“Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4 encapsulates the unique love story of Danell McLeod and Tevin Tomlinson.
The couple first laid eyes on each other at church seven years ago. Tevin was invited to Danell’s chosen house of worship as a guest of their mutual friend. She was impressed by him from the start. “Before I was introduced to him by my friend, I observed him to see what character he possessed. We were having a quiz that night and he seemed to really know his Bible,” she told Island Wedding.
A young Tevin didn’t think much of their initial encounter at the time, but he managed to strike up a cordial friendship with Danell. After a year, they decided it was time to end this rite of passage and take the journey to a new level by going heart first into a romantic relationship. Doing so, however, was solely dependent on their friend, since they had become quite the trio following their meeting. With her approval, they embarked on this exciting, irresistible adventure on August 21, 2014, and never looked back.
Trustworthy, extraordinary, extremely valuable, inspiring, and noble, Danell basks in the simple yet complex joys of her knight rescuing, supporting, and amusing her. But what she loves about him the most is that he is God-fearing. “Tevin has taught me how to be humble and not make anger the first response to things not going according to plan. He has nurtured our union by ensuring that we always remember that God is the centre of our relationship,” she shared.
Intuitive, passionate, organised, stubborn, and hard-working, Tevin loves that lady love always goes the extra mile for her loved ones. She’s calculative down to the smallest detail and brings vibrancy to whatever she does. He finds it fascinating that she likes her own way, even when she is wrong. “She pushes me to do my best in every situation, and nurtures the relationship by ensuring that we talk about our problems. When she saw me at my lowest point and comforted me, I knew then and there, she was the one.”
THE PROPOSAL
Three years, eight months, and 28 days into their courtship, during dinner with friends, Tevin was down on one knee, asking Danell, the love of his life, “Will you marry me?” The bride reminisced, “I had a feeling he was up to something because he doesn’t usually do things like that. We were having dinner and, at one point, I was wondering why everyone kept taking out their phones and taking pictures and videoing all the time. Then I heard noise, turned around and saw him on one knee. Then I turned back around in my seat. I zoned out for a while, honestly, I didn’t hear what he said and I didn’t even know how to react, but I said yes after he and everyone else were waiting for a response.”
With the support of family members and friends, the engaged couple planned their path to holy matrimony. The planning was one unimaginable roller-coaster ride, but one worthy of their time, energy, efforts and love.
On December 27, 2019, the two said ‘I do’ in a beautiful wedding ceremony in the house of worship where they first met: The Miracle Temple Ministries on Molynes Road. Then, the newly-weds carried the nuptial festivities to the cool Boone Hall Oasis in Stony Hill for the reception. Mrs Tomlinson was elated to have celebrated such a wonderful day among her close loved ones. “The wedding turned out better than we could have hoped for. I don’t really have a favourite part; everything was excellent,” her husband revealed.
Story by Krysta Anderson
krysta.anderson@gleanerjm.com
Contributed photos
