Their Story
Matthew's
point of view
I signed up for a young adult church retreat with the dual purpose of being intentional with the Lord and meeting new friends. I explicitly prayed that I would not be distracted by meeting any girl. Funnily enough, I am so thankful God said no to that prayer. My first memory of Virginia was her asking a few of us what our favorite dessert was. I thought she was very attractive, but also thought she was married. The next day, I was playing a card game with a few of the others. She came over and sat next to me and asked “What game are y’all playing?” “Shithead!” I replied. It was love at first sight. Thankfully she thought that was funny, and we played the game together. She was very engaging with a great sense of humor. She was attentive and asked good questions at the study sessions, showing her faith and character. The rest of the evening I intentionally went out of my way to talk to her. At one point, I asked if we could go out front and talk more privately, but she really wanted to play codenames, her favorite game. Thankfully though, I persisted, played the game a little bit with her, then tried again. Finally she got the hint, and we went outside and talked more. I asked her out on a date that evening. Before our first date, I prayed another prayer. I asked that this would be my last first date. This time, I am thankful God said yes.
Virginia's
point of view
It was March 1, 2024. My first memory of Matthew was on the first night of the HPPres Young Adult Retreat: him unabashedly admitting his favorite dessert was a root beer float. How niche. As the evening continued, I settled into spending time with the Lord, intentionally building relationships with other women, and learning as much as I could in our weekend getaway. I diverted my attention away from “boys”. The next day, after channeling my limited albeit adorable “sporty girl”, I noticed a group of people playing cards at a table nearby. Root Beer Man looked me dead in the eyes and called me a shithead! I couldn’t believe it! Noticing my shock, he immediately backtracked, explaining it was the name of the card game, and offering to teach me the rules. I noticed immediately that Root Beer Man, now known as Matthew, was very easy to talk to, we bantered well, and he was frustratingly competitive! A couple of hours later, a group of people decided to play Codenames. After (finally!) winning a round, he made his intentions clear directly asking me if I would go outside to talk. Finally the pieces clicked: this guy DID like me! After talking for another hour, he told me that he was grateful he had signed up for the retreat, because it had allowed him to meet me. Two days later, he took me to Penne Pomodoro, followed by a walk around the neighborhood. 53 weeks later, we will be married on March 8!