“I just met my dream girl!”
That was Chris’s first thought when he saw Jenna’s profile picture on CatholicMatch, in which she was wearing bicycling gear. Chris, 38, an avid cyclist, had to keep reading. He liked Jenna’s genuine smile and her love for cycling, so he read on.
“But looking at her profile further, she stated that she was not willing to move from California,” he said. Disappointed, Chris, who lived in Austin, Texas, left her profile.
Jenna, 37, was recently out of a long-distance relationship she thought was leading to marriage.
“Chris and I both joined CatholicMatch in a bit of an ‘I guess I'll see what's out there’ kind of mentality, but truly without much anticipation of meeting our spouse,” Jenna said.
“Having just gotten out of a 16-month long-distance relationship, my search criteria included living no more than 20 miles from Long Beach, California,” Jenna said. “Despite Chris being from Austin, I decided to check him out,” she said. She messaged him in November 2018.
“Based on his profile, he was passionate about his faith, liked riding bikes, cherished his family, and loved the outdoors. These were all pretty big requirements for me, so I decided to send him a message. I really wasn't expecting much other than to have someone to chat with.”
Jenna and Chris proceeded to exchange messages, and it seemed like they would become good friends, albeit from a distance. At the time, Jenna was planning a cross-country camping/hiking road trip to attend a Catholic conference in Indiana.
By the time she set out on her trip, Jenna and Chris were talking nearly every day on the phone. One night while she was in Kansas, Chris mentioned that he was only nine hours away from Jenna.
“I jokingly suggested that he come up and meet me,” she recalled. “He called the next day after Mass and said he was on his way!”
They met in person for the first time on New Year’s Eve in St. Louis, Missouri. They walked around a park and went to Mass at the Cathedral Basilica. They spent the next three days together.
After their three-day first date, Jenna went on to the conference where she collected books and pamphlets on topics such as praying as a family. Unbeknownst to her, Chris was already looking for wedding rings.
In January 2019, he travelled to meet with Jenna and her family, after only meeting her a couple weeks prior. “Before dinner, I told him that if he wasn't careful I was going to fall in love with him,” she recalled.
On her way back home to California in February, Jenna stopped in Texas. Chris had just bought a house and wanted Jenna to help him pick out furniture. “We both felt pretty strongly that this relationship wasn't going to be just another couple months of dating,” Jenna said. “So when I got back to California, I let my employer know there was a decent chance I would be moving to Texas.”
Meanwhile, Chris talked to Jenna’s parents. She visited him a few weeks later in Texas. “He had an incredibly sweet and elaborate plan that involved him writing a letter a day for me to read between the time of that visit in March and when he was coming to California for Easter,” she said.
But unable to wait, Chris blew his own plan and proposed to Jenna in his kitchen one morning.
They now both live in Texas, and are planning their wedding for November 30 at the St. Louis Cathedral Basilica, the first place where they attended Mass and held hands. They finally rode bikes together, completing the Biking for Babies mission on which they rode more than 600 miles from Tylertown, Mississippi to St Louis, Missouri together.
“St. Louis will always be a very special place for us,” Jenna said. “My childhood priest will be the officiant at our wedding, and we've invited my old priest from Long Beach, our current priest from Austin, and the priest who was with us on our Biking for Babies ride as well!”
Chris was previously married, and had his marriage annulled due to lack of form. Aside from the initial geographic distance, they both agree that learning to communicate has been one struggle in their burgeoning relationship.
“It's difficult, as older adults used to doing things our own way to come together and fully blend lives,” Jenna admitted.
“I'm sure it will be something we will continue to have to deal with over the course of our relationship, but it's definitely worth the work,” she shared. “I guess this essentially boils down to relationship baggage and insecurities we've both brought from our past.”
Chris said he appreciates Jenna’s patience, love, and faith. “She totally drives me to be a better person,” he said. “To me, she is a tangible example of God's love! I find it hard to explain in words. I guess I could explain more, but I am not sure I could say it without sounding crazy!” Chris said.
The couple now enjoys grand visions of camping, canoeing, mission work, and raising a family. “God willing, we'll get to do it all,” Jenna said. “Thanks to CatholicMatch for being such an instrumental part of our story.”
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