Kim & Warren

Her story: While on Facebook one day I saw an advertisement for Christian Connection. I started scrolling thru the men within my stated parameters and was receiving a lot of messages and likes. However, most of the men were farther than the 50-mile distance I had put in my profile and I immediately eliminated them as I truly didn’t feel a long-distance relationship could be sustained in a healthy fashion.

The day after I became a member I received a 'like' from an attractive man who lived in North Carolina. Of course, as I had done in the past my initial reaction was to delete him but, as my finger was reaching for the delete button I suddenly stopped mid-air. I felt God was telling me not to pass him by. So I did some quick math and figured out he lived about 800+ miles away from me.

I sent him a message and said that I wasn’t sure a long-distance relationship could work. He responded back to me and said ‘let’s just talk if you like’. So thinking ‘why not?’, I agreed. We emailed through the site for a few days and had some great and stimulating conversations. After a few days, I wanted more and I sensed he did as well, so I asked him for his phone number so we could talk. He gave me his number and we started conversing by phone for weeks for sometimes up to 5 or 6 hours a day! Needless to say, we learned a lot about each other. Soon into our nightly phone visits, we started reading the Bible and praying together.

I found his faith quite strong and I knew this was the type of man I wanted and needed in my life. I found myself quite drawn to this man emotionally and spiritually.

After speaking with each other many times a day for about a month, we agreed we wanted to meet in person in Florida. So, after agreeing on a time frame, he made plane and hotel reservations. When he arrived I picked him up from the airport. The initial meeting, though I was nervous, went really well and I quickly became quite comfortable with him. On the 8th day of his visit he gave me a nice card and asked me to marry him. After I caught my breath, I said yes.

A few weeks later I visited him in NC and he whisked me away to a beach resort in Charleston, SC where we exchanged our vows! We are now happily married!

Because of my job, we agreed that he, being semi-retired, would commute back and forth between his home in NC and mine in FL. For now, this is working ok, hoping it won't be too long before I move to NC permanently! I thank God for speaking to me that day, causing me to pause and think before deleting him!

His story: Two years ago I decided to go online to seek a friend who was like-minded and enjoyed outdoor activities. At that time I was only interested in a friendship as I was separated but not yet divorced. I found Christian Connection through an internet search, along with other dating sites. As I completed info on one, I thought ‘why not complete several?’ which I did. After meeting several women as friends, with absolutely no future marriage ideas, I began to think there could be more long term possibilities. As I thought more about it, and not to taking it lightly, I formulated certain criteria for a long term match, if that was even a possibility.

I had certain criteria which I thought necessary for a serious relationship.
1-a serious follower of Jesus
2-a strong mutual attraction
3-outdoorsy and athletic

I found online 'dating' to be both exciting & draining, that the ‘virtual’ relationship was almost always better than reality. I knew the online dating 'experts' said it's best to meet a person as soon as possible before talking in depth. Good advice by the way!

I suggest staying focused on our value being based on what God thinks of us, not others. If you’re not a 'match', don't necessarily write the person off immediately. After 2 years & multiple decisions to quit online dating, I'd renewed my subscription for the last time!

I looked at other CC profiles and saw one in Florida with whom I was attracted. I live in NC, 800 miles away from her location. Although I'd previously sworn off a long-distance relationship as too much trouble, at that moment, I wasn't feeling the negativity so I contacted her and she responded. We found we liked each other virtually, an experience with which I was all too familiar, but there was something a little different this time.

After talking & sharing deeply over a period of a month, we excitedly agreed to meet. I bought a plane ticket, set hotel reservations, made the trip. She met me at the airport. It was a good first meeting. I found myself as attracted to her in person as I'd been virtually. She felt the same. We had a great several days getting to know each other. We found we had a strong mutual attraction. That to me was very important in a relationship...and she met my other criteria!

The rest is history as we are now happily married. Thank you, Jesus, thank you CC!

CC is a great Christian site for finding those appearing more serious about their faith. My thoughts and recommendations are to be secure in your walk with Christ, be ok with the idea of remaining single, continue online, pray for God's best whether single or married and enjoy getting to know others, seeing their value as God's creation, whether they are a long term match or not.. and enjoy the experiences, as frustrating as they may be at times.

We're all on a life journey. Make the best of it by placing Jesus first, yourself second, others third. May God bless you on your journey!

Our story update:
We've now been married since September 2021. He still commutes from NC to Fl every 2 weeks. She'll spend Thanksgiving in NC and he'll spend Christmas in FL. We are praying and reading God's Word together daily, whether in person or by phone, waiting on God's direction while enjoying each other and the experience. We recently discovered through an internet search that short engagements and quick marriages are not so out of the ordinary, something we share with friends when told we're crazy. We believe as long as both are faithful in their walk with Jesus, that's the glue that will hold our marriage together, that holds all Christian marriages together! We suggest looking up 'A Triangle Model of Love' - Christ centered (not Triangle Theory of Love - secular) for guidance and direction in marriage, wishing we'd discovered this sooner! Romans 8.28 God is good! We are equally and deeply in love with Jesus and each other. We believe and say, "Truly God is the glue that holds us together!"