THE LOVE STORY

Rachel and Carlos met in the Kingdom of Bahrain in 2022. While neither are originally from this tiny island in the Middle East, the Lord already knew why He was sending Carlos and Rachel there. Carlos is an Officer in the Navy and received orders to be stationed in Bahrain beginning in December 2021 (he had no idea what or where Bahrain was and had to Google it). He was not thrilled as he had just completed a tour overseas (Japan) and wanted to return to his home state of Florida.

Rachel, born in the Philippines, decided to move to Bahrain in May 2018 to work and live with her mother and help provide a better life for her immediate family she left behind in the Philippines. Rachel quickly found work as a Flight Attendant and left Bahrain for Oman where she traveled and saw the world until the COVID pandemic. With travel restrictions severely effecting the airline industry, Rachel was forced to return to Bahrain on 2020.

What Rachel and Carlos saw as a lack of control in their lives, God had planned and used to write their love story. Neither of them would have thought that thousands of miles away from their homes, in a small country, that one day, on the beach standing over a charcoal grill, they would meet their future spouse cooking chicken and ribs. But as the saying goes “man makes plans and God just laughs” but that laughter is what has brought Rachel and Carlos together.

On May 20, 2023 with the blessings of both of their families, Carlos proposed to Rachel. The joy and excitement of the proposal was soon met with a tearful goodbye as one month later, Carlos was reassigned to Florida - officially starting their long distance relationship.

For months and from thousands of miles away, 7,416 miles to be exact, Carlos and Rachel have kept their promise to talk with each other every single day. From different time zones, it is common to see one of them brushing their teeth to start their day, as the other is brushing their teeth to end the day. And as they keep that first promise true, they have also made plans to fulfill another promise. A promise to one day be reunited, face to face, celebrate their love, under the blessing of God surrounded by families and friends.

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Matthew 6:21

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