"Take A Walk On The Wild Side"...Dating - A Second Chance at Love

Patricia Coldiron lives in Roseville, California with her husband Mark. They enjoy hiking, judging plays, and being involved in church activities. http:// www.faithwriters.com/member-profile.php?id=11905

A Second Chance at Love

After my husband’s death from cancer in 2002, loneliness consumed me and my nightly prayers always concluded with a wish to meet that special someone. My faith plays a big role in my life, and it was important that the man I met be a Christian.

My church had a small membership and all the men were married. Being a shy person, singles groups intimidated me, and an ad in the personals seemed too desperate. Even the one man who worked in my office was married.

As I scanned the paper one morning, an ad for a Christian singles group caught my eye. Equally Yoked operated on the premise that Christians should only be dating other Christians. Before I lost my nerve, I called the phone number listed and a pleasant voice answered. As Paula described the picnics, barbeques, worship services, and game night, it sounded like just what I was looking for. I hoped that the membership fee would be reasonable.

“Paula, you didn’t say how much it costs to join,” I said.

“The fee is nine hundred dollars a year, but you can make payments,” she replied.

I agreed to pay fifty dollars a month and became a member..

Included in the EY membership was access to the online EY club. Members from every state were online and you could send an email asking if the person you were interested in wanted to correspond. After attending a few activities at the local office, and receiving no response to three requests to correspond, I felt very discouraged. Everywhere I turned seemed to be a dead end.

Scrolling through the online profiles one day, I stopped on the picture of Mark Coldiron. We both liked to hike, attend plays, and shared a love of pizza.We corresponded for a month and then began calling each other. By the third month, we were ready for our first date. Mark would drive the two hours to my house and we would meet the singles group for Christmas caroling.

The big day soon arrived and my excitement turned to panic. I had met this man online and had given him my address. He had already left his house and it was too late to cancel. The ring of my cell phone startled me. It was Mark. “Honey, I’m only half an hour away. Go stand outside so I don’t miss you.” If I was going to cancel, now would be the time. Yes, I was scared, but I knew if something good was going to happen, I would have to take a chance. “I’ll be waiting on the curb in front of my apartment,” I replied. Soon, a large brown car pulled up to the curb and a tall, bearded man stepped out.
I ran into his arms and we embraced for several minutes.

That night began a six month courtship. We joined our lives in marriage on June 13, 2004. As I look back, I still marvel at how things worked out. Out of hundreds of pictures online, I stopped on Mark’s. What an answer to prayer I received!