Matthew and I met on ChristianMingle in late April 2011. After reading his profile, I was certain that someone had played a cruel joke as it was so perfectly crafted to the exact kind of man I had waited my whole life to find. He shared about his family, his love for outdoors, musical theater, cooking and testimony of saving himself for one woman. I knew he was a dime a dozen.

I made one of the greatest decisions of my life the day I sent him a dorky smile with one of those stock greetings. And he made his best when he went from a non-paying subscriber to a full-fledged member – just so he could email me. After a week of messaging back and forth, we met half way for lunch Sunday afternoon, May 1. I almost didn’t go, as several days went by without us talking. Come to find out, his phone was malfunctioning and he was on his way!

The date lasted for two meals, wandering through stores to change the scenery of continuing conversation and a movie, a total of nine hours, followed by a goodnight handshake filled with healthy tension.

Three weeks after our first date, in mid-May, Matthew received word that he would be transferred to San Antonio for two years to start work on a project with the Army Corps of Engineers. There was really never even a choice as to whether or not to continue dating – what the Lord brings together – let no man, distance or doubt separate.

By God’s grace and strength, through a leather-bound journal mailed back and forth, and daily phone conversations, we came through a season of separation stronger than we began. Through this experience, we broke the new-age stereotype that long distance relationships just can’t work out.

On July 14, 2012, after secretly flying back to my hometown to ask my parents for my hand, Matthew flew from Texas to Kansas City to propose while I was working a Christian summer camp that he had worked at for many summers. With a simple envelope handed to me by a mutual friend, my entire life changed. I walked toward a labyrinth maze filled with candles and mason jars and read each letter Matthew had written for me.

In a whirlwind of preparation and planning, we were married November 3, 2012 at a beautiful historic hotel in Excelsior Springs, Missouri. We could not have asked for a more perfect day to share our love for Christ, each other and those who had been such a faithful part of our journey.

ChristianMingle was the catalyst to what each of us had longed for but never quite found on our own. The genuineness of each of our profiles, honesty in our photos and willingness to take risks paid off in a beautiful and God-inspired future.