My name is Matthew Fry, and my wife Natalie and I met at the 2022 Abide retreat in Sumas, Washington. Here's our story.
I grew up in Visalia, California, and attended a URC (United Reformed Church) church, where I met Pastor Joel Weaver and a handful of young adults who were the founders of Abide. I had never attended the retreats or meet-ups apart from one camping trip and a few fellowship nights at the Weaver's barn. Life had many ups and downs in this time and I ended up moving to Southern Oregon in 2021. I was working as a carpenter and was focusing on my walk with the Lord while seeing the blessing in waiting. During that time I found fellowship in a small URC congregation that I attended in Medford, Oregon. In the summer of 2022, Joel Weaver, who had become a close friend of mine, encouraged me to attend the yearly Abide retreat in Sumas, Washington. I was on the fence about it. I went without expectations of any new friendships. My goal that weekend was to gain wisdom from the sessions.
Natalie Hofford was a nurse at Skagit Valley Hospital in Mount Vernon at this time. Her background was quite different from my own, yet she was of a similar background in the Lord Jesus. She attended the ARC (American Reformed Church) in Lynden, Washington, and heard of the Abide retreat through a church newsletter and her friends and family. She also was on the fence about whether she should attend or not. She and her best friend, Marina, sat together by the coast one day and debated on whether they should attend, and decided that they should. They were both excited to meet new people their age.
We met at the retreat the very first evening. Natalie and her friends stood around a fireplace, and I walked up beside them to chat. They asked if I would like to join them and go grab a bite to eat at a local restaurant. I told them I'd love to! (Little did they know I had just eaten dinner). I thought Natalie was super cute right off the bat, so I jumped in her car. I stuck around her and her friends most of the weekend and this set off quite a signal in Natalie's mind and her friend's minds as well. She said to her friend during the retreat: "What's up with this Matthew guy?" They knew something was up, or at least that I enjoyed their friendship. We stayed up late playing games both nights and laughed till we cried talking about all kinds of things. We enjoyed the free time that we had during the retreat, but we also learned a lot from the sessions. We also enjoyed hiking together on two occasions, chatting and making new friends along the way.
After the retreat, we stayed in touch through a group chat, sending jokes and memes to one another. We kept things lighthearted for a few months, but soon it was apparent that we had a connection worth pursuing. At that point, we called on the phone every day. When winter came, I flew up to Washington to join Natalie and her friends on a snowshoeing event (and also met and stayed with her family). I asked her out by the end of the trip. The rest is history. We are now married and have a baby on the way!
What we would like to say to a young person thinking of attending an Abide gathering is this: It is a great way to grow in your faith while getting to know and fellowship with a variety of young people in the reformed Christian faith. We can't say you'll create your own "couple's story", but God's providence does work in mysterious ways!
Visit Abide's events page for all local and national gatherings!
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