We’re getting married!

We first met online (eHarmony). We very nearly missed each other due to our preference filters. I had predetermined that I wasn’t interested in a distance relationship, so I set my distance filter to about an hour’s drive. (And the Lord laughed.) Meanwhile, she wasn’t interested in tall guys, and if I had been one half-inch taller I would not have appeared in her match list. Despite the near-miss, my profile did appear as a potential match for her. She thought I sounded like the kind of guy she might be looking for, but she wasn’t overly impressed with my photos, so instead of writing a message to me she just sent me a smile emoji and waited to see if I would respond. When I got the notification, I glanced at her profile. My reaction was a bit of a roller coaster ride. At first I was really excited — she was cute, with a beautiful smile, and her personality sounded really sweet. Most of all, the sincerity of her relationship with God was obvious, even from a quick glance at the profile. But then I checked the location box to see where she was...and my heart sank. I wasn’t prepared to drive more than an hour, much less fly across the world! It seemed like an impossible scenario. I almost gave up right then and there. But I had the nagging thought that if she bothered to reach out to me, even with just a smile, I should at least read the rest of her profile. So I did...and by the time I finished reading I was so impressed that I decided it didn’t matter how far away she was, I had to talk to this girl. So I responded to her initial contact and we began to exchange messages. Despite the 13-hour time difference, the conversation flowed easily, and it quickly became apparent that our beliefs, interests, priorities, and vision for the future were very closely aligned. After only a day and a half of exchanging chat messages, we decided to have a video call. Once we got past the initial nerves, the conversation again flowed so well that we talked for over 4 hours — past midnight on my end. By the end of the conversation I remember being stunned at the depth of connection I felt with her, and I immediately knew this had the potential to go a long way. So before we hung up I told her I thought this was really good and I asked if we could talk again soon. She said yes, and a few days later we talked for over 5 hours! At that point we began to schedule regular video calls, starting about once a week, then closer to twice a week. Meanwhile we connected on Facebook and started messaging each other in between video calls. After only 2-3 weeks of conversations, I realized I was about to fall in love, and I didn’t want to fall in love with someone I’d never met in person, so I decided I had to meet her. On our next video call I told her that although I’m generally not an adventurous person, I wanted so badly to meet her that I was ready to book a flight. She agreed, and a few days later I booked a 3-week trip to the Philippines. And the rest was history.

Well, David ended his story when we met at the airport so let me begin there. As he mentioned, I thought his eHarmony photos weren’t too impressive. For some reason they made him look really tall and broad, and I was afraid it would look awkward being with him since I am short. But when I fetched him at Manila airport, he was actually lean and handsome — yes, even with mask on! 😆 One sight of his beautiful eyes and my first impression was all gone. Meanwhile, David’s first reaction when he saw me was, “Wow, she’s *really* short” — but then he immediately thought, “Oh of course, I already knew that.” After a few minutes of chatting we both thought to ourselves that yeah, this is the same person that I’ve been talking to online. We had talked many hours online, just the two of us, so one of the goals during David’s first trip to the Philippines was to meet my friends and family too. Before jumping into a relationship or deciding if we’d like to, David thought it would be good if he could meet my family and friends, especially my mentors or those who shepherd me, so they could give me wise feedback. It would also be a good opportunity for him to get to know me through the lens of my friends — although because they are my friends, of course they would say good things about me. 🤣 My coworkers, friends, and family were impressed with the kind of person David is. Then one day, I was just listening to him as he talked to my friend and I suddenly realized, I want this man! He is so consistent in his convictions, the depth of his relationship with the Lord, and his strong desire to please God reflects in his words and actions. That day I fell in love with him. 🥰