The pair met by total chance and now have six children together (Picture: SWNS)
A mum who sent a text message to the wrong person fell in love with the recipient – and now they’re married with six children.
Brenda Stearns, 36, thought she was sending a message to her sister’s friend in August 2009, but accidently messaged a complete stranger instead.
Her now husband, Isaiah, 40, received the message, and decided to strike up a conversation.
The pair quickly became a couple and Isaiah popped the question six months after they met.
Now, Brenda says she believes their relationship was ‘meant to be’.
Brenda, a stay-at-home mum from Ohio, USA, said: ‘I believe he was supposed to get my message and we were meant to be in this relationship.
They began messaging in August 2009 (Picture: Brenda Stearns/SWNS)
‘It was fate that brought us together.
‘If I had dreamed up a husband at the time, it might not have been him, but everything he is on the inside makes me a better person. I am so glad that he was chosen for me.’
When the pair started messaging, Brenda was working as an office assistant living in Georgia, 600 miles away from Isaiah, a stock assistant, in Ohio.
The ‘wrong’ message Brenda sent was a passage from the Bible about putting others first. Isaiah replied saying: ‘Amen to that, who is this?’
Both releasing they were Christians, the pair began exchanging messages, and Isaiah called Brenda the following day.
Brenda said: ‘At first I wasn’t really comfortable because I’d never met him. I didn’t answer on purpose.
‘But in the back of my mind I was hoping he would leave a voicemail so I could hear his voice – he sounded genuine and authentic, so I called him back.’
Isaiah said: ‘I was actively pursuing a relationship but I couldn’t find the right person. After I received Brenda’s message, I read the Bible verse, and I struck up a conversation.
Romance blossomed quickly (Picture: Brenda Stearns/SWNS)
‘As we continued to talk, within two or three weeks, I realised I liked her and wanted to get to know her better.
‘There’s no way this could have happed by chance.’
As the pair talked more and more, Brenda found out that Isaiah lived just an hour away from her mum.
But that wasn’t the only strange coincidence – due to a problem with his mobile network provider, Isaiah had actually changed phone numbers the same day Brenda first messaged him.
They got engaged on Valentine’s Day, 2010 (Picture: Brenda Stearns/SWNS)
‘He’d been given a new number and got my message 30 minutes later – no one else knew he had that number at the time,’ she said.
Even more bizarrely, Brenda had actually planned to text her sister’s friend earlier in the day, but when something came up with work, she forgot to hit send.
‘If I had sent the text in the morning, he would never have got my message,’ she said.
After the pair exchanged photos, Brenda says she thought Isaiah was ‘very handsome’, and they began speaking regularly.
‘He would call me every other day,’ she said. ‘We started getting to know each other and I started having feelings for him.’
However, Brenda still wasn’t entirely sure she could trust Isaiah.
‘In the back of my mind, I was hesitant because I hadn’t met him face to face,’ she said.
‘I felt like he could be lying to me, he could be a creep, so I was slightly apprehensive.’
Eager for advice, Brenda confided in her mum about her situation, and she suggested that she meet Isaiah on her daughter’s behalf.
‘My mum and younger sister ended up going on a date with Isaiah in my place,’ Brenda said.
‘I was feeling kind of nervous about the situation – it was all so abnormal.’
During the date, Brenda waited at home, eager to hear her family’s feedback.
Brenda always wanted to be a mum (Picture: Brenda Stearns/SWNS)
‘The whole evening I’m waiting for my mum to call,’ she said. ‘When she did I asked her to rate Isaiah from one to 10.
‘My mum took a pause and said: “Eleven, – you’re going to marry this guy.”
‘The fact she said that made me think maybe this was meant to be.
‘He must really be awesome because when it comes to guys dating her girls, my mum is very picky. That’s when I let my guard down.
Finally, the pair agreed to meet for the first time in December 2009 – but when it looked like Brenda’s work commitments could disrupt that first meeting, she made a drastic decision.
Brenda said: ‘My family were going away for Christmas, and my mum suggested I invite Isaiah.
‘I was getting ready to go, then the day before my vacation, my boss said he’d need me to stay in the office.
Their children know all about how Mum and Dad met (Picture: Brenda Stearns/SWNS)
‘I made the tough choice to quit my job that day. I thought: “The decision I make in this moment is going to impact the rest of my life.”‘
After moving back in with her mum in Ohio, Brenda arranged to meet up with Isaiah for a walk a few days later.
‘I remember seeing him for the first time and my first thought was: “He’s tall.” I felt he was sweet and very handsome,’ she said.
‘We decided that day that we wanted to be boyfriend and girlfriend, but I told him to wait on the kissing for a little bit.’
Isaiah said: ‘When I first saw Brenda in person, she was so beautiful, she had a really nice smile, and I thought, she’s even better than I imagined.’
Brenda and Isaiah’s relationship progressed rapidly, and on Valentine’s Day 2010, he proposed to her.
‘He made a really nice Valentine’s dinner and baked a heart-shaped chocolate cake,’ she said.
‘When I cut into the cake, I felt the knife knock against something – the ring was hidden inside.
‘Then he went down on one knee and proposed to me.
‘I knew I was in love with him, and in my heart, I already knew I wanted to be with him. I was very excited, and obviously, I said yes.’
They’ve now been married for 13 years (Picture: Brenda Stearns/SWNS)
The couple got married in June 2010 and now have six children together.
‘I’ve always wanted to be a mum – I love kids so much,’ Brenda said. ‘We started trying right away, and two months later, I found out I was pregnant.’
Victoria, 11, was born in April 2011, followed by Veronica, 10, Samuel, nine, Vanessa, seven, Benjamin, four, and Ezra, one.
‘We talk about how we met with our kids all the time,’ Brenda said.
‘They think it’s so lovely and amazing and want to know all the details – Victoria hopes it will happen to her.
‘There is no right or wrong way to meet your partner. It’s so beautiful and amazing the way love can appear where you least expect it.’
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