Aris and I first made contact on ChristianMingle on August 27, 2011 when he sent a “smile” to me, prompting me to read his profile. His profile was descriptive and he had a great smile! Aris was also attracted to my pictures and the portion of scripture I had posted as my favorite, from 1 Corinthians. “Love is patient…”.

Before ChristianMingle, Aris had just started back into the world of dating. A widowed single father of two, he was trying to figure out a way to balance work, home life, and the prospect of meeting that special someone. Other methods of meeting people left Aris disappointed and discouraged. After seeing a commercial for ChristianMingle, he decided to give it a shot. It was his first time using the internet to date.

I had been on ChristianMingle for about a week when he contacted me. While I had tried online dating before, it had been about five years since my last relationship, a broken engagement. After many dates, I was almost ready to give up on finding someone to spend the rest of my life with. Until Aris and I made contact on ChristianMingle, I hadn’t really connected with anyone special. So, after a few back and forth exchanges we got each other’s phone numbers and we really hit it off! He was such a sweetheart, funny, considerate, warm, and open.

Our first date was on Saturday, September 10th at a bowling alley. I was excited and nervous, but Aris was easygoing and friendly which had me feeling completely comfortable. I found myself at once very attracted to him, and yet I could totally be myself. He felt the same way and we haven’t spent a weekend apart since.

On our fifth date, Aris arranged a romantic evening on a dinner cruise and he asked me to be his girlfriend. We shared our first kiss that evening and there was no denying what we’d been feeling before that moment; we were falling for one another. Life together after that has been a whirlwind of falling in love, merging our families, and becoming more and more a part of each other’s lives. We’ve already made so many memories!

Aris says he knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me in April 2012. He’d just stood by my side as I went through and recovered through surgery and I knew that he was the man I wanted to spend my life with. On June 13, 2012 Aris took me for a walk around a lake. We stopped and he opened up his heart to me about the depth of his feelings. He said, “I love you and I don’t want this just for a moment, but for a lifetime.” I was laughing and crying at once as I looked at Aris down on one knee holding out a ring for me, asking me to be his wife. It was the best moment ever!

We have set our wedding date for July 27, 2013.

Thank you, ChristianMingle! Thanks to you, I have been connected to the love of my life.