We both had been active on other websites with not much success, and having seen advertisements for ChristianMingle, we each decided to give it a try. 

For myself, I had tried another site for about six years on and off, and after a few months at the beginning of 2013 with a not-successful brief attempt at a relationship, decided to try one last time on the other site as well as try ChristianMingle for one month.  I made a few contacts on ChristianMingle and had a few meet-and-greets, but nothing that sparked a deep interest.  I was down to my last week on ChristianMingle and on that Wednesday I noticed a new and beautiful face with an interesting profile, but having not had much success and thinking she may not be interested in me, I did not try to communicate with her. 

Well, it’s obvious that God had plans for us, because on the day before my membership was to expire, I received a ‘Smile’ from Renetta, and I admit I was giddy with excitement.  Since my membership was about to expire the next day and this may be my one chance to communicate with this beautiful woman, I responded with an email explaining that my membership was expiring, but I still wanted to communicate with her and gave her my email address, to which I found out later I mistyped in my excitement, but thankfully, Renetta figured out the correct address.

Thankfully and excitingly, she responded to my personal email, and we communicated throughout the day that Saturday.  We exchanged numbers the next day, and by Monday we were talking on the phone, and our first conversation lasted several hours.

In talking, Renetta shared that Thursday was her birthday, so on Wednesday night we stayed on the phone until after midnight.  I wanted to be the first person to wish her a Happy Birthday.  I figured she had plans for her birthday, so I didn’t ask her out, but I really wanted to meet her face to face as we had been having such wonderful and long conversations on the phone.  I told her I knew it was fast, but I’d like to take her out, and so we set a date for Friday evening.

Our first date was Jazz and Poetry and dinner.  We met for dinner before the show, and by the time we left dinner, we were holding hands.  We made it back to attend the show, and during the entire show, we sat holding hands and snuggling up to each other.  At one point one of the performers had all that were on a date to stand up and repeat a series of phrases to each other indicating their love for one another.   This was interesting as it was our first date, and I complied as much as I could.  While I didn’t repeat everything, it was already apparent, even before our first meeting a few hours prior, that this was not an ordinary woman nor an ordinary date or chance meeting.  After the show it was obvious neither of us was ready for the date to be over, so we went to a 24 hour restaurant and sat and talked for several hours.  Our first date lasted a total of 8 hours.

Our second date was on that Sunday, and it was spent at the lake feeding ducks and at dinner, and it was special as well, and lasted 6 hours.  Our dating process seemed to go quickly, but I believe when God is in it and brings that special someone into your life, it doesn’t take forever.

Renetta expected me to propose to her on Christmas, but I had other plans in mind.  The Saturday following Christmas we were to attend the ICE exhibit at the Gaylord Texas Resort, which consist of 2 million pounds of ice sculpted into characters from various holiday themes.  It’s funny because 3 hours prior to us going to ICE she asked me if I was going to propose on Valentine’s Day, not knowing that I was just hours away from popping the question.  I have a friend who’s also a photographer whom Renetta had not met, and she was stationed to capture the moment for me.  When I did it was magical, and the rest, as they say, is history.  We were married on May 31, 2014, 14 months after that first email, and though it’s only been a month, it has been a continuation of the love from God that we experienced during our year of dating.

Thank you so much for your site.  It truly does work, and we are a testament to that.  As I mentioned before, we had both been on other sites with no real success, and in less than a month for me and within Renetta’s first week of signing up on ChristianMingle, we were united.  We pray that you do know how much your site is a blessing to us seeking a “real” connection with a like-minded individual with Christian values as ourselves.

Hopefully our story will inspire other success stories.