Our Story
Jacob and Fernanda met on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017 at approximately 9:37 pm. Actually, just kidding, the precise time is unknown, but it was Oct. 14th. The setting for their meeting was a party at the Frassati House (Catholic Men's Household) that Jacob co-founded with two other friends and has lived in since 2015.
After a long day with an early-start for Fernanda, in true character, spending that morning doing service work with the refugees, she went home for a late evening nap. After waking from her nap, she gave consideration as to whether or not she should attend the party that a mutual friend had invited her to, but in the end, she decided to attend. In hindsight, her decision to attend was seemingly a Divine Appointment because that night was the fateful night that the story of the "Firecrackers" began.
Also, while Fernanda was considering whether or not to attend the party, Jacob was gearing up to have a great, care-free evening with no intent to pursue any romantic relationship as he was 3 days into a dating fast that he had promised the Lord he would undertake. However, unique about this calling to enter into a dating fast was that God spoke audibly to Jacob in the midst of intense prayer, one of the few times in Jacob's life he remembers hearing God speak to him. The words God spoke to Jacob were basically, "I want you to go on a dating fast for Me, not for you, and by that I mean, I don't want you to white-knuckle this and take this upon yourself. Instead, I want you to do this for Me and in junction with Me because I want you to ultimately be open to My will and where I lead you, and especially be attentive to the gifts I want to give you." Slightly perplexed by what the these conditions meant, Jacob nonetheless said, "Yes God! Thy will be done!" Little did Jacob know that the gift God wanted to give him would come far sooner than expected. In fact, it was essentially 3 days later on the night that Jacob met Fernanda that he began to recognize the true gift the Lord had in store for him.
During that night it became very clear to both Jacob and Fernanda that there was something unique about this chance encounter of which all of their friends there that night can attest. In fact, it was the same night they met that they developed their nickname: "Firecrackers" when some of their friends said that when they interacted it was like "Firecrackers" going off. Within a few minutes into their conversation, Jacob and Fernanda immediately bonded over shared interests in missionary service and homeless ministry which led Jacob to share about his own initiative to serve the less fortunate without access to clean water and sanitation services with the nonprofit NGO he founded, Vera Aqua Vera Vita (VAVV). A mission that Fernanda cared very deeply about after seeing first hand the immense need for clean drinking water during her mission trips in Africa, Asia, and Central America. Jacob soon discovered that Fernanda was a professional financial analyst for Topgolf, and he inquired if she might be interested in lending her talents to VAVV. She graciously said yes, and went on to suggest that they get together over dinner to discuss. And so, in a sense, Fernanda asked Jacob out first!
Although, Jacob will admit that soon after meeting something began to stir in his heart that maybe there could be more; however, for Fernanda, she claims it was purely platonic as she was beginning to discern a possible calling to becoming a Missionary of Charity. Jacob took it to prayer that night and asked the Lord how He wanted him to respond considering the dating fast promise he had made just 3-days prior. The conclusion was once again a clear direction from God, "Just be open to my will," and so, Jacob said, "Okay Lord!" As for Fernanda, she knew deep in her heart that her true vocation was marriage, but her thirst and deep desire to help the less fortunate was so strong that it seemed almost impossible to pursue through married life or so she thought. It wasn't until a few weeks later after much prayer that the Lord revealed to her that the two desires of her heart were under the same mission, and so, she allowed God to lead the way.
A couple of weeks later they met for their first dinner together to simply "talk business," but in fact, they essentially talked about everything but "business." As an aside, Jacob owes a huge debt of gratitude to Fernanda's boss because she encouraged Fernanda to go to dinner with Jacob after Fernanda began to get a little worried that maybe it wasn't just purely platonic when Jacob called Fernanda on the phone a few days before the dinner to express his excitement about meeting up. After that dinner it began to become clear to both of them that quite possibly there could be something more than just friendship stirring; however, after discussion, it was decided that what they felt God really wanted for them at that time was to just be friends and let the Lord take it where He would will. Over the following weeks, the will of the Lord became more clear as they grew in friendship. A pivotal turning point came in their relationship when after having done homeless ministry together with OurCalling they spent a couple of hours just talking and laughing like they had known each other their entire lives. From that moment forward, it was just a matter of time and a patient one-month dating fast they decided to go on before they officially began dating. And of course, as you know, the rest is history! God works in mysterious and beautiful ways, and Jacob and Fernanda can't be happier to share their special day in the presence of the Lord and with all of you who are so special to them!
