(Rebekah, Minister)

The reality was beyond my wildest dreams. In my first batch of profiles there was an intelligent man who was actively looking for a woman self confident in her own ideas, and who particularly warmed to my self description as, ‘feisty, principled, passionate and compassionate’. [I see myself as a ‘niche market’ rather than a ‘supermarket’ item!] What is more, the way that he expressed his Christian faith exactly resonated with my own Christian experience. I emailed him on the Friday I received my first batch of profiles, we spoke for the first time on the phone on the Sunday evening, during which call we established several mutual acquaintances, and tentatively met after work on the Wednesday evening at a town in between our homes. As I write, the relationship is still embrionic and may come to nothing, but meanwhile I eagerly await the evening phone call and look forward to the next date like being a teenager all over again. For the first time I have actually given thanks for being single again at this point in my life! Having been solidly married for a long time, I discover what insecurity in a relationship is like again, wondering how long it will last, not quite knowing what to expect of the other’s behaviour, but it is all part of the adventure of discovery and the risk which we take in meeting new friends.  If it all ends tomorrow, my membership will have been worthwhile just to get this far, so thank you for being there, friendsfirst.