Before we met
Matthew grew up in West Houston and graduated from Episcopal High School. He attended A&M, where he was a member of Brothers Under Christ. He worked in newspapers, and later for Texas A&M. While living in College Station, Matthew was involved at Grace Bible Church.
Laurel was born in California, and her family moved several times while she was growing up. She went to high school in Kingwood, Texas, and later graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in English. In 1996, Laurel went to Asia for language study.
How we met
In 2016, Laurel was back in the States and met Matthew at church. At that time, Matthew and Laurel began an email correspondence.
Laurel had been living and teaching in Asia for more than 20 years, and in 2019 she made the decision to move back to the US the following year.
In the summer of 2019, Matthew and Laurel both signed up to take a summer class in Colorado. On the day Laurel arrived, Matthew asked her to meet for coffee later to catch up. Later that week, he decided to upgrade coffee to a dinner date, much to Laurel’s surprise. Laurel was blown away by Matthew’s initiative and how he treated her like a queen on their date, and she also learned that they had several mutual friends back in College Station.
After their date, both of them were uncertain whether their relationship would go anywhere, but they continued to stay in touch through texting. As Laurel returned to Asia, she wondered if Matthew would make the effort to figure out how to stay in touch. Much to her surprise, he immediately found a way to connect, and they continued getting to know each other long distance.
Two weeks after Laurel returned to Asia, Matthew asked her to be his girlfriend, and she happily said yes. By this time, Matthew knew she was planning to move back to America. Matthew was busy traveling to Greece and Africa for his job, but managed to squeeze in a trip to visit Laurel in Asia over Thanksgiving. At that time, they both felt confirmed that the Lord was leading them toward marriage.
Soon after Laurel returned to America in January, Matthew asked her to marry him!
Our Ministry
To learn more about our ministry, please visit our ministry information page.
For a more detailed version of our story, please email us at wedding@matthewandlaurel.com.