It all started with a high five.

We met in 2019 during our DTS (Discipleship Training School) with YWAM in Colorado Springs. Our first interaction involved a high five, and after that high five, Matthew knew Riley would fall in love with him...he likes to remind her of this fact each time he tells this story.

During our DTS, we became very close friends, exploring the beauty of Colorado Springs, studying God's word, and taking many walks around campus together. During this time our feelings for each other began to shift from friends to more than that. We eventually acknowledged our feelings for each other shortly before we were both about to leave for two separate mission trips. We agreed that during this time apart we would continue communication, but in limited amounts - only on the weekends and only by email. We wanted to keep our focus on the Lord, and all He had planned for us during our time on the missions field.

After 3 months of outreach, we reconnected back in Colorado at the end of February 2020. Our feelings for each other were still there, and so was the desire to pursue a relationship, but God had other plans. With Riley’s plans to head back to Germany to be with her family, and Matthew’s plans of heading back home to North Carolina, it was hard to see how we would make a new relationship work. So, we decided to pray hard about it and give it to the Lord. After much prayer we felt like the Lord was telling us no, and decided to not pursue a relationship with one another. Little did we know our obedience and trust in God’s timing would turn out to be the biggest blessing. Who knew it would just take a few years?

Fast forward to February of 2022.

Thanks to technology, we were able to remain close to each other since we parted in 2020. Riley ended up moving to Florida in 2022 to finish up her Bachelor's degree, while Matthew remained in North Carolina pursuing the purchase of a business. After two years of not seeing each other, Matthew ended up at a friend's wedding in Florida, not far from where Riley was living. Finally being close by, we decided to meet up for the weekend. It didn’t take long for us to fall back into our old routine of laughter and conversation. After Matthew left, we continued our close friendship and again met back up in August, this time with some good friends from YWAM. Sparks continued to fly and we decided to broach the subject of our feelings once again, but again it was hard to see it working out. Over the next few weeks though, our feelings just continued to grow.

One late Thursday night in the beginning of September, Matthew asked Riley if they could call - he said it was just a little catch up chat - but it wasn’t. Shortly into the call Matthew confessed his feelings to Riley and admitted that he wanted to pursue a relationship with her. It was clear they liked each other and he didn’t want to wonder “what if” the rest of his life.

Riley, being surprised by this, had to take a minute to think. After a long discussion it was decided that we would take the weekend to not talk, and just spend time in prayer asking God if this was the right thing to do. Pretty quickly, we both felt a lot of peace from the Lord to pursue each other, and on 9/4/23 decided to do the thing!

And therefore, Matthew’s profound prediction after that impactful high five all the way back in 2019, came true. (woohoo!)

So yeah….that's us. We have fun and we’re cute. So, come to our wedding so we can all have fun together!

Registry