When God writes your love story…

Finding true love is hard enough when you’ve never been hurt before, and you’re a short drive from your crush, and both of you are firmly established in your forever careers, but for Daniel and I none of that was true.

How we met isn’t actually all that unusual—Daniel caught my eye on a dating website in late April 2023 (shout-out to Adventist Singles) and once we started exchanging messages, it was clear that the interest was mutual. But there was a catch—he lived 4,600 miles away in Hawai’i (do you like my correct spelling, dear?). But he was sweet, funny, and easy to talk to—he replied to my texts with paragraphs of thoughtful responses! (Anyone who’s tried dating online knows what a green flag this can be.)

After a few months of exchanging messages, phone calls, and video chats, Daniel took the first step toward getting serious: he bought a plane ticket to Florida.

That first visit was a little awkward, but full of adventures. Our many outings afforded plenty of opportunity for long talks as Daniel chauffeured us to Sea World, St. Augustine, Kennedy Space Center, and Silver Springs (thanks babe!) We had so much fun during the visit, we decided to make it official and on August 28, 2023, we became girlfriend and boyfriend (cue the swoon).

I returned the visit with a 10-day trip to Hawai’i in October. Exploring the Big Island with a local as my tour guide was one of the greatest adventures I’ve ever had. I met Daniel’s family, attended his church (hi everyone in Puna SDA church!) and generally fell head over heels in love with the island…

And maybe a certain Hawaiian. We had our first kiss and exchanged our first “I love you” under the stars at Mauna Kea. If only Daniel didn’t live so far away—

But God was already at work to solve this problem too! Through a divine domino reaction, Daniel landed a job as “systems administrator” at the headquarters of the North American Division of the Adventist Church, located in Columbia, Maryland. He tells me it has to do with servers and clouds? It’s a pretty big deal in the IT world, apparently. I’m really proud of him. :)

In January, 2024 Daniel made the move to Maryland, bringing us about 3,800 miles closer and into the same time zone—a big improvement over the 6-hour difference we were facing up until this point. Now he could visit me every few weeks, instead of every few months.

And visit he does. We’ve packed in as many coffee dates, day trips, and movie nights as a long-distance couple could really expect, and yet… It’s still not enough. Daniel’s a problem solver, so, of course, he presented the solution—in the form of the most gorgeous engagement ring I’ve seen in my life (great choice, dear!)

Falling in love is hard for a cautious person like me, but I’ve found I couldn’t trust my heart to a better man than Daniel. When I review our journey like this, it just reminds me again of how incredible God is at writing love stories. So many circumstances had to align just right to make this relationship possible, and God did exactly that. Daniel has taught me what love really is; his patience, kindness, humor, and care make me feel cherished in ways I never knew were possible and remind me of an even more amazing love which has been the source of every true romance since the beginning of time.

Ours is truly… a match made in heaven.