Who Could Ever Love Dave?

The definition of insanity, as I've heard, is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. For many years I tried to date women with the hopes of finding a suitable mate. Ordinarily, that's a good idea. However, through much of my adult life I always reached a point in those relationships where I either pushed for intimacy and a deeper relationship too quickly, or I eased off and showed little interest. Neither of these approaches have been successful as evidenced by a lack of a ring on my finger or a bride at my side.

As I got into my 30's, I soon became comfortable with the idea of remaining single indefinitely. I stopped pursuing women, and instead became their friend. I attended single missionary retreats where I was often the only man, or one of three men. I was content to focus on ministry and my personal life and leave romance and falling in love to the 20-somethings I knew.

After about a year back in the States, I decided that I would give love another chance. I signed up for eHarmony and began interacting with single Christian women in the Dallas area. I had met one and was in communication with others when I met Sandy.

I had joined about two weeks before Valentine's Day, so I was receiving matches during one of their free weekends. She was a veteran eHarmony member who had finally stopped paying for the service. I didn't normally check for matches on the weekend, but I decided to check that Sunday afternoon, knowing that some matches would not be able to communicate with me on Monday. I found Sandy that day.

I sent my initial questions to her, and was pleasantly surprised to see that she was on, too. Over the next few hours we exchanged answers and questions until we were able to write each other and exchange email addresses. I wrote her, she wrote me. I wrote her . . . and didn't hear from her. Almost a week passed, and I feared I had scared her off. In a moment of brilliance I wrote her one more time, letting her know that I respected her decision not to respond, but also to make sure she had received my last email. When she wrote back and said, "what email?", my hope was renewed. We emailed more and met face to face a week later.

Now we see each other 2 or 3 times a week and text daily. We are in love, and I am amazed at how much I have changed. More of these posts will talk about my Sandy, and you may tire of how much love I feel for her. But she has changed my life, and I am grateful to God for bringing us together when He did.