Martin and Katie

I love Martin and Katie Luther's story. I'll summarize it here with help from Rebecca Johnson's article in Leben, Volume 4 Issue 1:

Katherina von Bora and her sister nuns, after becoming familiar with Martin Luther's teaching and work, contacted the great Reformer requesting assistance in escaping their convent (a capital offense). Luther responded helpfully, and the story goes that the adventurous nuns were each placed in a herring barrell and carted off to freedom by Luther's associates.

Luther then played matchmaker, helping lonely ex-monks and former nuns find spouses. He was not interested in Katie initially, considering her somewhat arrogant. She developed a promising relationship with someone else, but alas, things did not work out.

Somewhere in the aftermath of that failed relationship, Katie decided Luther was the man for her. Luther began to feel hypocritical for exhorting men to embrace married life with its blessings, cares, and responsibilities while he remained single. So he promptly proposed to Katie--who thought it was a joke. After he was able to convince her of his sincerity, they were married the same day and went on to build one of the great godly households in church history with six children from their loving union, a busy farm, and legendary hospitality.