It was the first day of ninth-grade driver’s ed, and David Ruwwe thought he recognized the bubbly girl across the room. Sure enough, it was Claire Kurio, whose family attended Covenant as did David’s. When they chatted, she reminded him they had been in Covenant’s 3 year old pre-school class together. And while they both attended Covenant regularly with their families growing up, they had not really re-connected since pre-school. What fun to meet again in 9th grade.
Claire and David had so many friends in common, and this would form a circle that would embrace them in a life of shared faith throughout high school, even though Claire attended Anderson and David went to McCallum. They started dating as sophomores, and together spent Wednesday evenings with the Covenant youth group. When high school was finished, David headed off to Texas A&M while Claire stayed to attend UT-Austin. But the relationship lasted, bolstered by their connection to friends and family at church.
Now, this couple who first met when they were three years old is getting married this July. Their Covenant family could not be more pleased for the match.
“I think David and I, and our parents, have so many shared values, morals, how we prioritize family and church, and friends,” Claire said. “It has been so special to share this season of life with so many people who have loved us as individuals and then as a couple for so long.”
After their engagement, the couple began pre-marital counseling with Lead Pastor Thomas Daniel, whose daughters Claire had baby-sat. “When we started meeting with Thomas, we saw how much Claire and I, and our families, have in common” David said. “But we also saw the differences, and how each of us still have our own unique stories.”
Thomas introduced the pair to Beau and Abby Beacham, a married couple at Covenant whom he knew would be wise friends and mentors for newly-wed life. The connection between the two couples has been a blessing, Claire said. “It has been great to have an example of what it looks like to stay connected to the church as careers take up more time, kids become added into the mix, and social events fill the weekend calendars. The Beachams remind us to always prioritize each other and our families.”
The Beachams aren’t the first mentors in the lives of this young couple. In high school, David said, he and Claire were regulars in the youth groups, starting with Club 56 all the way through their senior year of high school. Russell McFarlane and Carly Gunter Volk led their age group and were the sort of youth leaders a teenager really learns from, befriends, and stays connected to for life. “They were great about really bringing us into their real life, not just, ‘see you Sundays, see you Wednesdays,’ but bringing us into their home, sharing their real selves with us,” Claire said.
After the wedding in Colorado this summer, these two native Austinites plan to remain in town, where David works in commercial real estate for Weitzman Group and Claire owns a concierge service for high-performance individuals called Austin Concierge Company. They plan to stay active at Covenant. “We’re looking for ways we can give back to the middle school and high school programs in the future, in same way it gave so much to the two of us,” David said.
Please say hello to David and Claire when you see them this summer at the 11 am service. Except for a couple weeks in July…
