The chance meeting with Brenda and Isaiah came in 2009. Brenda decided to text an uplifting Bible verse to new friends she met through her sister, Roxy. Born and raised into a Christian family in Mexico, Brenda’s faith has always been the center of her life.
“I moved to the U.S. when I was 12,” Brenda said. “My younger sister (Roxy) and mom (Rossy) eventually moved to Ohio, and I moved to Georgia.”
During a visit to Ohio, Brenda met her sister’s friends. The text she intended to go to her new friends, also ended up going to Isaiah, who had just gotten a new phone number – available because Roxy’s friend had changed her number.
“I sent the text and got a text back,” Brenda said. “He asked who I was and then he said, ‘Amen to that!’”
Brenda explained she was Roxy’s sister, but Isaiah didn’t know Roxy. And that brief exchange marked the beginning of their extraordinary love story.
Isaiah graduated from Centerville High School and soon after began working at the Kroger Marketplace in Centerville.
“I was thinking about my future but not necessarily about finding someone,” Isaiah said. “I knew it was hard to find the type of woman I was looking for.”
When he received the text, Isaiah said he didn’t immediately think about a love connection but believed this was a new person coming into his life to help him along his faith journey.
“In 2009, it wasn’t a big deal to get random texts from anyone,” Isaiah said. “But I knew Brenda loved God and I thought it was awesome.”
At the time, Brenda was 22 years old and working at a photography studio in Georgia. The next day, she received a call from Isaiah.
“I was wondering why he was calling me,” Brenda said. “I didn’t answer, secretly hoping he’d leave a voice mail so I could hear his voice.”
Brenda decided he sounded “very genuine” and returned his call. They talked about how funny it was that they met through a random text. After multiple calls, Brenda asked Isaiah if he’d like to meet the next time she was in Ohio.
“We talked or texted almost every day,” Brenda said. “We wanted our conversations to be very purposeful and I started feeling like I really liked him.”
As she did with most things in her life, Brenda decided to share the story with her mom. And since Rivera lived so close to Isaiah, she suggested to Brenda that she set a date to meet him in person.
“I met Brenda’s mom and sister at El Meson in West Carrollton in 2009,” Isaiah said.
Nervous and excited, Brenda asked her mom what she thought about Isaiah, on a scale of one to 10.
“My mom said he was an 11!” Brenda said. “This is so out of character for her, but Isaiah made a really good impression.”
Brenda’s apartment lease ended in June of 2010 and she began making plans to move to Ohio. In November, Rivera asked her daughter to invite Isaiah to spend Christmas with the family. Unable to get the time off from her job, Brenda made the spontaneous decision to quit and ended up moving to Ohio on Nov. 29. The couple met in person on Dec. 1 in Newport, Kentucky.
“The first date was amazing,” Isaiah said. “I thought she was so beautiful.”
Isaiah proposed on Feb. 14, 2010. Brenda immediately agreed and the couple decided to start planning a private wedding for June 27 that year. After the wedding the couple started their life together in an apartment in Centerville.
“We both knew we wanted kids,” Brenda said. “We didn’t have a number in mind, but I wanted a baby right away and we were always on the same page.”
Victoria was born in April of 2011. Isaiah ended up getting a job with Kettering Health Network and Brenda became a full-time mom with plans to homeschool their children. Veronica was born in August of 2012; Samuel in January of 2014; Vanessa in November of 2015, Benjamin in June of 2018 and Ezra in June of 2021.
The couple’s love story began inspiring others on social media, after Brenda started an Instagram account documenting her pregnancies. One post went viral and was picked up by “Today’s Parents” magazine. Their story has also been featured on the “Today Show” and “Newsweek.”
“There is no right way to fall in love,” Isaiah said. “Just be open. Life is about relationships, and we need to be vulnerable with them.”
Brenda, who today calls the experience “The wrong text but the right relationship,” agrees and is extremely proud of her family.
“We do everything together and I’m thankful for the way we lead our lives,” Brenda said.
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