David and Rachel Leininger have been married almost three years, with three kids in tow (one in Heaven, one at home, and one on the way), but that couldn’t stop them from making the trek to SteubySTL – David as part of the production crew, Rachel as a part of the speaking ministry team.
This is a place near and dear to their hearts. In fact, the first time they were ever in the same room was the JQH Arena, they just didn’t know it…
In July of 2010, both Rachel and David attended SteubySTL as adult chaperones. For Rachel, it wasn’t anything new – she’d attended this conference many times before as a high school student and then chaperone with her home parish. This was David’s first time at a Steubenville Youth Conference. He’d grown up at a parish in South Carolina that had never heard of these events, and was only here now because the youth ministry he volunteered with in his then-home of Rockford, IL made the annual trek to Springfield. Four years before David and Rachel would meet for the first time, they would share an arena. And during adoration that weekend, as soon as Jesus walked into the room, David had a powerful moment in prayer where he heard, “This is your vocation.” As a single man in his 20s who loved the Church, he thought that meant seminary. He started down that path, but fortunately (for Rachel), it was pretty clear in his discernment that the Lord didn’t mean priesthood. It wasn’t until after David and Rachel were married – and they connected the dots that they’d both been at the same conference in 2010 – that David realized Jesus had been talking about her.
This isn’t to say that anyone else’s future spouse is (or isn’t) running around the Q this weekend, but it is fun for the Leiningers to think that their story started long before they knew it. And one of their favorite things about Steubenville is actually that the same Jesus who spoke to David at adoration that night is the same Jesus they meet at Mass every Sunday in their home parish. When they aren’t giving talks or running slides, they’re busy chasing around their one-year-old daughter and preparing to meet their next child in December! David is in prime shape for this, since he once ran a half-marathon in a hotdog costume. Running makes Rachel cry, so she tries to avoid it at all costs. They’re honored to serve you at SteubySTL this weekend, and keep you in their prayers always!
Leave a Comment