A match made in Russia

Here's a quick tale of how my lovely wife and I met and eventually married, for those of you who didn't already know.

In the summer of 2004 Jessica had finished up her dietetic internship at MUSC and I had just graduated from the University of Denver. God had both led us to go on a one-year internship with a missions organization to Russia. Jessica was planning on going to Moscow and I was going to a city south of Moscow. Before we flew over to Russia in the fall we had to go to a leader's training conference in Ft. Collins, CO. The first time I saw Jess I think she was wearing shorts and a t-shirt and playing soccer in the backyard of the Sorority house we were renting. I liked her instantly.

We sat together quite a bit and I befriended her fellow Team Leader, Jack Murphy. Jack was dating her best friend and would indeed marry her two years later. The three of us, Jack, Jess and I, became quick friends. We saw each other here and there in the fall at another conference and e-mailed a bit but then when it came time for our Christmas vacation we took off to Italy with my team and their team.

I clearly remember waiting for a bus in Rome at the corner of the bridge pictured to the left. While waiting Jess and I struck up a conversation. We talked about her time in Moscow and my time in Krasnodar. The high points and low points and what we were learning. The more we talked the more I was convinced that she was the one for me. Maybe it was the romantic atmoshpere of Rome, maybe it was the gilatto and capuccino or maybe it was something else that made me think that. I believe it was the Lord opening my eyes and saying "Dave, HELLO, this is it." I began pursuing her after that.

Our teams spent the next month together traveling and attending conferences. The more time we spent together the more we enjoyed each other. However, I wasn't quite ready to make the first real move and let her know how I really felt. A couple months later I called her from Krasnodar and we began taking steps toward dating. In March I flew up to Moscow for a weekend to hang out with her and her team. We began dating then.

We continued to date through the summer of 2005 and into the fall and winter. We signed on for a second year in Russia and were both feeling like the Lord was asking us to make a longer term committment to student ministry. I came up to Moscow from Krasnodar from Christmas and we began to seriously consider the "M Word" after that.

Immediately after I returned home from our winter conferences I began looking around for engagement rings. I didn't like any of the options I saw in Russia so I contacted a jeweler in Jess's hometown that knew her. He designed the ring I wanted and was ready to ship it over. I planned on coming up in April to spend a few days with her. A friend of ours was flying from Austin to Moscow a few days before I was going to arrive. She was going to take the ring from Austin and give to me when I got there. However I found out a week before she was supposed to leave that the ring was still being made...in Thailand! They finished it up, rushed it to West Texas so the jeweler could look at it, then rushed it on to Austin. It arrived the afternoon before our friend left Austin for Moscow. Talk about a close call!

I took Jess out on a recreation of our first date then proposed to her that night outside of her apartment. Here is the official engagement picture. We planned a December wedding and decided then to go on staff with Campus Crusade in January of 2007. We finished out our ministry in Russia, returned to the states and planned the rest of the wedding in three months.

Our wedding was an incredible time and we were so blessed and encouraged to see all of our best friends and favorite family members gathered to celebrate with us.

Russia was indeed where we fell in love with each other. I would never have guessed that the land of mystery and intrigue would be the place but thank God it was! Thanks for reading!