Dating & Relationships

I know, I know, you’re reading this because you’re on a dating site. Marriage isn’t imminent. You might, just maybe, have a coffee two weeks on Tuesday with the persistent waver who opened with ‘How r u, Shane? I like ur profile’ when your name is Sam. But that’s not the end goal. You would like to meet a partner, someone with whom you can share life’s ups and downs. You’re thinking ahead.

As far as finding love is concerned, it can feel like a jungle out there… or a desert… or a lottery (waiting in hope of our numbers coming up, unsure if we even have a ticket, or where we’re supposed to go to get one). It can be so confusing hearing patronising, ill informed or contradictory advice from well meaning friends, colleagues, relatives and church members; when what we really need is something we can relate to.

‘Honestly, HopefulGirl, my problem isn’t that I have issues around dating – it’s that I never meet any single Christian men,’ a reader told me. ‘I’m starting to believe they’re mythical creatures, like unicorns!’

‘I meet girls at work and through friends, but never any that share my faith,’ said a guy online. ‘There’s only one single lady at my church, and she’s nearly 80!’

One of my favourite Christian authors is John Ortberg. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve never read any of his books. The reason he’s one of my favourite authors is his book titles are always so memorable. For example, ‘Everybody’s Normal Till You Get To Know Them’. How true is that?!

Looking to meet someone in 2015? Then you should know that the best time to go online is the 5th January at 8:57 PM (according to a leading dating site). While this does seem very specific, it’s true that there is a surge in online dating in the New Year. Christian Connection sees joiners double between Christmas and the end of January.

“Ooh, HopefulGirl,” said a woman at my church, bustling over after communion. “Who was that good-looking young man I saw you with at the All Souls service? I couldn’t help noticing he had his arm around you. He was so dishy. Anything you want to share?”

Imagine if there was a way that you could significantly increase the number of visitors to your dating profile. Not only that, but those visitors (potential suitors no less) were more likely to be a good match for you? It would be a complete win-win, wouldn’t it? Well imagine no more, I’m going to let you into a little secret, well 5 secrets actually, which will help you showcase your personality in your dating photos and help make them work for you, not against you, significantly increasing the number of visitors to your profile.

‘I just don’t get it, HopefulGirl,’ said a friend over coffee after church one Sunday. ‘My non-Christian friends are all happily falling in love, getting married and having kids. Meanwhile, many of my Christian friends seem stuck in perpetual singledom. What’s going on?’