After Katie finished her doctorate degree and got settled into her career, she was comfortable but felt God had greater plans for her.
“I kept reading the different CatholicMatch success stories and wondered if there was someone out there who was waiting for me,” she remarks. So she joined CatholicMatch during the summer of 2019.
A friend recommended CatholicMatch to Andrew, who was searching for someone with the same faith, morals, and values. “I was getting tired of the dating scene and trying to find girls at random places and asking God, ‘Is she the one?’. I was often told to just pray and God will put that person in your life when you are ready,” he comments. After an emotional breakup, he took a break from CatholicMatch, and when he returned to the site, “I saw a profile for a beautiful brunette, blue-eyed girl named Katie. I felt in my heart I just wanted to talk to her and get to know her.”
Katie and Andrew were matched just a few days after Katie joined, though Andrew didn’t see her profile until a month later.
He sent her a simple message (“Hi Katie! How are you?”), which did not impress Katie much. “I preferred the first message to show a little more effort,” she comments. However, she didn’t want to miss out on an opportunity for such a petty reason and decided to respond. Once they started chatting, Katie was pleasantly surprised by the thoughtful, engaging manner of Andrew’s messages. Several weeks later, they agreed to meet in person, and Katie drove from Lincoln to Omaha, Nebraska.
In her profile, Katie had made it clear she didn’t want a long-distance relationship and specified her match be no more than an hour away. “I think it’s true when people say that God has a good sense of humor because Andrew ended up being exactly an hour away!” she laughs.
They met for lunch at the Olive Garden, and both came away feeling uncertain that there would be a second date.
“I actually wasn’t certain we had the best chemistry,” Katie recalls. “I felt the meeting had been somewhat like a bad job interview.” Feeling disheartened, she spontaneously stopped at the Holy Family Shrine off the interstate. “I told God that I trusted Him and His plans and that I could wait even longer for marriage if that’s what He intended, or even stay single for the rest of my life.”
Andrew’s initial thoughts about Katie were that she was sweet and thoughtful but also quite shy. “I’m an extrovert and enjoy talking and talking...so I wasn’t too sure if our personalities would work together.” When Andrew got home, he prayed about Katie and decided to ask for a second date. After careful consideration, Katie agreed since she saw Andrew had a genuine interest in getting to know her.
Since they both like to dance, Katie suggested this for their second date. “It was on this date that I relaxed and realized we had a lot of fun in each other’s company. The very next night we attended a different dance together!” Not wanting the night to end, they stood in the parking lot and opened up about their feelings for each other, and “unexpectedly, I kissed her!” Andrew smiles.
“I thought there was something special about Katie and had a strong inclination that she was going to change my life, although at that point I didn’t know exactly how she would change it,” Andrew recalls. He then asked her for a night walk through the neighborhood, after which they sat in Katie’s car and talked and laughed into the early morning hours. “I smiled so much that my face actually started hurting!” Katie remembers.
Shortly after, Andrew asked Katie to be his girlfriend, and she invited him to meet her family at her nephew’s baptism.
“He was definitely nervous and somewhat overwhelmed to meet so many of my family members at once so soon into the relationship. However, I felt the timing was right and I was happy to have Andrew share in the joy of the event.” What followed were many more exciting moments. For Katie’s birthday, Andrew wrote her a clever birthday song ‘“We’re here to celebrate, ‘cause Katie’s 28!” and bought her 17 gifts. “I was shocked that he would be so generous and caring towards me. I think it was at this moment that I began to realize I was truly a priority in Andrew’s life,” Katie comments.
In mid-October, Katie met Andrew’s parents where she enjoyed hearing stories about his youth and watching the Huskers game. The next day they attended Mass at Andrew’s parish where he is involved in the music ministry. On her way home that day, Katie reflected on the weekend events. “I felt a strong presence of the Holy Spirit and distinctly He revealed to me that ‘Katie, you are going to marry him’. When I finally did tell Andrew (a month later), he told me that his prayer had been that if it was God’s will for us to be together, then He wanted God to reveal it to me!”
Andrew adds, “Several years ago, I had a vision regarding my future spouse. It was a girl sitting on a bench. Although her facial features were obscured, she had long brunette hair. When I came across Katie’s profile on CatholicMatch, I took notice of a photo of her sitting on a bench. After getting to know her, I took it as one of many confirmations that I should marry her. I’ve always wanted to find someone who I could share my heart with, laugh with, talk to, and just be myself. Katie is my best friend who I can see a beautiful future with.”
Andrew bought a ring and asked the blessing of Katie’s parents!
Then, he planned a proposal for February 8th at the zoo where he had first asked her to be his girlfriend. As they stood by the tropical fish pond, he got down on one knee. “She said ‘yes’ without hesitation and whoa, it was like a flood of happiness I’ve never thought possible for me!” Andrew smiles. They are now preparing for their wedding set for April 10, 2021. Meanwhile, Covid-19 has not gotten in the way of their relationship. “We spend as much time with each other, if not more, than we did before the pandemic. We are enjoying our wedding prep courses and learning more about each other and growing in love every day. We make prayer time together a priority, which helps a lot with the anxieties that come along with wedding planning,” Andrew comments.
After they were exclusive, Katie decided to log back onto CatholicMatch to reread their first messages to each other.
“I thought it very interesting that the date of Andrew’s first message to me was the exact week that I was praying with scripture (Luke 11:5-13) to meet a future spouse! I do not at all think that the timing was a coincidence.”
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