When Anna signed up for CatholicMatch on her birthday in 2018, a long-distance relationship was the last thing on her mind. She created her profile with clearly defined parameters, limiting her match preferences to a strict 50-mile radius around her hometown in South Carolina.
She even made a deal with herself: if nothing came of it within seven days, she’d gift herself a full membership.
But to her surprise, she never needed to follow through on that promise...
At nearly the same time, Luke—a recent West Point graduate and U.S. Army aviation student—was also navigating CatholicMatch.
Frustrated and still searching, he had similarly narrowed his search to a 50-mile radius near his base in Alabama. With flight school underway and frequent moves on the horizon, local matches seemed like the only realistic option.
But then, a small celebratory detail caught Luke’s attention!
At the time, CatholicMatch quietly displayed member birthdays on its homepage. When he logged in that day, a cheerful note popped up: “Anna’s birthday is today!”
Amused by the coincidence that her birthday and signup date aligned, Luke sent a lighthearted message that would change everything:
“Is it really your birthday?”
From that day forward, Anna would always have more than just her birthday to celebrate each year.
Just like that, a spark was lit!
That spark quickly turned into a raging fire. Every day, they each found themselves waiting for their laptops, checking for messages, carving out times in their busy schedules just to connect. Slowly but surely, their conversations deepened. They exchanged phone numbers and, despite their initial intention to date close to home, embarked on a long-distance relationship together.
Their first date was in Georgia, a mid-point between their locations. Before the date was over, they were already making plans to see each other again during Luke’s next holiday weekend.
What started as two people firmly set on dating only within their local area unfolded into years of long-distance dating, military relocations, and even an overseas deployment—all before they were engaged.
“We laugh now at how adamant we both were about staying local, only for God to completely rewrite our plans in the most beautiful way,” Anna said. “We both look back at this as a sign of something far beyond random chance. Neither of us would have ever considered someone so far away, but somehow, God placed us in each other’s path through what seemed like a completely random feature.”
Many might have called it chance, but Anna and Luke call it grace.
“Looking back, it’s clear that our story wasn’t random at all. CatholicMatch might have brought us together, but God placed us exactly where we needed to be—even if it meant stretching our “50-mile radius” a little farther than expected!”
Over the next five years, Anna completed her bachelor’s in education and began a master’s program. Luke became an Apache helicopter pilot, served in Afghanistan, and rose through the ranks in his career. After returning from deployment in 2021, Luke proposed—and shortly thereafter, they were married in Anna’s home parish in South Carolina.
Today, they live at Fort Riley, Kansas, where Luke serves as a company commander.
Still, their “biggest blessing of all,” as Anna put it, is their daughter, Maria Claire, who will turn two in June.
In April 2025, they’ll celebrate their third wedding anniversary, thanks to CatholicMatch, and God’s perfect timing!
