Christian Testimony - October 2019

Donald's Story:

I decided the summer that I was six that when I grew up that I wanted to be married and be a good husband and father; it was this same summer that Sarah was born and her parents began praying for the man she would one day marry; it was also the summer I came to trust Christ, though it would be many years before I began living for Him.

I actually came to Christian Cafe a few times under different names, as years passed. My first time signing up was in January of 2001, because I wanted a Christian wife and knew no good Christian ladies at that time (mainly due to my own poor choices).

I was off and on, more off than on, until April of 2011, when I signed up to stay, until I met Sarah. It was a journey and there was some painful rejections along the way. But I also made some wonderful friendships. The forums and chat rooms (where I was even a monitor for a while) were a blessing and helped me connect, make friends, share views, and soften some of my hard edges. I begin to learn and meet many women who feared God and had done virtuously.

There were some ladies I met before Sarah that have remained friends and now are friends with her too, who helped me understand and relate to women as my friends and sisters in Christ. I first emailed Sarah June 16, 2018. My hopes were not super high at the time, but I hoped to at least encourage a sister in Christ and make a friendship.

Early on Sarah was more willing to discuss spiritual things with me than any lady I have ever known. I also shared with her some health issues: I was recently diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder that had potential to have problems and was awaiting to know whether all the Melanoma cancer had been removed and that it hadn't metastasized. We began studying the Bible together daily on August 1st and have studied the Bible together virtually every day since. We began planning our first visit in September, to take place in early November, but agreed that it wasn't a date until we had spent sometime together and decided to make our relationship official by purposely dating, with the intent of determining we should marry.

I arrived at her parent's home early in the morning of November 5, 2018. I was greeted by a warm smile and an enthusiastic "You are finally here!" We love to talk about how true that was and much deeper in meaning than it was at the moment. Though we were both already pretty sure about the direction things were headed. After spending two and a half of the most relaxing and wonderful days I have ever spent with a lady and her family and being so warmly accepted by her family; Sarah and I went to her favorite grocery store deli, where I shared the details of my testimony that I had prepared her for and had been too hard for most women to hear. Sarah only responded with love and assurance of who she saw me now in Christ.

I asked her if we could make our relationship official and begin dating and she agreed and her face instantly glowed and showed an immense joy. We had agreed not to hold hands or hug, even though we are both huggers, until we were in a relationship. That first hug and holding of hands was truly special. We had also agreed and reconfirmed our commitment then, to save our first kiss for when and if we married (a commitment we kept).

We also bought her plane tickets for her first visit. The plan was to have her arrive November 26 and help with my church group at operation Christmas Child Processing Center in Denver the next day, before driving 5 hours to the area of Colo I lived in, but weather cancelled her flight and she did not arrive till the 27th, so we were unable to meet up with church group.

While she was here for a week she stayed with my pastor and his wife and became close friends with them, she also became good friends with my mother. It was during this week that we decided we would marry. We initially decided not to do the engagement ring, but I later decided to surprise her with one and actually asked her to marry me on my next visit. Her parent's helped me surprise her at a Valentine's Day lunch. She came to see me for her second visit and our last time together, before I traveled to NY for the wedding in early April and was here for about ten days.

A week before she arrived, I was unexpectedly let go; people expected us to call the wedding off or postpone it, until I was established in a job, but we were already committed and figured this was the second test of ''for richer and poorer and in sickness and in health.''

We married August 30th, in her dad's church, with her dad and my pastor sharing the ceremony. My brother and her brothers were the groomsman (3) and her three sisters and three best-friends were the bridesmaids. It was a beautiful wedding. I admit that the last 20-30 minutes or so I began to experience extreme nervousness and began to feel sick and twitchy, but as soon as she came through the back door of the church, it instantly melted away. We had traditional vows, but changed the order of the service somewhat. We shared a first kiss at the wedding and I married the only lady I ever dated.

I had asked many out only to be rejected, but Sarah was the only one I ever dated and I am so thankful that God brought this wonderful woman into my life and that we built our relationship first on spiritual things, then life goals and interests, then emotions, and then beginning only after we were married, on the physical.

Marriage has been far beyond my expectations in wonder. I have found the one my soul loves: a woman who fears the Lord and in whom I can and have safely trusted my heart. I cried many tears over the years and poured out a pained soul to God many times, but I can say that He answered my prayers above what I could ask or think and that Sarah was worth the wait and every tear and prayer.

My advice is to participate in the community and to come with an attitude of encouraging others and learning and not just seeking a spouse or date.

Sarah's add-ons:

First of all, I want to thank the Lord for His goodness and faithfulness! Little did I know, as I have prayed, waited and wondered all of these years, how remarkably He would answer my prayers in a way that only He could do. I honestly held out for a long time, before I tried an online site and only ever began, at the great encouragement of my sister.

I was on a couple different sites and met many people along the way. One man that I talked to for several months, was actually the one that first told me of Christian Cafe - God used him to bring me to this site, where I eventually met the love of my life.

I really appreciate the format of the Cafe, specifically the forums. Though I was not an active participator in the discussions, this gave me additional opportunity to read and learn the heart of Donald, and to further solidify all of the things that we talked about in our private discussions. I have been so greatly blessed by this man that God brought into my life and can look back and see His hand so fully in both our lives, bringing us to where we are today. The journey had its up and downs, but it was so worth the wait and God was faithful every step of the way.

Thank you for your site and for providing an avenue for God to do great things!

Donald-**redeemed680 {Colorado} & Sarah-sarah7780 {New York} October 2019

The last few months were crazy, pretty busy in all aspects. We didn't have time to breathe.

But I wanted to update you on our story: We finally got married on October 6th, it was special, almost 50 people came from USA. The happiest day of our lives.

Here are a few pictures of the wedding.

Rayana-rayallforhim313 {Spain} & Alexander-ak313 {Michigan} October 2019