Details ...
Wedding Day!
Saturday, June 15, 2024
Webcast and Prelude begin at 5:00pm Central Time
Wedding begins at 5:30pm Central Time
Driving Directions:
Remnant Fellowship Church
1230 Franklin Rd.
Brentwood, TN 37027
Wedding colors:
Black, White, Ivory, with accents of Gold and Baby Blue
Recommended Attire:
Black Tie Formal to Cocktail
Registry Information:
Williams Sonoma, Amazon and Pottery Barn
Their Story...
Lane:
Before I begin my testimony, I want to give credit where credit is due. My life would not be so full of blessings if it weren’t for my mom joining Remnant Fellowship Church, founded by Mrs. Gwen Shamblin Lara and furthered by Elizabeth Hannah and our amazing church leadership. The teachings and examples at this church have helped me find a true relationship with God, and I am eternally grateful. My mom, Jackie Shepherd, heard about the Weigh Down Ministry back in 2007 through an advertisement in a magazine in Colorado. She began taking classes in April of 2007 and found out about Remnant Fellowship Church. She was able to visit Remnant Fellowship that October for Feast of Harvest. My mom became a member of the church and began to experience abundant blessings from putting the church lessons and Biblical teachings into practice. This forever changed her life—along with mine—as she has been the most steadfast, righteous, humble, and caring example to me, putting God first in every aspect of her life.
Caroline has helped me develop my relationship with God even more deeply, and I know I can always go to her for Godly wisdom and encouragement. Caroline’s steadfast heart for God and the beautiful smile on her face encourages me every day to push further and to be more Christ-like. - Lane
I remember getting to travel down to Tennessee for my first time for a Passover festival. I made so many new friends and had the best time with everyone. That visit established strong friendships that I still have today! I was able to visit Tennessee more and more for church festivals, activities, and events as I grew up, and I began to realize, even at a young age, how much love, peace, and joy were at Remnant Fellowship. My mom’s amazing selfless example is a monumental reason in the fact that I am here today. She would constantly be seeking God’s lead and watching for tickets for us to fly down to Tennessee whenever God allowed; as I got older, occasionally she would even give up her ticket to me so that I could travel down on my own to spend time with our church friends in Tennessee.
Growing up, even though I always enjoyed coming to church at Remnant, it was still “my mom’s church” in my eyes. As I grew into my late teens and young adulthood and went through difficult times, I realized I had to make my own wholehearted decision to seek a personal relationship with God. During this challenging time, all my friends never failed to reach out to me to see how I was doing and offer encouragement. I could see that the members in Remnant were so genuine and full of love—I knew I wanted to surround myself with these amazing people and live a life devoted to God first as I saw them doing.
My family had been friends with the Stites family for many years, and it was during this time of my own spiritual testing that I was invited by Mrs. Gwen Shamblin Lara to join the Stites and many other friends and families on a fun group vacation to Florida...and this trip truly changed my life. God knew exactly what I needed to see and hear on this trip from so many amazing leaders, church members, young adults, and especially from Mrs. Gwen Shamblin Lara. I got to sit in on multiple devotionals led by Mrs. Gwen, full of so many scriptures and inspiring words to devote our hearts to God just as Christ did. I was very humbled and honored to be a part of this trip, and I made the decision to be whole-hearted for God with no more wavering, fully devoting myself to this personal journey with God. After graduating high school in 2020, I had the amazing opportunity to move down to Tennessee to attend college. Ever since that decision, my life has been full of so many blessings that I know I would not have if not for this relationship with God I found through Remnant Fellowship.
As mentioned above, I have known the Stites family for a long time, and Wesley and Caroline were some of my first friends in Tennessee. Their family has been so encouraging and monumental for me because of their friendship and the genuine love shown over the years. While I was still living in Colorado, Caroline and I had always been friends, as she and her brother Wesley would reach out to me to chat and share encouragement. A very sweet memory I have of the Stites family before I moved to TN was a ski trip in 2019. They had traveled to Copper Mountain, CO, on a family ski trip – and they invited me up from the Denver area to stay with them and have fun on the trip! Their family is truly the definition of “fun,” but they also took time in very natural ways to talk about God and show appreciation for everything He allowed on the trip. The following spring, right before I moved to TN, I was amazed to hear that Caroline had an interest in me...this was such a blessing, as God had been bringing Caroline up in my own heart more and more. We started texting and talking more after I moved, which then led to dating. As Caroline and I grew closer, I truly fell in love with her, especially with her heart for God and this church.
Caroline is the biggest blessing, and I am forever grateful to have her in my life! She has been nothing but a joy in my life, and we have spent the last four years growing closer together with a focus on building our relationship with God. Caroline is very passionate for this church, and it is so encouraging because she truly loves God and wants to seek His Spirit in everything she does. I cannot wait to marry such a Godly woman! Caroline has helped me develop my relationship with God even more deeply, and I know I can always go to her for Godly wisdom and encouragement. Caroline’s steadfast heart for God and the beautiful smile on her face encourages me every day to push further and to be more Christ-like. Caroline is one of the most humble women I know because she knows how important it is to give credit back to where credit is due; she has told me numerous times how grateful she is for her parents raising her in this church and for Mrs. Gwen and Elizbeth Hannah for their amazing examples about how to live a Godly life.
I am beyond humbled to get to marry Caroline Margaret Stites. I am so excited to live our life together following Jesus Christ’s footsteps by putting God first in everything. There is no doubt in my mind that Caroline will be a Proverbs 31 wife, as she has already shown those characteristics daily. I am very excited to see where God takes our lives, and I can’t wait to serve Him and this church family, as our lives have been forever changed for the better!
Caroline:
I want to start this testimony by thanking both my parents for all that they have helped me with in my life, along with Gwen Shamblin Lara and Elizabeth Hannah for showing so much love to me and guiding me on the True Path. I feel so honored to be able to share my testimony because my life has been so blessed. I am forever grateful for the opportunity to have a true connection with God and to be a part of Remnant Fellowship Church.
Lane is nothing but a gentle, kind, and humble spirit who truly only wants God’s will in all areas of life. I am incredibly honored to become his wife and spend the rest of my life by his side! Lane has helped me through so much, and he always has a smile on his face, continually looks to take care of others’ needs, and is always such an example to me.- Caroline
A little backstory of how I am here today. My mom, who is my biggest role model of true love and loyalty for God, started working for Weigh Down Workshop in 1996, packaging products. She was such a loyal and hardworking employee that she later became one of Mrs. Gwen Shamblin Lara’s personal assistants, which she continued to do for the next 25+ years. My dad has shared that after my mom began working at Weigh Down, he saw true changes in my mom—she had more joy, more peace, more contentment, and a stronger heart for God. With my mom working so closely with Mrs. Gwen, I basically grew up around her and her family, which is something I will never take for granted because of the valuable lessons I was able to learn.
When our church, Remnant Fellowship, was founded in 1999, my parents were among the first people to join. My parents were so grateful to join a church that was teaching Biblical truth and to watch Mrs. Gwen Shamblin Lara live out what she was teaching. My parents were quick to seek out and follow the will of God, and that characteristic is still very obvious to this day. My father’s connection with God has always been so clear to me ever since I was a little girl. He has supported this church in every way, including supporting my mom whenever her time and energy needed to be geared toward helping the church with its many activities and events. Through the teachings we have heard here, my parents have taught me and my siblings how to consider others above yourself and always show love.
Since I was born and raised in this church and my mom worked so closely with Mrs. Gwen, I got to grow up around Mrs. Gwen, Mrs. Elizabeth, and Elizabeth’s daughter Grace. Grace and I have basically been inseparable over the past 19 years! She is my best friend and has always been her mom’s biggest supporter. Being around Grace is always encouraging and convicting, and she has helped me grow my relationship with God in so many ways. From a young age, I looked to Grace as an example, because she truly has the spirit of God just like her Mom and her Grandmother. While my relationship with Grace has been so invaluable, her friendship is only one of so many amazing friendships here! Remnant Fellowship has given me the best opportunity to create countless close and lifelong friendships, and I am so grateful.
God has truly blessed my family in so many ways. My parents always desired to have children, and they considered my brother and me as precious blessings from God. I look up to my older brother, Wesley, in so many ways; he is definitely my best friend, and I have looked to his example since I was little. In 2021, our church experienced something we never thought would happen when we lost seven beloved friends, including Jonathan and Jessica Walters. They were my parent’s best friends, and our families lived next door to one another my whole life. Wesley and I grew up with the Walters’ children—Arden, William, and Reed—always being a major part of our day-to-day lives. When Jonathan and Jessica passed, I knew that things were going to change in their family, but I had no idea the blessings God would bring about as my parents immediately and lovingly opened our family to the Walters’ children. Even though this passing was harder than anything we have experienced, I have gained two sisters and another brother, and I feel beyond blessed to call them my siblings, as my family never felt more complete. My parents had zero hesitation in taking them in as their own and instantly becoming a close-knit and loving family of seven. I would be nowhere without my parents’ example, and I pray that one day I can be half of what they have been to all of us.
Growing up in this church, I always loved getting to attend Remnant Fellowship assemblies to worship God, but it wasn’t until I was a teenager that I realized I needed to make some changes in my personal relationship with Him. Growing up, I wanted to be just like my mom and be a supporter of the church and assistant to Mrs. Gwen and Mrs. Elizabeth, but there came a time as I grew that I needed to seek a relationship with God in my own heart and not just follow what my parents did. Mrs. Gwen, Mrs. Elizabeth, Mrs. Jennifer Martin, and my mom all helped me tremendously through my teen years and were incredible examples for me. When I decided fully to seek my own personal relationship with God, I saw so many blessings pour in! The love in this church is like none other, and I cannot imagine my life anywhere else. Life in this church, a life of love, a life of a true relationship with God is the best, and it is so much fun. Watching how much our church is growing in strength makes me more encouraged to keep moving forward and keep being more Christ-like with every new day.
It was soon after this time of prioritizing my personal relationship with God that He brought me the biggest blessing of my life, Delane Kenneth Shepherd. My family has known the Shepherd family for a long time, as Lane’s mother Jackie is a long-time member at Remnant. They lived in Colorado, and our family would meet up with Jackie and Lane and their family when we would go skiing in Colorado. As Lane grew up, he often traveled down to Tennessee for church festivals and other events, and we would hang out in the same friend groups, but I never imagined that our relationship would be anything more than a friendship. Then in the fall of 2019, during one of Lane’s visits to Tennessee, I felt my heart growing interested in him. I found myself thinking a lot about Lane, and I wondered if maybe God was leading something. That next spring, my family was going on a Florida trip with the Shamblin, Lara, and Hannah families. Mrs. Gwen invited Lane and several others to come on that trip also. That trip is when I found my heart truly attaching to Lane’s gentle and humble spirit. Over the summer of 2020, Lane moved to Tennessee so he could be closer to church and attend college here, and I was able to get to know him even better. Ever since then, I have only fallen more in love with him.
Lane is nothing but a gentle, kind, and humble spirit who truly only wants God’s will in all areas of life. I am incredibly honored to become his wife and spend the rest of my life by his side! Lane has helped me through so much, and he always has a smile on his face, continually looks to take care of others’ needs, and is always such an example to me. I could not imagine life without him now! I always want him around, because you can tell he has the spirit of God and wants only to do what is right. The way he walked through spiritual testing to find God and then build his own personal relationship with Him has been the sweetest thing to watch. I am so excited to marry Lane inside of Remnant Fellowship Church, as we are so blessed to begin our life together at the place we love the most. I pray that this marriage is nothing but glorifying to God and His Kingdom! We are excited to someday prayerfully start a family to continue teaching about God and Christ and to support Elizabeth Hannah as she is leading this church forward. I love Lane with my whole heart, and I am so excited to be entering this stage of life together!
