INTRO

It’s hard enough to find that Jesus-loving, funny, kind, and selfless person made for you, but when all social events and other in-person gatherings have been cancelled, it can be near-impossible. This is why this relationship, that started on a mainstream dating app, cannot be called anything less than a gift from God. Hinge is an app “designed to be deleted”, as their tagline reads, but nevertheless is subscribed to by a very wide range of people from all ages, locations, faiths (and non-faiths), and backgrounds.

HER

Despite the difficulties of normal dating due to the pandemic, Katelin came across Joe’s profile and was impressed by his obvious love for God and desire for a meaningful relationship. She proceeded to like his statement about his love for God and made the first move in late August 2020.

HIM

Joe on the other hand was having his patience being drained when it came to dating. By this point, he had just been somewhat going through the motions. But when he received the “like” from Katelin on his comment about his love for God, he checked out her profile, noticed her equal love for Jesus, hints of her fun-loving personality and of course, her prettiness. He couldn’t help but respond to her advance. They messaged each other for a few days before he asked her to meet-up for their first date.

THEM

They kept it pretty casual by meeting up at Panera Bread in the North Hills. After spending most of the afternoon just getting to know each other, they both realized the date exceeded their reserved expectations and they wanted to see each other again. They did again and again until Joe decided to ask Katelin to officially be his girlfriend after a morning autumn walk in Ben Avon. Katelin agreed and then she had him meet Hattie, her cute Golden Retriever.

Joe and Katelin continued to get to know each other, do all sorts of fun things with each other like road trips to parks, days in the city, ice skating, holidays such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Valentine’s Day and even the more low-key activities such as working and studying together, going to the gym together, and dinner and movies. They also spent a great deal of time with both of their respective families and friends, and unsurprisingly, everyone approved of both of them. Their silly sense of humor, with their sweet affection for each other and their ability to have serious conversations made for a lot of interesting and full moments together.

HER MOVE

Throughout the entirety of their time together, they prayed both as a couple and individually, that God would ultimately help determine the course of their relationship, knowing that there would be challenges ahead in which their future paths were still unclear. Katelin’s medical schooling had been delayed due to Covid and she had explained to Joe at the beginning of their relationship that she could be moving out-of-state. And finally, in February, she got the call about starting her clinical rotations in the Washington DC area. She would start her rotation in March. Joe and Katelin continued to spend as much time as possible with each other possible with their usual dinner and movie dates and also a very romantic Valentine’s Day evening, while trusting God that the way their relationship was supposed to go would be so, as they had from Day 1. During that final weekend in February, Katelin moved to Washington DC to begin her first year of rotations, with her family and Joe helping her. Joe and Katelin said goodbye to each other temporarily and they endeavored to visit when they could and talk as much as possible to make the distance between them not feel as far.

There’s no doubt this would be a test for them to see where their relationship really was. Yet in spite of the distance and Katelin’s busy work and study schedule, they made time to talk to each other and even had movie nights via FaceTime. Joe would drive down to DC and visit Katelin whenever he could on the weekends. They would go out exploring the National Mall, parks and local restaurants around the area. Right before their very eyes, they embodied the proverb “Absence makes the heart grow fonder”. What could’ve easily been used to break them apart instead made them stronger as a couple. They resumed talking about their future together and what that would look as it would be as unique of a situation as anyone in their circle ever knew of.

THE PROPOSAL

Then Katelin’s month-long break from late May through late June had arrived. She would be home in Pittsburgh for the majority of that time. They were very happy to be spending time together again as usual. But in the meantime, Joe was planning the most monumental moment of their relationship yet: asking Katelin to be his wife. After multiple conversations with her and also speaking with her dad, he was confident in how the outcome of the plan would be, yet needed to get the next most important thing: the ring. After receiving advice from his friends and then his own dad, he went to two different places and then finally decided on a diamond and ring style at Shiffmann’s Jewelers, where his dad had found his mom’s ring years before. He patiently waited for it to come while giving Katelin subtle hints that the proposal would be coming but simultaneously keeping her in the dark on the “how”.

They had made plans to head up to Erie for their 9-month anniversary. Anxiously bracing for the possibility of rainy weather ruining their plans for the day, they still prayed for sun (especially Joe). It came down to the day before, but they decided to go ahead and enjoy their anniversary along the lake as the forecast improved. Wednesday, June 2, Joe picked up Katelin and then headed up to Erie. After 2 hours and a couple of stops later, they arrived at Presque Isle, and set up a spot on the beach with towels, snacks and drinks to have and enjoy their anniversary. Katelin was quietly wondering to herself all day when Joe was going to ask the question, but only Joe knew. After spending the bulk of the day on the beach laying on their towels and walking along the shore, they went out to eat at a restaurant by the bay near the Centennial Tower.

Joe’s appetite was so-so in anticipation that he would be asking “The Question” very soon. Katelin even noticed he was a little bit quieter than usual but didn’t press much as it was on her mind too. After they ate, they went to the Centennial Tower overlook of the bay to enjoy the views and the quiet time with each other. They stayed there for about a half hour or so when Joe suggested they go back to the beach to walk along the shore before the sun went down. Katelin agreed so they got back in Joe’s car and went back to Presque Isle.

Joe parked a little closer to Sara’s Campground as it was closer to people and encountering passersby was part of his plan. They walked along the beach for what seemed like forever in anticipation of what might be to come. The only problem was that there wasn’t a soul in sight on the beach for quite some time. How then would Joe really be able to execute his plan in the manner that he sought? He began to pray under his breath as he and Katelin continued to walk up the shore. They turned around and started to walk back towards his car, as Joe was hoping to stumble upon some strangers. He saw someone in the distance, but when he and Katelin began to walk closer, the person walked away. Joe didn’t panic, believing that someone else would come by. It was just a few minutes later, that a man and woman came out from the beach entrance. They were getting kind of cozy with each other, so Joe knew that they were the ones.

When he and Katelin got close enough, Joe asked “Excuse me, can you please take our picture?”. The couple (whose names were Johnny and Dana) agreed to do so. Joe put his bag, which was carrying his drinks and some other items, down on a bench and placed something very specific from it into his hoodie pocket. He gave his phone to the woman, as she’s the one who wanted to take the pictures, and he walked over to Katelin so they could begin posing. Katelin sensed something was about to happen and she was shaking inside. The lady took quite a few pics from a couple of different angles and Joe was quietly getting impatient. Finally, she motioned like she was going to give the phone back to Joe for him to look at the pictures.

Joe said, “Hold on a second.” She stopped. Joe then turned to Katelin and began to tell her how much she meant to him. He can’t even recall the words (and neither can she), but what he and everyone else can remember is him getting down on one knee and pulling that specific item out of his hoodie pocket. He opened it up for Katelin to see, she put her hands on her chest in awe and brightly smiled. It was a white box with the ring in it. What then followed were the words heard around the world, “Katelin, will you marry me?”. To Joe’s delight, she said “Yes!” while nodding her head and smiling ear to ear. They embraced and kissed, with Johnny and Dana clapping and cheering in the background, overjoyed that they got to be a part of Joe and Katelin’s lovely moment. And much to the newly engaged couple’s happiness and surprise, Dana had caught the proposal on video, even without Joe’s direction or hinting of what would take place. A moment forever held in endearment. Joe got their number so they could stay in touch. The soon-to-be-married couple got in Joe’s car to begin heading home. They announced the news first to their respective families, friends and then social media, and the news went viral. It took a few minutes (or more) for Joe to get his composure together as he and his bride-to-be were on cloud-infinity. Then finally they drove home that evening, savoring the moment, and listening to love songs the whole way back. It was a day they would truly never forget.

WATCH VIDEO OF PROPOSAL HERE!

FINALE

As to give the best words to describe their story, Joe and Katelin simply look it as one-of-a-kind. Had the Covid pandemic not brought about so many changes in the world, Joe would be busy with continuing to build his business while Katelin would have started the next chapter of her medical schooling in September. Instead, God used this time, in which many things like networking events, conferences, and schooling were put on hold, to bring the two of them together. They knew they would face many challenges but believed the relationship was more important than any fear of the unknown. They decided to trust that this was a miracle from God and that He would work out all the details.

Now as Joe and Katelin anxiously await their March wedding, many unknowns lie ahead. Preparations need to be made for their future life together, but the couple is trusting in God’s provision and plan for their lives and cannot wait to see what He may have in store for them. For in Him, all things hold together for the good of those who love Him [Rom 8:28].