Matt & April met on Facebook dating on January 5th 2023, within seconds of April setting up a new dating profile after she had felt much resistance for months in doing so. She had been challenged by a coach to get out there & start dating.

The 1st thing they noticed about each other was that they had mutual friends in common on Facebook & had both gone to Taylorville High-school together & were part of the same graduating class. While there was a feeling of familiarity, they realized right away they had never met or knew each other.

April wasn’t in a hurry to meet in person, & Matt was understanding. He made it clear he was in no rush & that talking to get to know each other better was fine. So, they started to chat here & there. In time more memories of seeing each other at school came up & there was a funny realization one day when April was talking about her dating experience when they realized April had briefly dated one of Matt’s best friends…who was also named Matt. It kind of become a running joke for a while.

The truth is for all the cautions & the way they initially attempted to pace their relationship…the talking, the building an initial friendship…it all moved quickly after their 1st date. April even got spooked for a minute early on…but something bigger than them kept pushing them together.

Both Matt & April have experienced several personal tragedies in their histories & were both once again in process of rebuilding their lives after more heartache…they just didn’t realize at the time that they were going to be rebuilding them together sooner than expected.

As new friends they held each other accountable for their personal commitments, that they would not settle the next time they attempted a relationship with someone. There were many deep conversations between the two of them about what that would look like. Matt’s youngest daughter Eva had lost her mother the year, before & so he absolutely was not choosing a future partner just based off his own desires. He had this beautiful little girl to think of.

April really encouraged him to look deeply at what he needed to look for…because as a mother herself, she understood how critical the right situation would be for his daughter’s future. It never occurred to her at the time that she was going to be the person that fit his criteria & he hers.

I guess you could say that the Universe had its own ideas for these three & they ended up on a much faster timeline than expected leading them towards becoming a family.

Sure, Matt & April were drawn together because of mutual attraction & friendship…but looking back to the initial courtship, they both believe something bigger than them was behind it all. A feeling that they can’t shake more than a year later. There was much adversity…as well as opportunities thrown at them from the beginning of their relationship. They proved to each other from the start that they could weather many challenges that came their way as a team & together.

Their story is more than just a love story. It is a story of friendship, faith, miracles, answered prayers & being drawn towards a greater purpose. It is also the story of a little girl who deserves a life filled with care, love & happiness.