Karly and James fell in love on an Island off the coast of California in September of 2023, but that's not really where the story begins.

As you may know, Karly and James both attended Foothill High School and Baylor University and graduated in the same year. What they try to hide is the fact that when Karly was graduating from Baylor, James was graduating from Foothill!

They like to think God was keeping them apart until He did some crucial work in their lives. It was definitely that or the fact it would've been illegal to date when they first met, which was on a mission trip to Shell, Ecuador where they helped build a playground for an orphanage in 2014.

After that trip, the two of them didn't see much of each other for about eight years. In these eight years, Karly accidentally dated men who were not James. So she submitted her love life over to Jesus. In her prayer journal dated 5/5/2023, she prayed in detail for a husband with specific characteristics… “integrity,” “to be my bff,” “faithful to me,” and “that he will not leave me as a widow for more than 2 years.” Fun fact if you didn’t know, women outlive men by about 4.5 years on average.

At this time, James was in Hawaii living on Island time. Although he had no plans to ever return to California, he got the feeling he couldn’t stay any longer. As he puts it, “I felt like I had a calling to accomplish something on the mainland.” With no plans or prospects, he moved back to California. That first Sunday morning back in California, he decided to attend Trinity Presbyterian. Who was there to greet him on that first Sunday he returned to church in California? None other than a beaming, charismatic, beautiful young lady: Lynne Kodzis! Karly’s mother encouraged James to get involved with the Youth group which he once attended. He was thrilled to join the staff just days later.

This is where we get to the coastal Island. Karly loves to attend the Trinity High School retreats to lend a hand as the camp nurse. The two of them met again for the first time in eight years on a dock in Long Beach, CA. They were about to get on a boat headed to Catalina Island with the rest of the Youth group and staff...

“You’re Karly Kodzis, right? Didn't we go on a mission trip together once?”

Registry