How He Asked | Olivia + Kyle

Olivia and Kyle met at Franciscan University. Their chance encounter came after a powerful period of grace-filled healing for Olivia, who discovered it was possible to find complete satisfaction in the Lord’s love for her.

She met Kyle a few months into school, not realizing their paths would cross again later.

Then, a friendship that started at a Halloween party and several more coincidental meetings quickly blossomed into something much deeper. Within three months of dating, Kyle proposed to Olivia.

In Olivia’s words: I transferred to Franciscan University in the fall of 2017 to study theology. Up to this point, I never thought I would be a student studying under the great Dr. Scott Hahn, and I certainly never thought I would meet my future husband only a couple months later.

Then again, God does amazing things, especially when you give him everything.

At the very beginning of my first semester, I met Kyle. It was a very brief and less-than-impressive introduction. The two things I really noticed were his tall height and intense expression. Unlike myself, he didn’t seem like a very energetic person.

We wouldn’t see each other again until two months later. During these months, I experienced more spiritual and emotional growth than ever before in my life.

It was a profound time of reflection. I grew up Catholic, and ever since I was a little girl, all I wanted was be a wife and mother. I wanted to get married young and have twenty kids.

Unfortunately, a previous bad relationship had left me feeling lonely, insecure, and absolutely desperate for a fulfilling one. I wanted it to happen now. I didn’t want to wait, and had always ignored the nagging thought that maybe I wasn’t ready to meet “Mister Right” yet. Maybe I still had some work to do.

I had never considered that perhaps God had not yet fulfilled this desire because I was the one who wasn’t ready.

I was right. I started seeing a spiritual director who became a real father to me. He pushed me and helped me work on myself and my spiritual life. For the first time, I began to build a strong relationship with the Lord.

I learned how to trust him, I gained insights into myself that I never saw before, and I realized following his will meant giving everything to him—100% everything. I didn’t have to go searching for a guy, because I trusted that t God would orchestrate everything in the right time and manner.

Every single day, I prayed the same prayer: “Be Satisfied with Me,” attributed to St. Anthony of Padua, which I highly recommend. There’s a line that reads,

“Discovering that only in Me is your satisfaction to be found, will you be capable of the perfect human relationship that I have planned for you.”

This was such a wonderful discovery for me, because it was the truth I needed to hear in that moment. It reminded me every day to be patient and content with God, to remember he would surprise me with a great love of his own creation.

With God, I finally had the fruitful and fulfilling relationship my heart was longing for. I had discovered peace, contentment, and joy like I had never felt before, and my soul rejoiced!

Then I went to a party.

It was a Halloween party that I attended with three roommates. That night, I met Kyle for the second time. To my shock, he was the life of the party: playing music, dancing, and encouraging everyone else to dance as well! He was not shy and so did not resemble the Kyle I had met earlier that semester.

As I sat on the couch watching everyone dance, I noticed how seriously handsome he was. And then he pulled me up to dance with him. I was so glad he did. Dancing and talking with Kyle, I enjoyed myself immensely.

In spite of this, I left that night still convinced that I would make it at least six months single, unless God made it absolutely clear that he had a different idea for me. He sure did.

What better time to surprise someone with the love of their life than when they least expect it?

The cool part is that Kyle and I happened to run into each other on campus every day for the next ten days. During these meetings he made me laugh hysterically, we shared great conversations, and a genuine friendship began to form.

When you build a friendship with someone, there’s no emotional or physical aspect to cloud your judgment. Kyle and I got to know each other in an authentic way, and for us, that’s how I felt it should have been.

But we were almost always with other people while hanging out, going to shows, and attending Mass. At the end of these ten days, I naively thought, “Is God trying to tell me something?” I’m sure he wanted to shake me and ask, could I make it any more obvious?! Because looking back, it is clear as day.

And so our friendship continued. Over the course of five weeks, it slowly began to progress, because we both knew there was something there.

Kyle is a very blunt man. At one point he mentioned something about us dating, and I was struck with the most bizarre mixture of excitement and nervousness. I began babbling and at one point exclaimed, “Yeah…I like football!” Which I don’t. But he does. So I said it.

I’ve never been one to get nervous, but that was the first time we’d said anything about dating, and the feelings I had for him couldn’t compare to anything I had felt before. I already knew I wanted to marry him.

Kyle and I both felt we were called to marry each other, but this went completely unspoken until December 3rd, 2017.

That night, we officially started dating. We stayed up for hours, declaring our feelings and intentions. We knew we loved each other. We knew we wanted to get married, and we finally got to say it.

We knew from the beginning that we both wanted a lot of kids and wanted to homeschool. We knew our Catholic faith was the most important part of our lives, and that we both wanted to strive towards sainthood. We didn’t have to compromise on the most important things, and no one ever should, because God doesn’t want you to.

Believe me, I never thought in a million years I would get married within one year of meeting someone. But God does amazing things when you align your will with his. He took my plans and exchanged them for something so much greater.

On December 3rd we started dating. On March 3rd we got engaged and were betrothed. On November 3rd of this year, we got married.

Kyle once wrote in a letter to me, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.” But I don’t think God laughs at our plans because of how wrong they are. Our plans make him laugh because they are so small. He must think, why ask for so little when I have prepared so much?

So trust in God. Trust that he knows the perfect who, when, where, and how.

I found out later that Kyle had sought advice from Kimberly Hahn, who advised him to pray for “the presentation of your future spouse.” This happened only two weeks before the Halloween night when we met for the second time.

Pray for the grace to follow God’s will for you, because he already knows you and your future spouse so perfectly.

Never compromise and never settle, because the Lord wants more for you than that.

Let him fulfill the unflawed plan he has for you. A plan to ensure your utmost joy and journey towards sainthood.

“…until you are both satisfied exclusively with me and the life I prepared for you, you won’t be able to experience the love that exemplified your relationship with Me. And this is the perfect love.” -Be Satisfied with Me, St. Anthony of Padua

Photography: Andria Zutich