t be able to buy Christmas presents for their families.
Our main focus right now is to equip the people God is bringing to August Gate to live missional, Gospel-centered lives here in the urban core. While this is happening, God is continuing to bring new city dwellers into community with us. In short, we are presented with innumerable opportunities to connect, love and serve.
These are very exciting times for us and we covet your prayer support. We are living as
missionaries, having left our homes, jobs and suburban lifestyle to relocate here and see God move. In addition to lifting up the leadership and ministry of August Gate, here are some things we’d love for you to join us in prayer about:
- We are praying about a possible partnership with another local church that would provide office space and a permanent building here for us in Soulard. We ask that you would join us in seeking the Lord for a building that August Gate can call home!
- Another possible development is the creation of an August Gate community on the East side!!! Todd, Noah, and Josh all hail from Illinois so the idea of expanding to reach those on the other side of the river with the Gospel is an exciting possibility for us. We currently have August Gatians who are already living and serving in the Shiloh area of Illinois. Pray with us as we look for God’s direction in how August Gate will translate and possibly expand to that area!
- Juliette is VERY grateful for her new job, but is also still waiting to hear back from the University of Missouri @ St. Louis about a position that would allow her to use her college degree! Todd is also seeking a job that would take him from the coffeehouse scene and place him in a position working with local non-profit organizations and churches to raise up local leadership and unite congregations in the city with those in the county. Pray that the Lord would open doors and that Juliette and Todd would both have the patience to wait on the Lord concerning their employment.
- Finally, understanding that times are tight and there are many who are in need, we ask that you would pray about how God may be calling you to support our ministry here financially. Currently, we will be using all raised funds to pay for our housing, which amounts to about a thousand dollars a month. We ask that you would seek the Lord to see how he is leading you to support us as we serve here in our city!
Thank you so much for your love, support and genuine interest in our lives. We are grateful to God for each and every one of you and wish you all a very merry Christmas!!!
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