Stephanie and I met online on July 29. I had been on the site for about a year and she had joined the previous day. Both of us had been in 20+ year marriages that had ended a few years before. Because we were both older than some singles, we had a pretty clear picture of what we wanted or didn’t want. Being in sales, she meets many men. Being online a year or two, I felt like “50 first dates” was doomed to be my life story!
She is from Fresno and I am from Southern California. She contacted me with a brief hello. The distance would have prevented me from reaching out to her. I grew up in Fresno, however, and she asked if I ever visited. A week later I was going to be in town and thus we spent nearly 24/7 texting, talking, emailing and even using video chatting in anticipation of that meeting. By the time we met, we were both smitten. She was the most beautiful, engaging, fun, personable and loving person I had ever met, but for both of us, the question was: “Will we have chemistry when we meet in person?”
We met on August 9th. The first time we hugged, we felt like we had known one another forever. Our personal chemistry was even better in person than we expected! Our careers allowed us flexible time and we spent a lot of hours back and forth. We spent weekends together, and called and texted when we were not together. Our families met, got along, and we loved each other’s dogs!
We were engaged on October 26 with a wedding planned in Fresno for that June. We will spend our honeymoon on an Alaskan cruise.
One factor that caused her to contact me was the compatibility tests and the chemistry scores. We spent (and still spend) a LONG time discussing the characteristics of a yellow (her), a red (me) and the questions we answered in your surveys. Had ChristianMingle not had those, I don’t know that she would have contacted me. I certainly know that with her distance, I would have dismissed her had I not seen a very strong correlation in our various scores and answers. Instead of deleting the inquiry, I thought, “Well, she sure seems to have a lot in common with me, let’s say hi and maybe be friends.” Now we’re getting married! That said, the science of matching up, we both feel, was critical to our connection. Everyone can write a profile and post a cute picture. Finding what you both want and value truly helps weed out people who are not a fit. ChristianMingle does that well!
You know how God provides for our need and answers prayers one way or the other? And we are very grateful? And then sometimes He just shows off? Every day creation is impressive and amazing and then you see a sunset or the stars at night and say “Wow, that’s above and beyond. That is amazing. That’s just God showing off.” I feel that way about Steph. She fits all the check boxes, sure. She is attractive, smart, personable. She is all that I knew I wanted. But God shows off in that she is also what I needed. She is many things I didn’t even dare pray for. It’s humbling to have someone who is better than you dreamed. Someone who you say “Wow, gosh, that’s nice, I feel embarrassed I forgot to pray for that, and yet, here she is!”