Nick and I met in 2015 at St. Bernard's at my first night teaching a class about the Catholic Faith. At the time, I was in temporary vows with a religious community centered in southern France. Nick was a recent revert to the Catholic Church after thirty years away, a marriage outside the Catholic Church, three beautiful children, and a painful divorce. He stayed after class to talk to me, and I put my cart of books and materials squarely in between us and explained that I belonged to God! He looked at me a little curiously and smiled. The years went by. Nick and I got to know each other fairly well. My community recommended that I stay in Oklahoma and did not admit me to solemn vows. I decided to persevere in living a celibate life for Jesus and made a private vow of perfect chastity, hoping I could eventually make a permanent commitment in a religious community. I spent the next years searching for a spiritual family, but I never found a community that I really wanted to join. Meanwhile, Nick stopped dating and started thinking he would never remarry. He told several people that there was one woman he would be interested in marrying - me! - but I was unavailable. In 2019 Monsignor recommended that Nick could help me build the back patio on my new house. He came after work to help my dad and me. We dug out a path and laid pavers and stones. How I loved working with Nick! I painfully prayed for God to bless him as I faithfully persevered in my commitment. I put Nick out of my mind. Ever lonelier and more restless, the months and seasons passed. I finally came to a point where I felt something needed to change in my life. I went to speak to the bishop and promised Jesus I would listen to him. To my surprise, Bishop Konderla advised me to be open to marriage. At the very moment the bishop and I were talking, Nick called and left a message on my phone. It was so rare for him to contact me, I wondered what it could mean. I pondered, prayed, sought spiritual direction, and finally decided I wanted to speak openly to Nick. Wednesday of Holy Week 2021, Nick and I went for a walk in the park, and I told him I thought God was asking me to be open to marriage. Did he want to spend time with me and get to know me better? He smiled ear to ear. "I've loved you for years!" he confessed. In the fall after we built the patio, Nick started having dreams in which we were sharing a life together. He couldn't understand it, but it seemed to him that it came from God. He was planning to watch over me from a distance. We attended the services of Holy Week together last year. I can't describe the graces of those days. On Easter Monday, I went to see Monsignor Gaalaas and asked to be released from my private vow. He did so willingly. In a flood of happy tears, I was made free to marry. Nick proposed during Adoration on May 4, 2021. In the last year, we've weathered job searches, job changes, moving, COVID, family illnesses and other stresses... we're so happy to have made it and to have chosen love and one another at each step! Thank you to all our friends and family for your love and prayers. We look forward to having you with us on our big day!