Amanda, 38, tried several dating sites and didn’t have much luck meeting people who she really clicked with. “I realized that I wanted to share my faith with someone, and I figured I needed to find a site that started with that. So, I decided on CatholicMatch!” she remembers.
So, she made a profile and signed up.
Then, in April of 2020, she met Jay, 47.
“We (were) trying to remember who reached out to who, and we still aren’t sure!” Amanda laughs. Somehow, anyway, they ended up looking at each others’ profiles online. She was in Kansas City, Missouri, and Jay was in Omaha, Nebraska.
“I’d say one of the first things that stood out to me was that he was a handsome man whose profile picture was of him in a church,” she recalls. Based on this and his profile, she could tell Jay had a solid foundation in his faith.
She also appreciated how he took his appearance and health seriously.
For his part, Jay appreciated Amanda’s obvious commitment to her faith, as well as her family values. He loves his family very much, and could tell Amanda shared the same principles! They chatted for only a week on CatholicMatch before swapping numbers–Amanda had only recently joined, but Jay’s membership was expiring. Instead, they made use of texting and video chat, and then set up their first date for early May.
They arranged to meet halfway between their cities for a walk and picnic in the park. One date led to another, and then another. Due to the pandemic, most restaurants and businesses were closed, so they filled their meetups with walks, dinners at each others’ houses, and attending church together.
After several months of dating, Jay invited Amanda to attend a family member’s wedding as his plus one.
It was a BIG wedding, and Amanda met a ton of his relatives. “I knew that weekend that I was falling for this man,” she says. She loved watching him interact with his giant family, and they danced the night away together. Jay too remembers this weekend wedding as a turning point for them, and they began taking their dating more seriously.
They found the biggest obstacle was the three hour distance between them, as well as their busy work schedules.
Formerly a college football coach, Jay was now taking a bunch of college courses to become a cardiac sonographer. Amanda is a physical therapist assistant and out of school. Thus, they tried to set most of their dates around his area at local coffee shops, and outdoor activities that kept them being active. Nevertheless, they had to go a few weeks between dates sometimes, which they state made it difficult to start a serious relationship.
“It is also a challenge to date as you get older, because you have become accustomed to doing everything on your own,” Amanda says, as both she and Jay navigated being a couple.
This was their first real relationship!
Since neither had been married before, it was pretty new for both of them to be navigating a serious relationship! The two also began volunteering together at Open Door Mission in Omaha, as well as continue participating in their separate Bible studies.
Fast forward two years, and they began discussing their future together. They began planning for Amanda’s relocation to Omaha for summer of 2022, so they could be closer together. Despite talking seriously about their future as a couple, Jay hadn’t taken Amanda ring shopping yet. She assumed he wasn’t quite ready to get engaged, so she didn’t even tell him what type of ring she liked.
Jay, however, was planning behind the scenes. In May, he drove to Missouri to celebrate Amanda’s birthday, which coincided with their two-year first-date anniversary. (See where he was going with this?) The two went hiking, had a picnic, and returned to her house to get ready for a double date with friends that night.
A very surprising proposal!
“As I was putting on my earrings and turned around . . . there he was on one knee and asked for my hand in marriage. I had NO idea he had been planning to do it!” Amanda remembers. Jay had picked out a simple solitaire diamond ring, without knowing that was exactly what she was hoping for.
“I am most excited about spending my life with Jay and not having to travel to one another,” Amanda says as they plan their wedding together. She frequently turns to her favorite piece of decor, which says “Pray, Wait, Trust.”
“I truly feel that God has had me WAIT to find Jay so we could both be better versions of ourselves at the age we are. And (He) made us truly TRUST in Him during this journey. The power of PRAYER has led us together,” she explains. “I thank GOD for answering my prayer and I am so excited about this next chapter in our lives.”
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