We’ve shared stories from believers who have met on eharmony and Christian Mingle, but we hadn’t yet shared a success story from a couple who had met on Match.com.
Fortunately, when we sent an online dating survey to our email subscribers, one of our faithful SingleRoots readers, Lynn, told us that she and her husband, Allen, met on Match.com and wed in 2013. She also let us know that our reviews of online dating sites helped her decide to try out Match in the first place.
So of course we wanted to hear their story—and we knew our readers who were presently dating online, especially those of you who use Match.com, would want to hear it too.
SingleRoots: Did you struggle with the idea of online dating?
Lynn: Both of us struggled with the idea of online dating. It isn’t the norm. It isn’t looked at in the most positive way. If my grandmother knew I met online, all of her friends and the city she lives in would know how we met and talk about it. It also wasn’t how I dreamed of meeting my husband growing up. There wasn’t even Internet when I was a little girl! But I don’t go to bars and men don’t just walk up randomly and put themselves out there. So, that is how I got over my struggle. My husband struggled with it because it was unconventional but he also didn’t struggle because it was the best way to meet someone with common interests and similarities since it is all listed on your profile.
SingleRoots: On which site did you meet your spouse? How long were you on it before you found your spouse?
Lynn: Match.com. We were on it three weeks before we started conversing online. We went on our first date and both closed our accounts the next week.
SingleRoots: Do you tell people you met your spouse online, or do you keep that under wraps?
Lynn: We didn’t tell many people we met online until after we were married. We are more comfortable telling people now and when people ask we are honest. A year ago we said we met through friends. Because technically friends of ours talked us into putting ourselves “out there” online. However we give Match and our families all the credit. Our immediate families and a handful of close friends knew and encouraged us to go online. We are both in our 30s and hadn’t met anyone that felt right and easy. Some friends and family members wouldn’t shut up about how great online dating can be and through their persistence and reassurance, it got us out of our comfort zones. We allowed specific extended family members to learn we met online depending on their views of going outside the norm and their view on our desperation. Ha!
SingleRoots: What was it about each of your profiles that caught the attention of the other? What made it stand out?
Allen: I really enjoyed looking at her pictures. They made me laugh. I was also looking at her profile to really learn of her faith, interests, etc. I love to travel and wanted to make sure she would be willing to travel and enjoy get aways at a beach. I also loved the fact that she spoke of her traveling, missions, sports, faith and family and their importance in her profile.
Lynn: When I was looking at profiles I wanted to find a man of God. I wanted to see if I could see leadership, integrity, faith, values and flexibility in a profile. I wanted someone that would enjoy the same things I like and enjoy some of the same tv shows as me. There was one show we both spoke of on our profiles and seeing that encouraged me to contact him first to talk about the characters. We centered our dates around watching the show and finding that commonality helped us break the ice.
SingleRoots: From the time you started messaging back and forth, what was your initial dating process like?
Lynn: Allen never dated anyone else from Match but me. I went out with three other guys before I met him. Then after our first date I dropped all the other guys and focused on him. We conversed online for three and a half weeks before meetings only because we were both out of town for two of those weeks. We both knew in March we loved each other and were amazed at God’s provision. We met and married all during 2013. It was a busy and amazing year.
SingleRoots: Online dating sites can get pricey. Do you think it was worth it?
Lynn: We totally felt Match.com was worth it. We found our best friends for life! No amount was too much. (Well, okay there is a limit—we are both underpaid educators still paying off our student loans!) However, it was so worth it. Allen picked Match because he could see some profiles before paying to see if it was “worth” it. I picked Match after reading SingleRoots comparison of dating websites. I felt it was going to give me more for my money and a bigger dating pool. Your articles were the reason why I got on Match.com! Thank you for helping me find my husband! It is amazing how so many people helped bring us together. God works in mysterious ways. We truly believe God orchestrated this all and he used Match.com, our friends, family members, and SingleRoots to bring us together. Wow. God is so cool!
SingleRoots: Were you pleased with your experience overall? Would you recommend the site to other Christian singles?
Lynn: We would both definitely recommend Match.com to other Christian singles. I explained how important Christ and the church were to me on my profile and asked any man I was going to meet where they went to church and to share with me the importance of church to them, etc. This helped protect me and make sure I was meeting, hopefully, a Christian man on a date. And three of the four guys I went on a date with were strong believers. One I am still friends with, and I pray for him to find the perfect match. Another helped me see the importance of refinancing my mortgage for a better rate (not with him or his company, he was just a thoughtful man with a great understanding of finance) and another helped me learn another skill I want to find in a man. The men I met were great, helpful and kind, and one made me fall head over heels in love, so I am truly pleased with this experience. I am so thankful he is in my life!
SingleRoots: What are some tips you’d offer other Christians who are online dating? Are there things you wish you’d done differently?
Lynn: Do it. Push yourself to go outside of your comfort zone. The nice thing about dating online is skimming through the profiles and reading about your potential spouse. You are ripping off the Band-aid and just asking questions to a stranger and if it doesn’t seem like a good fit, you can delete them from your list and not let them contact you again. No awkwardness, no normal rules of dating. This is different. People online want to be asked out on a date. They want to talk. If they don’t then you can say “next” and read a new profile and not waste time waiting for one person to call you back that you met two days ago at a restaurant. Also, we were both careful with giving out too much private information to allow someone to find us that should not. Block people if you feel like you want to. They will never know. If you live in a suburb, don’t post that city name, but a larger city nearby you. Don’t give out church names or where you work. Being vague until you meet makes you feel safer.
If you know someone who’s dating online or using Match.com, would you encourage them by emailing them this post?
