Three weeks after meeting online, they agreed to meet face to face.
On August 19th, 2016, about three weeks after Alisha met Matthew on CatholicMatch, the couple had plans to meet in person. They had written each other long messages and talked on the phone as well as FaceTime. Both of them felt that they knew each other well, and they couldn’t wait to see each other face-to-face.
The day of the date, Matthew, 25, drove 10 hours—600 miles—from Louisiana to northern Arkansas to meet Alisha. She was one of the few girls on CatholicMatch that he had felt compelled to write a personal message.
Not only was Alisha, 24, physically stunning, but he also liked how she talked about being part of a big family, homeschooling, and her devotion to St. Joseph, the Blessed Mother, and St. Therese of Lisieux—all saints that he especially admired. It also didn’t hurt that Alisha was into country music.
Alisha anxiously waited for the work day to end so she could meet Matthew in person for the first time. “When I knew he was outside waiting, I was shaking so badly I messed up some paperwork I was processing, causing me to take longer to get off work,” she recalls.
Alisha was falling for Matthew, so there were high stakes on this first date. “We were very serious about finding the right spouse and the more we got to know each other, the more I saw how much he meant everything he put on his profile—not to mention how handsome he is.”
"He slipped his hand into mine and it was the best feeling."
Matthew could feel his adrenaline pumping while he waited for Alisha. When Alisha walked out of work, there stood Matthew with a bouquet of pink roses in his hand.
“It had just rained, and the sun was shining on him. It was like a beautiful chick flick!”
They hugged each other in the middle of the pedestrian crossing. “Luckily there wasn't any traffic passing at that particular moment,” Matthew says. “We then went to my car where we started to process the fact that we were finally meeting each other.”
Alisha remembers, “He slipped his hand into mine, and it was the best feeling.”
“Once the dust settled from the initial meeting, we went over to the local Japanese restaurant for sushi,” Matthew says. “Afterward, we went to her house where I met her family for the first time. I can't remember much about that first meeting with her family, but I do remember it went well.”
The couple ended their first evening together with Bluebell Cookie Two Step ice cream, the movie Walk to Remember, and the rosary.
After Matthew left to go back to his hotel, Alisha’s mom turned to her and said, "I think he's the one!"
Their second date was just as romantic as the first, and many memorable dates followed.
The next day, Alisha and Matthew spent the whole day together getting to know each other more while walking in a park. When the park trail ended, they found a bench to rest on. It was then that Matthew asked Alisha to be his girlfriend, and if it was okay to kiss her.
“We danced to Rascal Flatts’ ‘Blessed the Broken Road’ on his phone as he sang in my ear,” she shares. “Before going back to his hotel for the night, he said to me, ‘Is it okay if I tell you I love you?’ Of course, I told him I loved him too, and I meant it with all my heart.”
After that wonderful date, many memorable dates followed. “He has taken me to see the musical Phantom of the Opera when a company came to my state and to see a Dan + Shay and Rascal Flatts concert just recently. We always have so much fun together, and he makes me so happy!” she shares.
Alisha and Mathew didn’t find out until after they became serious that both of their moms were praying novenas for them. “Matt's mom was praying to Saint Anne, and my mom was praying to Saint Therese.”
Even though Matthew planned an elaborate proposal with help from family, Alisha didn't catch on until the very end!
Five months later, on January 25th, 2017, Matthew took Alisha on a hiking trip to Whitaker Point in Ponca, Arkansas. Only weeks before, he had asked Alisha’s father for her hand in marriage. Days before the proposal, he had a plan in place.
“I printed pictures, and bought decorative plaques with romantic quotes on them," he says. “Her entire family and my family were in on the plan, but Alisha was oblivious to everything. On the day of the proposal, I packed all this stuff in my backpack, and gave it to her sister when we arrived at the trail.”
Alisha’s sisters ran ahead to set the stage at the end of the trail where there was a scenic view from the mountainside. Matthew kept stalling to give them time to set everything up for the proposal, but Alisha didn’t seem to notice.
Though she thought it was a little strange that her sisters were running around.
“Little did I know what everyone else knew. I was so glad for some reason I put on makeup to go hiking and that my sister told me to borrow her cute jacket,” she says. “I remember thinking it was odd Matt handed my sisters his phone and his backpack not evening knowing what he packed.”
When Alisha saw her two sisters standing ready with cameras, she asked Matthew, “What’s going on?”
“On a red rose was the most gorgeous ring I had ever seen,” she recalls. “He picked it up, got down on one knee, and said so many sweet things to me and asked me to be his wife. On the way back and I kept looking at my ring that was sparkling in the sun beneath the trees. It is a white gold band with little diamonds on either side.”
On their wedding day, they felt God's presence in a way they had never experienced before.
On May 19th, 2018, Alisha and Matthew were married at Saint Peter the Fisherman Catholic Church where her parents wed. “Our whole world came together that week,” they say.
Both of their families and friends worked together to make the day memorable for them. “I don't know what I would have done if it wasn't for them working together on the Thursday before the wedding decorating the hall for a good 12 or so hours.”
Matthew adds, “That day, and the days leading up to it, are probably some of the best days of my life.”
When it came time for the wedding, Alisha felt nervous, but “standing on that altar I felt God's presence in a way I can't even describe.”
Matthew felt the same. “I had longed for so long to vow to someone that I would love them through anything and everything for the rest of my life!"
Finally, that day had come.
Update:
"We are expecting a baby boy on April 18th this year! (Holy Thursday!) We’re naming him Gabriel Joseph."
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