Another couple met on DTHeartandSoul.com and is now married! Read their love story and see their wedding pictures. The new version of DTHS is now available worldwide, has lower rates and the best ratio ever of men to women. Kudos to the brothers. Keep spreading the word.
Kayla: We met March 13, 2011. Oscar had offered to give some brothers from the church in El Paso, TX a ride to Phoenix, AZ to visit the city. At the time he didn’t really want to go.
I had come to Phoenix once before for an interview and didn’t like the city. I had even told someone that I would never move here.
Oscar: We met at church on the 13th when Kayla introduced herself and offered a place to sit, with the Singles, to me and the other brothers. We already had a place to sit so that was that. Walking away I felt a connection and told the brother I was with “I would like to date that girl.”
Kayla: I went to find my seat and didn’t think any more about what had happened. After service Oscar approached me and asked if I had a Facebook. I told him that I did and that he could find me through our mutual friends.
The next day I opened my Facebook and saw a message from Oscar wishing me a happy birthday. I thought wow he is such a thoughtful guy, he doesn’t even know me. That week Oscar and I began talking on Facebook. It was also during that week that I signed up for DT Heart and Soul, our church’s dating website. In a few days my matches on the website came back and I was amazed to see that the brother I met the week before at church was one of my top matches It was Oscar!
Oscar: I had signed up for the website about 2 months before and my membership was about to expire. And I still wasn’t even sure how to use the website. It was actually through Facebook that we ended up talking about how we were both on DT Heart and Soul and that we were matched up. From there we decided it would be best if we started emailing each other.
We emailed for a couple months and in that time I had asked her for her phone number but she politely said not yet. A couple weeks later she did give me her number and a few weeks after that I came to Phoenix to visit her.
The visit was nerve wracking. We felt like we knew each other well yet did really know how to interact together in person. We broke the ice quickly and that weekend we had our first date. Even though we didn’t talk about it at the time we both know we had an interest.
The next time I came to visit was July 4th weekend and a bunch of friends from the Singles Ministry went to Pine, Arizona for the holiday. One of the nights we were there, Kayla taught me how to play “Go Fish” (in Spanish) because I didn’t know how to play. I think we played “Go Fish” for over an hour.
Kayla: When I got back from the trip I remember sitting down with my roommates and nervously telling them not only did I love this brother but I thought that within the next year we would be engaged (remember we weren’t even dating yet – but God was moving powerfully in our lives and in our hearts). I just knew the Spirit was telling me there was something really special about this brother.
At the end of July, Oscar moved to Phoenix with a transfer from his job. Several months went by and we continued to talk and grow in our friendship.
On October 16, 2011 Oscar asked me to be his girlfriend. I said “of course”!
Nine months later, after countless dates, co-leading a Bible discussion together, getting advice, and meeting each other’s families, Oscar has asked me to be his wife. He asked me under a tree in the middle of an olive groove. I flipped through the pages of a notebook we passed love letters back and forth through over the course of our relationship until I came to a two-page spread that said, “Will you marry me?”. I said “por supuesto” (of course!).
Oscar: I have been blessed to have great disciples advising me how to pursue Kayla. I was in constant communication with her discipler, roommates and close disciples to her in Arizona. We both also sought the advice from disciples close to us in our respective churches – those who knew us best and those who had dated in the Kingdom and are now married. They encouraged us to trust in God and place every conversation, every email, and every visit in his hands and surrendered to his will in our lives. We were, and still are, really fortunate to have disciples from Arizona and Texas advising us both on how to pursue a godly relationship.
Both us know that only God could have orchestrated such a creative and surprising love story that could bring our two cultures (Kayla being from the suburbs of Rhode Island and me from Juarez, Mexico) together. We smile looking back on how it all began and have continue to pray throughout our relationship that God would always be the author of our story.
The DTHS matching profile first gave us awareness about ourselves and then how we as a couple might interact and what challenges as well as strengths we could have together. Having these insights from the beginning helped us to see each other and our potential relationship with a sober mind. Not everything was spot on but I don’t think we can really expect that from a computer generated report. It was a jumping off point that initially spiked our curiosity in each other and led us to be thoughtful and not overrun with emotions. Doing this led us to respect and accept each other for the ways we are similar and the ways we are different as well.
While we didn’t use all the services the website offered, we consider DT Heart and Soul >>> to be a big part of our story and how God brought us together. Our wedding is set for October 26, 2012 in Phoenix, Arizona.
Oscar Machado & Kayla Wilcox
Phoenix Valley Church of Christ
