The Most Uncanny Love Story Written by God

From all appearances Frank and Amber’s days seemed hopelessly dark.  

Yet, their faith in God launched them on an astonishing journey neither had ever dared to dream.
“I was born with cystic fibrosis. I was diagnosed at three years old,” Frank said, remembering the day a gloomy prognosis overshadowed his childhood. “They told my mom that I was going to die at 17 years old.”  

Amber’s early memories sound just as daunting. “When I was five years old, I had, a very rare form of pneumonia,” she explained. “The doctor started me on a very aggressive regimen of doing four treatments a day, and I was unable to play outside with my twin sister or do some of the things that I was doing before then. So my life really changed.”  

Frank survived far beyond 17 and, at 21, received a dual lung transplant that improved his health, and he took full advantage of it.  

“I just knew that there was a brighter future for me and God had something in store for me to do,” he said.  

Amber, convinced her own life would be brief, made an early dash toward adulthood, marrying young. “I want to live my life before the Lord takes me,” she said. “That marriage ended up ending, but I had adopted five children.”  

By 2019, both were single, yet neither was looking for love, until an Instagram post caught Amber’s eye. 

“I scrolled across, and he was using the same oxygen tanks as I was using, but he was riding his bike. And so, I was immediately enamored by that. I thought, oh, my gosh, what courage does that take,” she said.  

Frank, who chronicled his rides online, recalled, “I used to post all my bike riding journeys on Instagram, and it was really it was really to honor God. It was really to honor my donor. And it was really to show the gratitude that I had, for the ability to ride my bike.”  

Scrolling deeper, Amber saw a familiar promise in Frank’s bio. “I noticed on his profile that he had Isaiah 40:31. And that scripture, I mean it made me cry because I've never been able to run or walk and got tired. And I think that, when you have chronic disease, when you close your eyes and you think about being free, you think about not getting tired and, not growing weary. I was like, I like this guy.”  

Their relationship blossomed quickly. “The friendship went from everyday text messaging. And then it turned into every day phone calls,” Frank said. “And we talked about everything, talked about our life, talked about our lungs, talked about our health, but the most important thing that was the best part of it was, before we hung up, we prayed every night. And it's not something that, I had ever done before with anybody.”  

Amber added, “From the moment I met him until the moment I walked down the aisle with him, it was two years. But every single day we called each other and prayed together. It just built our relationship with Christ number one. And then our love relationship.”  
They married in 2021 and were both feeling great, until within six months Frank’s health started to decline. It wasn’t long before he struggled to breath and was told he needed another transplant. 
“We just started thanking God for it, thanking him for the doctors, thanking him for our new life, thanking him for our love for each other, thanking him for what was going to happen in the future, for the perfect lungs,” Amber said.  

Frank recalled the frightening nights: “There were nights where I felt the fluid in my lungs just bubbling up. I couldn't breathe and, you know you just don’t know, am I going to make it again? But we also had a peace in our hearts knowing that God is in control. We also knew that we had so many people praying for us that we knew it was going to happen. We just didn't know when.”  

Frank had already survived a double lung transplant and two separate kidney transplants. Despite his doctors’ warnings that another double-lung procedure would be dangerous, the deep love for his wife compelled him to step out in faith and have the surgery.

Amber never forgot the first moment she saw him afterward. “The moment I saw him, I was taken back by all the machines. He looked so, so small and fragile in there.  

But there was a calmness in the room, and I walked in and laid my hand on him and, covered him with a blanket. And he opened his eyes and he looked at me, and it was almost like that first look when we looked at each other, when I met him. And I knew that he was in there and he was okay.” 

“She was there, and that gave me comfort. And that gave me a peace,” Frank said softly. “And then from there on, I just knew that we were going to take it day by day, until I was able to get back out.”  

Frank did recover—but less than two years later, Amber’s health spiraled. She needed a double lung transplant as well—without it she would die.

“It smacked me in the face, like I didn't realize that it was that I needed to do it really quickly,” she admitted. “And I still had all these feelings about what Frank went through.  The recovery for post-transplant is not pretty. It's excruciating pain. And I saw him go through that and so when they told me you're going to go through it too, I mean had known that, the reality of that hit me pretty hard. And I was afraid I was very afraid.”  

Friends and family prayed and despite a rare blood type, Amber had donor lungs in 10 days. Covered by more prayers from all over the country, her surgery was a complete success.

Frank’s face still shines when he recalls that scene. “When I saw her, I saw a glow around her. There was just, a glow. The sight of it was so beautiful. I knew that God had did it. I had never seen it from that aspect. I had heard, you know. Oh, you're alive. You're breathing. You got new lungs. You have another future. You have hope. I had never seen it from the other side. I had always been the patient. Now I was able to be the caregiver.”  

Today Amber and Frank enjoy a life they never thought possible. They rejoice in the countless answered prayers over the years, and praise God who carried them through their trials.  

“We're beyond grateful for our donors. We pray for them. We pray comfort and peace over them. You know, they lost someone and and in return, we were able to gain something. We gained life,” Frank said.  

Amber agrees, her gratitude at once simple and profound. “We wake up in the morning, and we look at each other and we thank God for the breath in our lungs. Then we thank God for our donors. And then we think we thank Him again for our ability to live and love for each other.”