Sharon: After my divorce, I decided to test the waters of dating in the most non-threatening way I could think of – the Internet. I tried mainstream and Christian sites because I was not ready for anything serious, and I wanted to meet some people and maybe go on a date. I already had a daughter with my ex-husband and after he left me, I sort of thought that was “it” for me. I don’t believe in divorce and figured from then on in my life, I would be forced to be single.

Joe: After my wife left me, I knew I wanted to meet someone new eventually. I did not want to get divorced, but after the initial pain of that subsided, I wanted to share my love with someone. I did not know when that would be, but pretty soon I gave Internet dating a try, at the encouragement of family members. I did not want to just date for dating sake. I wanted to find a wife and so I set out to do just that.

Sharon: Since I figured marriage was out of the question (having been divorced) I did not take the whole thing very seriously. There was one
man who I talked to on Christian Mingle that I remember thinking was sort of cute with red hair and a red beard, but when we talked he scared the heck out of me. He sounded like he was interviewing me for the role of “wife.” I told him (maybe not so politely) that we were not a match and wished him luck with some other woman. Grateful to have shaken him, I moved on.

Joe: After a couple months of not talking, Sharon popped up in my instant messenger as I was online. I did not remember who she was exactly –
for a moment. Sharon quickly reminded me she was not interested in me as anything more than a friend, and then I remembered her perfectly.
But we started talking and then the conversations got really good. I was happy to have her as a friend and she even offered to rewrite my
profile.

Sharon: I just wanted to have some fun for a while. I dated some non-Christian men and really liked one, but ultimately there was something
significant missing – Christ. I talked it over with Joe and he prayed this other man would find Christ. I could tell Joe liked me, but I was
not interested so I kept making that clear almost every time we talked. Joe became such a good friend. Even though it was obvious he had feelings for me, it never got in the way of him giving good advice and even praying this other relationship would work out for me.

Joe: Yes, I liked her, but it was clear she only wanted to be friends and so I respected that. I could tell she needed a friend, and so did I. Even when she finally made the hard choice to break up with the other man, I did not dare get my hopes up that would mean anything for me with her.

Sharon: One day, I was walking out of work thinking I could not wait to talk to Joe, and then gasped, stopped dead in my tracks, as I
realized he was my best friend. I was shocked at that realization. When I called him, the first words out of his mouth were that he had just been thinking about what a friend is, and that he had just realized that I was becoming his best friend. From that moment on, I knew it was trouble. I told myself I’d never marry again until I met my best friend, and I still refused to think of Joe in that way. God was really working hard at making it all obvious to me, but I kept refusing. Every time I’d cry out to God praying that he’d let me have something in my next relationship – always very specifically – Joe would call me almost immediately and say something that showed me he was that person. It was remarkable how quickly God was answering these little prayers of mine and always through Joe. I always thanked God for his providence, but still never thought it could be Joe.

Joe: I could tell she was starting to have feelings for me too, but she fought it with all she had in her! She can be stubborn. She
finally agreed to meet me, but admitted later it was only so she could rule me out. She was so convinced she would not like me in person! But
before we could meet, her refrigerator broke.

Sharon: We’d planned to meet on Saturday for dinner, but on Friday my refrigerator broke. It was getting hot and things were spoiling. Sears
could not get it fixed for days or short of $500, so I called my best friend Joe and asked him if he knew what could be wrong. He was a handy guy and had some ideas so he hopped in his car and drove 2 hours to my house to take a look.

Joe: When I arrived, we were both so nervous. Hug or not? Handshake? No. Thankfully, I had a task to do so I just walked inside, gave a quick friendly hug, and started to work. Within about an hour the fridge was fixed and cooling again and so I started cleaning the floor behind the fridge, the stove top and burners, washed some dishes, all before Sharon really noticed what was happening.

Sharon: I was shocked at what he was doing in my kitchen – and thankful. I’d never seen a man clean like that before and suddenly saw him in a different light. I had my daughter that night, so all I could do was order pizza and pick out a movie to watch, and then stayed up talking. In that afternoon, best friends became something more. We fell in love, or at least began to acknowledge that we were already in love.

Joe: Soon, we were inseparable. We prayed together that God would use our time wisely as a couple, bring situations to help shape us into
the people He wanted us to be and to show us His will for us as a couple. He honored that request and we hit many rough patches, but through it all we knew we’d be together forever.

Sharon: A few months later, Joe proposed. He asked me to marry him on a mountaintop. We married in September and are happy to begin our new life together.

PS: Just after we finished writing this, we found out Sharon is pregnant. We did not expect this at all, but we are so excited at what God has in store for us.

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