This heavenly match found their way to each other in an unconventional way – Bumble! Living an hour away from each other it seemed these two would never cross paths in their busy lives, but God had other plans for their story. All at once one day in July 2019 these two found themselves in DC and buzzing in the same radius just long enough for Bumble to match them together. With a swipe right these two were introduced but as the app’s rules go, it was up to Elizabeth to make the first move and she only had 24 hours to make this connection happen. With Elizabeth preoccupied on a work trip, their match time ended but in a twist of fate, Gabe hit the “extend” button to add time to the clock, a click that would change their lives forever! That was when Elizabeth decided to take a chance on Gabe, sending over a message introducing herself. 

After three days of speaking on the phone, and Elizabeth’s evening plans for Saturday falling through, they spontaneously agreed to meet one another halfway at National Harbor for a first date! This last-minute scheduled date was a miracle as it left no time for Gabe’s nerves to make his feet cold. They met at the Awakening Statue, took a walk through the sculpture garden, ate some (not very yummy) Irish Nachos – which has become one of the couple’s favorite inside jokes they love to laugh about – and then taking a seat together on a bench, they started talking. Time flew by and conversations kept flowing and before they knew it (more than six hours after they first met), it was 2am!

As things took off from there, they found themselves spending more time together over the next couple weeks, and things began to feel serious. Soon they found themselves both nervously asking the question, “Are they dating?” or “Are they DATING?!” After sharing a conversation with a few of his closest friends, Gabe realized his nerves had eased and he was ready to take the leap to become more serious. There dating was soon put on a temporary hiatus as Elizabeth went on a two-week solo trip through the Greek Islands to celebrate her 30^th birthday. While she was hopping around time zones, her and Gabe tried to stay connected, but she feared their relationship might be fading.

And with that thought on the horizon, Divine intervention was ready to take the lead, revealing to Elizabeth and Gabe just how magical their future together could be. The Sunday morning after Elizabeth arrived home, she had made plans to attend her church’s event, “A New Building Blessing”. As fate would have it, this event was not just a celebrated milestone for the congregation, as they had not had a church building for years, but it would be a crucial turning point in Elizabeth and Gabe’s love story. Not only did Gabe meet Elizabeth at church with a coffee in hand, but it was the first time they had attend church together. Elizabeth shared, “Maybe it was that experience, or maybe it was the conversations afterward, but we went from ‘distant and maybe this wouldn’t be a thing’ to ‘connected and virtually inseparable.’ God is amazing – and it was like a magic button was pressed and we were more connected than with anyone else ever.”

When we asked this couple why they decided to get married, they both shared with us how looking back on their journey to the alter it is clear they both had the same intentions from the very first date. They shared, “We came into this ‘dating’ experience very intentionally. Our first (4 hour) conversation in person centered around life goals, and marriage goals, and what we wanted to experience out of both. We were trying to see if we were on the same page with things – and generally, we were!”

As the saying goes, when you find your one you want your journey as Mr. & Mrs. to start as soon as possible. Elizabeth and Gabe took this to heart as they began planning their dream wedding before Gabe had even gotten down on one knee! Just a few months later in October, after a visit to meet Gabe’s family in South Carolina, they knew they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. Although the proposal would be a little further down the road, they quickly began planning the big day – even choosing the date and shopping around for venues – before they were even engaged! This soon became a running joke between Elizabeth and Gabe. She would ask when the proposal would happen so they could get the contracts signed, and Gabe would reply that he planned on asking for her hand “sometime in the next 50 or 75 years”! Little did she know behind the scenes Gabe was coordinating with two of Elizabeth’s closest friends to plan the surprise of her life! They ensured every detail would be perfect when Elizabeth said YES- even ensuring her nail polish was Tardis blue to match her gorgeous ring. Now with something blue and sparkly on her hand, these two are ready to lose track of time and get lost in each other.

There is never a dull moment with this fun-loving couple! In their free time you can find them playing board games, watching sci-fi/fantasy TV and movies, strolling hand in hand along the sandy beach with their dog. Elizabeth cooking up delicious recipes while Gabe enjoys eating Elizabeth’s cooking. With the pandemic in the rearview mirror, they are looking forward to making their travel dreams a reality and preparing for their latest adventure of moving after recently selling their home.

The values Elizabeth and Gabe have built their unbreakable relationship with are their love of God – and the knowledge of His gift of life (and the ability to love that only comes from Him), the importance of family – both biological and adopted – and the lovely gift of supporting and being supported in love and grave, and the power of forgiveness, patience, personal growth experiences, and cherishing each moment as a gift.