We met in late January 2024, Peoria IL. One winter evening, after adoration, where all the best things happen, the wonderful Fr. Bosse introduced us. Not as a matchmaker, but as an instrument of The Lord, unknowingly executing His plan. In all honesty, he just wanted Christopher to add Samantha to the young adult group chat.

Now you would think it was time for Christopher to make his move, but he didn't. Months passed and finally the young adults went on a hike... Samantha and Christopher had one thirty second conversation.

During the Lenten season, Christopher and Samantha would see each other very often at daily mass in the evening. They never spoke to each other, only waving at each other once... I think. However, this is where Samantha's affection for Christopher began. Seeing Christopher's humility and devotion at mass and adoration quickly made Samantha interested.

On Good Friday, the young adults were invited to a friend's house for some community. They had a huge yard and on a tour they met their goats, chickens, and dogs. Being the animal lover that he is, when everyone went inside, Christopher stayed outside playing fetch and Samantha stayed with him. This is the first time they had a real conversation, and Christopher caught feelings, he just didn't know it yet. That day, he made sure Samantha was going to the same Good Friday service as him and asked her which Easter Vigil she was going to. He found himself just wanting to spend time with her.

The next week, Samantha invited the young adult group to play pickleball, and Christopher was the only one who showed up... Thank You Jesus. There, Samantha and Christopher got to just talk and play until it started to rain. Rather than going home, they ran to Christopher's truck and talked for another couple of hours. They did it again the next week, when again, it rained. The romance of the situation was wild. Christopher didn't do anything until he said rather abruptly, "I think we should go on a date, what do you think?".

~Spoiler~ she said yes!

As they dated Christopher felt such a powerful conviction to love Samantha, to love his friends and strangers, a direct impact of Samantha's presence in his life. Christopher was inspired to be a better man, to learn how to lead, be gentle, and patient. All the while, a constant conviction sat on his heart, "marry her", "marry her". Knowing that their time together had been short and despite the norms of the modern culture, Christopher knew what he wanted. Trusting the Lord to stop him if it wasn't His plan, Christopher did the things - bought a ring, asked for the blessing, made a plan, and asked Samantha to marry him.

!!!MAJOR SPOILER!!!

SHE SAID YES.

Which is absolutely wild, but beautiful.

Thanks for reading, we hope to see you in April! :D