An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.—Proverbs 31:10
Jen's side of the story:
Matthew and I met on an online Christian dating website last October of 2010. I had just gotten out of the hospital from having gallbladder surgery and life for me before that already had me feeling down and out. I found his profile and immediately identified with his love for God and was impressed with his passion for God's word so I sent him a message. The next day I got a message back from him, but by the time I had sat down to read it, life had gotten me down again and I had been in tears most of the day. When I got to the end of his email there was a "p.s." that said: "Hey, your favorite color is red and mine is yellow; we're ketchup and mustard!" I still remember trying to read it through blurry stinging eyes, and when I finally made it out it made me laugh. It immediately lifted my spirits, and I thought to myself, who is this guy? It's not that the joke was all that funny (sorry honey!), it just came at exactly the right time, when I needed it most!
We chatted online for the next couple of months and became such good friends! Soon we added in video chat and skype. Then the more we talked, the more he grew on me and I began to develop sincere feelings for him. He was becoming my best friend. The feelings grew deeper, and the more we talked the more I wanted to talk to him. I would send him emails asking, "we haven't talked in a while, are you mad at me?" And he would answer and say, "of course not, didn't we talk yesterday?" When I realized that going 24 hours without talking felt like a week or more, I also realized that Matthew had won a very special place in my heart that I didn't think could ever be won again!
I waited for a little while to see what he would do about it. I wasn't sure he was feeling the same way. Sure enough, he was thinking it too! Finally in January we were able to express how we felt about each other and we started dating. At first we wanted to try to meet in person on Valentine’s Day, but when it wasn't working out we both decided we were going to wait on God for the right time to meet. Six months went by and our relationship continued to grow stronger and stronger, along with my feelings for him! We didn't meet each other face to face until this last July!
Of course the nerves were flying everywhere when we first saw each other, but a long walk along the river once again revealed the best friend I'd come to know and love online. I spent a week with him and it was amazing and beautiful! Then it was a walk on the beach where I discovered something else; there really is a certain look a man gives a woman that expresses unmistakable love and affection toward her without a single word, and once I recognized that look in Matthew's eyes I knew I felt the same way!
Now that I'm back home in Oregon, every day without him makes me miss him more, even though we still talk every day. He makes me feel cherished, even when I don't deserve to be cherished! And he's been asking me to marry him just about everyday since I got home. It's hard trying to merge two lives together over long distance, but I know without a doubt that the man I'm getting out of it makes it all worth it! I cannot wait to be Matthew's wife!
