Lance, 45, was in the process of reverting back to his Catholic faith in April 2018.
He wanted someone who shared that faith with him, so he signed up for CatholicMatch. Little did he know that someone would become his Confirmation sponsor and then his wife.
After a series of failed relationships, Angela, 39, activated her subscription to CatholicMatch for the last time in September 2018. She had tried the site before without success. “Something in my heart made me not give up even though I was tired of failed relationships and disappointments,” Angela said.
She saw Lance’s profile and sent him a wink. He responded. “From that moment, our love story began,” Lance said.
A few weeks after communicating on CatholicMatch, they met in person and realized they only lived five minutes away from each other in the same California town.
They even occasionally attended the same church.
Both felt relaxed and comfortable on their first date. “It felt like we had known each other,” Angela said. “I was not nervous at all.” She was attracted to Lance’s “gorgeous eyes and genuineness.” Lance was captivated by Angela’s ability to communicate and by her eyes. “It was like something out of another world,” he said.
Lance said that he usually kissed most of the women he met on first dates. It was different with Angela. He wanted to take his time. “I felt at peace and didn't feel rushed,” he said.
They started going to Mass together. “Our relationship began by serving God right away in praying the Rosary for 40 Days for Life,” said Lance. Within a month of knowing each other, he asked Angela to be his girlfriend. Lance said she was his “guide and angel” as he was re-catechizing himself, and she became his Confirmation sponsor in December 2018.
After Lance’s Confirmation, he and Angela started teaching Confirmation classes together, and bringing the Eucharist to the sick. Both wanted to keep seeing each other. Angela had never been married, and Lance’s first marriage was not in the Church. He was divorced nine years before meeting Angela. Both were free to marry.
But some challenges remained. Angela was still wounded from bad past relationships.
“I was still a bit scared and it took me a while to trust again,” she confessed.
“I had a series of failed relationships and one traumatic experience with a serious relationship.”
She was also concerned about Lance’s financial instability at the time. “It made me have several doubts,” Angela said. Something in her heart told her to trust and continue by his side.
“Very early on in our relationship, we both prayed and asked Jesus for direction and his will over our relationship,” Angela said. “We had both experienced bad relationships and we wanted God's approval before moving forward.”
Sensing God’s blessing on their union, Lance decided to take the next step. He surprised Angela one day at the school where she works as a fourth grade teacher. With the cooperation of the principal and some of Angela’s friends, Lance showed up at a school assembly and proposed in front of the teachers, students, and staff. “It was so memorable,” Angela said.
One year and three months after meeting, Angela and Lance married on December 28, 2019.
“Everything was perfect, from our wedding Mass to the wedding reception,” she said.
The couple didn’t live together before marriage and they stayed celibate until their wedding day. “This is a gift that we both owed to God and to each other,” Lance said.
“God granted us so many blessings because that is who he is, a loving God.”
The day they moved into their new home brought some unexpected chuckles.
After they returned from their honeymoon, Lance tried carrying Angela over the threshold into their new house for the first time. “From the effort of lifting me up, he farted unexpectedly,” Angela recalled. “We laughed so hard that I almost peed my pants.”
Among the many blessings of married life, the couple enjoys cooking for each other, decorating their home, praying together before bed, and serving at their church as catechists and Eucharistic ministers.
They also appreciate the smaller things, like doing laundry, buying groceries, and talking.
“Now that I've known him and live with him, what I appreciate the most is how loving and considerate he is about my feelings and needs,” Angela said. What does Lance appreciate? “The way she takes care of me,” he said.
“Now that we are happily married, we know we are called to serve God,” Lance said.
They want their story to reach all those who have lost hope. “Don’t give up. Wait on God and his perfect timing,” Lance said. “Angie and I are more in love than at any moment before.”
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