Chris and I were both members of ChristianMingle, and for whatever reason we just weren’t clicking with the people in our areas.
However, on June 22, 2014, our lives changed forever. I remember it vividly: I was curled up on my couch and poking around ChristianMingle. I had written on my profile that I wanted to stay within a 100-mile radius in terms of distance, but God had different plans.
Out of curiosity, I decided to put “Any” in the distance search and started browsing through profiles that ranged from Rhode Island to California. And then I saw Chris’s picture. I remember thinking “This guy is cute,” so I clicked on his profile. After reading his introduction, I knew he seemed solid in his Walk with the Lord, which is the #1 thing I was looking for in a man. I thought he sounded great, but then I saw that he lived in Missouri (that’s a long way from Rhode Island!). Call me old fashioned, but I always preferred the guy to get in contact with me first, so I exited his profile and left it at that.
Twenty minutes later, I had a notification that he had emailed me! I was a little surprised but then I thought, “It’s no big deal. I’ll email him back — he’s in Missouri so I know nothing is going to come of this.” Boy was I wrong (and thankfully so!). Chris and I hit it off immediately. We started emailing back and forth (and I mean LONG emails) and he finally asked for my phone number. We talked on the phone every single night. After about three weeks of text messages and phone convos, we knew we had to take a chance; Chris bought a plane ticket to come out and visit me! I was so excited, but so incredibly nervous. Every thought imaginable ran through my head: “Will he like me?” “Will I like him?” “Will we hit it off?” “What if we don’t hit it off?” “Will he be as tall as he said he is?”
On August 8, 2014, he stepped off that plane and I was there with a “Welcome Chris” sign to greet him at the airport. We embraced like we had known each other our whole lives, and I just knew this was going to be different. We had the best weekend together and I knew Chris was special when he came to my cousin’s wedding with me the day he arrived! Talk about a trooper! That’s some first date! He stayed for four days and as we both cried at the airport when he had to leave, I knew I had found someone that I really thought I could fall in love with. And fall in love we did. Chris and I took turns flying out to see each other, and we said “I love you” in October of 2014. And then on Christmas Day, I received the best present I could ever ask for. After gifting me with a beautiful charm bracelet that included a charm for every single date we went on up until that point, Chris proposed, and I said YES!!! I knew that God was working in our lives, preparing us for one another while we lived half a country away — and now we’re getting married in June of 2016!
Chris is my perfect complement. He’s strong when I’m weak, funny when I need to laugh, and the calm to my crazy. I could not have hand-picked someone better for me. My best friend even says it’s like God created him with a sign that says “For Laura.” I still can’t believe it, but I’m so glad I left it in God’s hands because He was The One that brought us together. Don’t get me wrong, a long-distance relationship is far from easy, and we have spent a good portion of our time in the airport, but when you find the right person, it’s totally and completely worth it. And to see that God was working in it from the start is absolutely incredible. The company Chris works for has an office in Connecticut, and he is able to transfer jobs, so that’s where we will be starting our lives as husband and wife. He is the best thing that ever happened to me, and it all started with one click on ChristianMingle. We let God write our love story, and He penned a beautiful tale of a boy and a girl miles apart, meant to be together. I may be a bit biased, but it’s my favorite love story ever told. I’m so thankful Chris and I stayed faithful to the Lord and that He brought us together on ChristianMingle. As a quote from our favorite song says, “Love don’t know what distance is,” and I have never found this to be truer.
God is so good, and He is and will continue to be the foundation of our lives. As it is written in Psalm 37, verse 4: “Take delight in the LORD, and He WILL give you the desires of your heart.” Chris and I certainly know this promise to be true, and I am living proof that if you “dance with God, He will let the perfect man cut in.”