Once upon a time…

Fed up with the difficulty of meeting committed Catholic young adults, a California girl joined a Catholic Website called StRaphael.net (later to become Catholic Match) in the fall of 2001. A Kentucky boy joined a couple months later for the same reason.

One day, the California girl came across the Kentucky boy’s profile. Something struck her inside—was it the cute photo or the fact his profile was the most down to earth she had ever seen? She emailed him to say hi and compliment his “normal” profile. He graciously responded…and that was the beginning.

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Hi, we’re Kristy and Mark. We met on St.Raphael.net in 2002. To our great delight, we married on July 29, 2006. Sure, our success story is late. We meant to submit it during our engagement, but things got a little busy. Then again, our relationship moved slowly as well. Better late than never.

After meeting online, our correspondence slowly increased. So did our methods of communication—from email, to IM, and finally to phone. Kristy still remembers the chill of delight that went down her spine upon hearing Mark’s voice for the first time. Thanks to free long distance cell phones, the calls increased to 1-2 hours. In October 2002, Mark flew to California to meet Kristy in person for the first time. Sparks flew right away, but they decided to still remain friends. A couple months later during Kristy’s visit to Kentucky, we officially began dating (in a chapel, no less.)

After about a year and a half of long-distance dating, marriage became a real possibility. However, we found it heart-wrenching to only see each other every two months, each maintaining separate lives. Because Mark already had a job and house in Kentucky, Kristy (at the advice of her parents) made the decision to move out to the Bluegrass State to further discern. That meant leaving family, friends, and roots behind. The tradeoff would be a more accurate picture of sharing the ups and downs of daily life.

Kristy and her Dad packed up her VW Jetta and took a five-day road trip to Kentucky. Her parents helped her move into an apartment. Mark and Kristy began a year of seeing each other every day. The discernment was accelerated.

Everything culminated on August 20, 2005, when Mark proposed to Kristy in front of the Blessed Sacrament at their parish Perpetual Adoration Chapel. On July 29, 2006, in front of many family and friends (including a couple who met and married through St. Raph’s), they became husband and wife. In honor of St. Raphael, to whom we turned to frequently through the dating and engagement, we had a reading from the Book of Tobit and mentioned him in our program.

After nine months of marriage, we remain amazed as God continues to guide us on this journey.

What really helped us was a strong foundation of friendship. Meeting online essentially made us fall in love from the “inside out.” The many letters and phone calls really helped us to learn how to communicate with each other. Of course, nothing fully replaces in-person communication, but it was a start. Both of us never expected our online friendship and subsequent marriage to happen. Perhaps that’s one of the perks of Divine Providence. We recommend if you are dating or seeking to date through this website—pray. And seek friendship. After all, your future spouse should be your best friend.

For our relationship, taking it slow really helped. But above all, keep Christ in the center and turn to Him for guidance. He can definitely relate to any frustrations with trying to contact people and getting no response! Even more so, His love and grace make anything possible…like a cross-country relationship. Thanks, St. Raphael and Catholic Match!

…and Mark and Kristy went on to live happily ever after.

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