It was the recommendation of his pastor that led Leigh to joining Christian Connection. “He actually met his wife through Christian Connection,” says Leigh. “I actually put it off for a little bit, and then it was a prompting from God…” Leesa says, “I was just curious to see, just to meet some new people and see who was out there… we crossed over because when his subscription was about to finish, I came on earlier through God’s prompting, so we really feel like God ordained that.”

When Leesa joined she was expecting “a fun way to meet people”. She embraced the experience: “You have to not take yourself too seriously. There’s a lot of people who aren’t interested and that’s okay… there are just a lot of beautiful people too, and I met one of them.”

Leigh found the process of creating his profile helpful in determining who he was hoping to meet: “It gave me an opportunity to reflect on who I actually am, and who I wanted to be, who I wanted to see my profile. I wanted to put myself out there and say, ‘Hey, this is who I am. And if you like me, you like me, if you don’t like me, you don’t like me’. A way to ward off people that aren’t interested in you, while also bringing in those people who are interested in you.”

They were both looking for very similar things in a connection. “The number one thing that I wanted people to know was my heart for God,” says Leigh. “I went on looking for someone who had a heart for God,” says Leesa, “And that’s what I wanted to reflect in my profile… that sense of humour in your profile, too, I think is important too.” Although the first thing she noticed about Leigh’s profile was that “he liked The Princess Bride. That’s our favourite movie.” But she also saw what she’d been hoping for: “I liked his heart for God… when I was looking for someone, first was a heart for God. Second was a big smile. And he had that as well. I just wanted someone who appeared warm and approachable… that was what I found in him.”

Leigh notes, “It’s not until you actually meet them in person, that you can actually get to truly know someone… my initial impression of of Leesa’s profile was that she was she was someone that loved God… I was really looking for someone to start off really friendship wise, and to see where it actually came from there…. And if anything, didn’t, then at least I gained a friend from it.”

They began their connection after Leesa made contact: “I’m not a first moves person at all. I was happy to wave at people. I was just waving at lots of people who caught my eye. And he was one of them. And we started a conversation.”

“A few messages that went back and forth on Christian connection,” says Leigh, “And then we gave each other our email addresses… We got through the sellable part of ourselves, instead of actually scraping on the surface. After a few emails, we found that things are actually getting on a deeper level.”

Their first date took place at a coffee shop. “It was really hot,” says Leesa, “I remember sitting in the sun, feeling really hot, but not wanting to move, because it was really interesting.”

“Even though I was having a good time, and I felt that we were making a making a good connection, my eyes are going from right to left in trying to think of what next to say,” remembers Leigh.

“I thought it was hilarious,” says Leesa, “because his eyes going like this, trying to think ‘what shall I say next?’ I could see the panic. It was hilarious.”

Their relationship developed. “I felt like I always knew he was special,” says Leesa. “I was talking to a few guys on a Christian connection, but he just really stood out to me. We had a lot of things in common. I just felt easy talking to him. And I also got a sense of the fact that God had sort of put us together. So I think that I knew that this was my person, if that makes sense. But I think it was something that grew as well.”

Leigh says, “After one of our dates, I got home and the question that was going through my head was ‘Can I see a future together with this with this with this woman?’ And the honest answer was actually, yes. That was really the defining moment.”

Things began to progress. “He actually told me he loved me in Maccas [McDonalds],” says Leesa. “I was I was feeling that, but I wasn’t ready to say it. So I was like, ‘Really? Are you sure?’ But then I’m like, Yeah, I love you too.”

“I couldn’t help myself. It just came out. I just blurted it out,” says Leigh.

They got engaged after Leigh planned a surprise. “I organised to go out to the Yarra Valley. We had a bit of a bit of a nice lunch, and maybe a couple of glasses of wine. And then we just went out right next to the vineyards. I got down on one knee… pulled out an engagement ring and proposed to Leesa. I actually was able to get her grandmother’s engagement ring. So I used that.”

“Of course I said yes,” says Leesa. “I could tell that God had just put us together. There was no way I was saying no.”

A wedding came next. “On the actual day we had a bit of a blast,” says Leigh. “I had my old pastor marry us, so that was pretty special.” Leesa remembers “we weren’t really fussed about our wedding day being perfect. It was all fun and games for us. We got married outside under a little pergola and then we had high tea. We just had our close family and friends there which was perfect for us. We didn’t want a big deal. We wanted to invest in our lives and our marriage, not one day. We had a great time.”

Since the wedding they’ve been adjusting to building their life together. “We feel like an old married couple. We’ve only been married just over six months… The kids get along really well, which is really lovely. We have a lot of family game nights. It’s just great. We adventure together and we do life together. We’ve got a dog and just got a cat…So that’s what our life is now.”

They also share an unusual interest. “We found out when we first started talking on Christian connection – and this is not normal – we both like zombie shows. So we’ve been watching a lot of shows.”

Leigh reflects on what they’ve found in each other: “Her sense of humour. That’s one of the things that I suppose drew me to her, but her honesty, her positivity, her sense of humour, her love of zombies.”

Longer term they hope to share ministry opportunities. “I can just see him either in a church or in a community and me supporting him with that maybe using my teacher degree,” says Leesa. “We just want to go wherever God leads us. And I think that’s on both of our hearts.”

They both feel that God has led them together at the right time, and look forward to what’s next. “Both of us actually had a bit of a journey with healing,” says Leigh. “Individually said to God, ‘I think that I’m actually ready to move on with my life’. Those promptings to actually get on Christian connection, they were definitely in God’s timing… Moulded us, transformed us into the people that, that God has actually wanted us to be. And because of those things, I really feel that we’ve actually got a connection and it’s actually drawn us a lot, a lot closer together and a lot deeper as well.”

Leesa adds, “We always say that if we met when we were younger, we might not have worked. I think we had to go through the journey that we’ve been through to be ready to meet each other. And I think that through Christian connection, God made that happen.”

WATCH more #MetOnCC couples’ short stories here and in-depth interviews here

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