Melanie had tried other dating websites, but they just weren’t working. She was looking for someone who shared her Catholic faith and believed in her values. That was something she wasn’t finding on secular dating sites. Living in a small North Carolina town, there weren’t a lot of other options. She decided to try CatholicMatch.
She made one change to her search strategy right away. While looking for someone close by, she did open the radius up enough to include Charlotte, the nearest major city. It gave her more options.
Fortunately, she didn’t judge the book by its cover, because her first look at Bill’s profile didn’t grab her. “His picture was really hazy,” she recalled. “I joke about it now how he ‘tricked me’ because he didn’t look like his photo at all!”
In reality he looked much better.
After a few weeks of e-mailing, they talked on the phone. When a conversation lasts five hours, that’s a sign a relationship can go places. She felt real excitement when he asked her out. After an evening where they went to a movie (Walk The Line), shot pool and had dinner, she found herself drawn to his sense of humor and how much of a gentleman he was.
“I called my mom the next day and told her I’d just met my future husband,” she told CatholicMatch.
Indeed, she had.
But the relationship took time to nurture. They were only able to see each other on weekends, and. Finally, she decided it was time to move to Charlotte, and on New Year’s Eve of 2009 they were engaged. Melanie and Bill were married last August and building their lives together.
Melanie is aware that her decision to open up her search parameters brought her the man of her dreams. For those who’ve down cross-country and even international relationships, including Charlotte might seem only a modest expansion. But changing one’s approach is a risk, whether small or large, and it always involves some type of letting go and willingness to embrace God’s will. It’s that which truly worked for Melanie and Bill.
