After our divorces, Cathy was a single mom for twelve years and I was a lonely bachelor for seven. In the one to two years prior to our meeting, both of us heard clearly from the Lord to start preparing ourselves to meet a mate. We did not know when or how, but knew we were both at a place in our lives that we were ready to meet the love of our lives. Neither one of us wanted to just date around. We both desired to find our one true love. We both prayed for a year before even considering dating. We worked on improving ourselves physically, spiritually, and emotionally. We consulted with our pastors and friends before we both decided to try online dating.
Cathy signed up for ChristianMingle in April of 2012 (just before her 47th birthday), and I signed up two months later with the help of my friend, Jim. Later, Cathy found out that I tried to sign up in April, but could not because I was technologically challenged. Cathy jokes that we would have met and been married three months earlier if I had been able to sign up in April!
Cathy looked at countless profiles for three months with no success. She chatted online with several guys and even talked to two men on the phone, and almost went out on one date, but that didn’t pan out. She even had her kids involved by helping to check out the profiles and give her feedback. I had only been online for a couple of weeks, and had talked with just a few ladies, and met only two for coffee. Cathy was ready to give up on online dating, when I sent her a smile on June 24th. Cathy’s first thought was that I was older than what she was looking for, but seemed like a nice Christian man, so she sent a smile back. The next day, we were online at the same time when the instant chat feature popped up, so we decided to IM each other. We had a really nice, long, friendly conversation. We both knew the instant we started talking that there was something different, but very good happening between us. So, Cathy got my number and called me later that night. From the beginning, we had great chemistry. We talked on the phone for hours all week long, and just laughed and laughed. We found that we had so much in common in just about every area. We were like two peas in a pod.
I wanted to meet the next day, but Cathy had a rather strange request. She asked if I wouldn’t mind interviewing with her pastor first, before we even met or dated. She wanted to be accountable and covered by her pastors and church family, to make sure this was the real deal. She also wanted this potential relationship to be forever; to be true love. It was kind of like the old matchmaker days. We believe that there is some truth in having others help pick out a mate for you, as they see things and ask questions that you don’t.
I responded without hesitation, “Of course, that is a really good idea for a woman to be covered by her pastors. No problem, I will call to meet with your pastor tomorrow!” I met with Cathy’s pastor on Wednesday and got an eight out of ten rating from him, and the thumbs up to go out on a date that Friday night. Later, Cathy’s pastor shared that he really gave me a perfect ten, but didn’t want Cathy to get her hopes up too much.
We met on ChristianMingle the last week of June 2012. We went on our first date on June 29, 2012. We fell in love and committed our relationship to God within the first two weeks of meeting. We got engaged three months later on September 8, 2012, and got married on December 8, 2012. We had a wonderful six month courtship, followed by a beautiful romantic wedding.
We are madly in love with each other. Cathy’s prayer was to be the best help mate she could be, and for a man out there that needed a good wife, lover, and best friend. Cathy knows without a doubt that she was created to be my help mate.
My prayer was to find a woman that loved Jesus, who I could love as Christ loved the church. I knew Cathy was that crown I was seeking. We both found an undeniable love and total acceptance in each other. We are not perfect, but we know we are perfect for each other.
Twelve years ago God gave Cathy two promises. The first was Isiah 51:3, “Indeed, the Lord will comfort…all her waste places, and her wilderness He will make like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and a sound of a melody.”
The second was Joel 2:25-27, “….I will make up to you for the years that the swarming locusts have eaten…you will have plenty and be satisfied and praise the name of the Lord who has dealt wondrously with you, and you will never be put to shame.”
Today, those promises have come to pass. Both of our prayers were answered more abundantly and exceedingly than we could have ever asked for, or imagined. We can both truly say, “WE ARE BLESSED!”