I am so excited to share these photos with you. Christy and Joe were awesome to photograph, they have love that just radiates and is very contagious. Christy is my old roommates twin sister and Joe is her God given other half. I had asked Christy to share with me how her and Joe met and it's an amazing uplifting story. I have it posted below the photos...I recommend reading it :)
Joe and I met two years ago in March. We first met each other through an online, Christian dating service called "ChristianCafe." It's an interesting story of perseverance, actually, and I totally believe that God brought us together. :-)
Joe initially "winked" at me through the website, but I ignored it because he didn't have a picture posted and I never responded to anyone unless they had a picture posted. However, he told me that he really liked what I wrote about myself and that he thought I was cute, so he would try writing me one more time. This time, it was around my birthday (the profile displayed my birthday so people could wish you a "Happy Birthday" as a way of breaking the ice).
I had gotten several, generic "Happy Birthday" messages on my birthday, but Joe's message stood out to me. First of all, in the subject line, it said "Birthday Blessings." Secondly, his message was completely original. He said something to the effect of wishing me all of God's blessings in the coming year. I thought that was sweet.
By this point, he has posted some pictures, so when I wrote him back I was excited to see how cute he was and that he was a musician (something I had been looking for).
Anyway, we exchanged a few emails, chatted online through the website and he finally asked for my phone number.
Now, here's where it gets interesting...All this had happened around the beginning of Lent. I hadn't decided what I was going to give up for Lent yet, but was leaning toward the Internet.
After church one Sunday, a couple friends of mine invited me to go to Laguna Beach with them to enjoy the beautiful weather. While there, I had a very deep, meaningful conversation with my close friend about my online dating experience thus far. Up to that point it had been less than successful, and mostly disappointing. I had already been thinking that I wanted to throw in the towel altogether.
While I had just given my phone number to Joe, I had done this before with other guys and things had never transpired into a date, so I didn't have high expectations. I decided, that day, that I was going to give up my online dating account (for which I had about 2 months left on my subscription) for Lent. I decided that when I got home that evening I would completely delete my account and put my trust in the Lord that He would bring a great guy into my life in just the right timing.
As I was making that decision, I chose to walk along the beach by myself and pray about surrendering my dating life into God's hands. I had just turned 28 and was disappointed about being single for so long, however, I knew that the Lord had good plans for my life, whether or not they involved marriage, so I chose to release those desires to him. As I was praying, however, I did ask God for one thing...I said to him that, if he did have marriage in mind for me, would he bring me a guy who likes the beach and would take me out on a nice date by the beach, perhaps in Laguna (which is my favorite beach)?
Anyway, that night, I got home, and within minutes of deleting my online dating account I got a phone call from Joe. I had actually forgotten about the fact that he said he was going to call. We had a great conversation and before I knew it, we had started dating. A few weeks later, he took me out on a date in Laguna.
We have been dating for about two years now, and on February 12, 2011, Joe took me to Laguna and proposed to me just after sunset. What was so special to me about that moment was that I realized it was in the same spot where I had prayed that prayer asking God to bring me a guy who likes the beach and would take me on dates there. Joe and I have gone to Laguna on many occasions since we began dating. It has a very special place in our hearts.
Joe and I met two years ago in March. We first met each other through an online, Christian dating service called "ChristianCafe." It's an interesting story of perseverance, actually, and I totally believe that God brought us together. :-)
Joe initially "winked" at me through the website, but I ignored it because he didn't have a picture posted and I never responded to anyone unless they had a picture posted. However, he told me that he really liked what I wrote about myself and that he thought I was cute, so he would try writing me one more time. This time, it was around my birthday (the profile displayed my birthday so people could wish you a "Happy Birthday" as a way of breaking the ice).
I had gotten several, generic "Happy Birthday" messages on my birthday, but Joe's message stood out to me. First of all, in the subject line, it said "Birthday Blessings." Secondly, his message was completely original. He said something to the effect of wishing me all of God's blessings in the coming year. I thought that was sweet.
By this point, he has posted some pictures, so when I wrote him back I was excited to see how cute he was and that he was a musician (something I had been looking for).
Anyway, we exchanged a few emails, chatted online through the website and he finally asked for my phone number.
Now, here's where it gets interesting...All this had happened around the beginning of Lent. I hadn't decided what I was going to give up for Lent yet, but was leaning toward the Internet.
After church one Sunday, a couple friends of mine invited me to go to Laguna Beach with them to enjoy the beautiful weather. While there, I had a very deep, meaningful conversation with my close friend about my online dating experience thus far. Up to that point it had been less than successful, and mostly disappointing. I had already been thinking that I wanted to throw in the towel altogether.
While I had just given my phone number to Joe, I had done this before with other guys and things had never transpired into a date, so I didn't have high expectations. I decided, that day, that I was going to give up my online dating account (for which I had about 2 months left on my subscription) for Lent. I decided that when I got home that evening I would completely delete my account and put my trust in the Lord that He would bring a great guy into my life in just the right timing.
As I was making that decision, I chose to walk along the beach by myself and pray about surrendering my dating life into God's hands. I had just turned 28 and was disappointed about being single for so long, however, I knew that the Lord had good plans for my life, whether or not they involved marriage, so I chose to release those desires to him. As I was praying, however, I did ask God for one thing...I said to him that, if he did have marriage in mind for me, would he bring me a guy who likes the beach and would take me out on a nice date by the beach, perhaps in Laguna (which is my favorite beach)?
Anyway, that night, I got home, and within minutes of deleting my online dating account I got a phone call from Joe. I had actually forgotten about the fact that he said he was going to call. We had a great conversation and before I knew it, we had started dating. A few weeks later, he took me out on a date in Laguna.
We have been dating for about two years now, and on February 12, 2011, Joe took me to Laguna and proposed to me just after sunset. What was so special to me about that moment was that I realized it was in the same spot where I had prayed that prayer asking God to bring me a guy who likes the beach and would take me on dates there. Joe and I have gone to Laguna on many occasions since we began dating. It has a very special place in our hearts.
