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 I met my wife, Ilse, on Valentine’s Day 2008 at the Bonefish restaurant in Lafayette. Neither of us recognized it at the time, but it was a divine appointment. It was the fulfillment of a promise, one which my mother foretold in my childhood.
I recall asking my mother if I’d ever get married. “God has someone picked out just for you,” she assured me. I took that to heart, but didn’t realize it would take 40 years to find her.
Ilse is a native of South Africa. I was enamored with her accent the night we met. Naturally, I encouraged her to talk, so that I could enjoy her accent. Eventually, we were able to talk one-on-one. I asked what she did. She paused for a moment, then told me she was an ordained minister. Well, that might have scared off most guys, but not me. I was intrigued. It was no coincidence, I was struggling in my relationship with God.
And there began our relationship, and what would be the first step in my journey toward salvation, a re-commitment of my life to Christ, and a personal relationship through the Holy Spirit.
I’ve learned a great deal about the Kingdom through His word since, and matured as a Christian, much to the credit of my wife and our church. It was this maturity and the subsequent journey that gave me the knowledge to realize I could be married and live a happy fulfilling life. I'll admit, over the years, I’d often lost hope in that early promise.
After one year of dating, Ilse and I took an anniversary trip to New York City, where, on February 14th we became engaged. Neither of us wanted a big wedding, so we found no reason to wait, and three weeks later we were married in Las Vegas.
We’ve spent our first year of marriage getting to know each other as husband and wife, creating a comfortable home and building our relationship on Godly principles. We’ve committed our lives to serving God above all, followed by family, career and our callings.
 Ilse is 35 and I’m 46. She’s been single all of her life, while I was married once, briefly, about 20 years ago. We don’t have any children yet, but we’re working on that now. Meanwhile, we’re content to share our lives with five loving dogs; Barley, a Wheaten Terrier; Pascal, a wire-haired wiener mix; Posh, a Maltese; Sk8r, a Yorkie; and Dusty, a MaltiPoo. And, they are all rescues!
Ilse’s mother and father live here in Lafayette. She has a younger brother who lives with his wife and two dogs in Orlando, Florida. Natives of South Africa, the family moved here about 12 years ago.
I’m a Lafayette native and was raised by my Grandmother, Yolonde Murphy. She was an amazing woman, who without, I’d not likely have graduated college, and likely not accomplished much at all. She taught me everything I know about serving others, and serving God. Her life and virtue warrants a full-length book, rather than just these few meager lines.
Most of my immediate family still live here in Lafayette; my mother, two brothers and sister. I have a half-brother who lives in California. I am the oldest among my siblings.
My father, Kenneth, also an entrepreneur, and coach, passed away 12 years ago.
 Ilse and I both work full-time in our businesses. (While Ilse is an ordained minister...) I later learned she is also a business owner and alternative health practitioner. She works with her father in the business they own together.
Ilse’s ministry is a teaching ministry in which she travels and teaches worship teams how to incorporate the arts into their worship services. In addition to her work here in the U.S. and South Africa, she’s traveled the world teaching in places like India, the Philippines and Haiti.
We both have a strong call of duty to God and country. We wanted to share this part of our story, Faith & Family, especially since it serves as the foundation of who we are, and our decision to enter the 2010 U.S. Senate race.
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