Marriage Testimony: "A Desire Fulfilled."
Shawn & Ally share about meeting through the Helpmeet Singles network...
Marriage Testimony: “A Desire Fulfilled”
Today we are thrilled to share a marriage testimony from a couple—Shawn & Allyvianna—who met and married through the Helpmeet Singles network.
We’re blessed to have several other couples who have agreed to share their marriage testimonials as well. Look for these beautiful testimonials in the weeks ahead. We’ll share them here on our blog and across our social media platforms, and they’ll be featured on our website (helpmeetsingles.com) in the near future.
Shawn & Allyvianna
Excerpt: “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” (Proverbs 13:12) I got married when I was 32, and that verse was a theme in my life for so many single years. Though I was often lonely, I wasn’t willing to settle for a spouse that I wasn’t thrilled about. Allyvianna is my desire fulfilled, and she is such a blessing to me.” —Shawn
“Hi, our names are Shawn and Allyvianna. We got married when we were 32 and 26. We currently attend a Presbyterian church.
What made you decide to try Helpmeet Singles?
Shawn:
Through my 20s I wasn’t open to online dating. I always told myself if I was still single at 30, I would give it a shot. I started hearing about the upcoming launch of Helpmeet when I was 28 from some solid podcasts I regularly listened to. I was impressed and wanted to support the mission of Helpmeet even if it didn’t produce a spouse for me personally.
Allyvianna:
I had tried many other reformed dating apps for many years and had no success. When I heard about Helpmeet singles, I was very intrigued by how specific the profiles were and how well vetted the candidates were.
How would you describe your experience meeting your spouse in our network and pursuing marriage?
Shawn:
It was really nice to start from a place of so much commonality and to have so many important questions answered from the start. Love the Lord? Yes. Marriage-minded? Yes. Want kids? Yes. Want to homeschool (in both our cases)? Yes. Along with common interests and doctrinal specifics. We messaged for about a week, video chatted for a few weeks, then I made the 17 hour drive to meet her family and asked her to be my girl. We were married within about 7 months.
Allyvianna:
I had a great experience. I was on for awhile with no success (or so i thought). Shawn had messaged me even though I had no pictures shortly after helpmeet went live. We chatted back and forth once and both ignored the other for different reasons. After I had ignored his last message for over 5 months, a friend encouraged me to message him back. So glad I did! We dated for 4 months then got engaged, 3 months later.
Share some ways God has blessed and grown you in your first year + of marriage.
Shawn:
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” (Proverbs 13:12) I got married when I was 32, and that verse was a theme in my life for so many single years. Though I was often lonely, I wasn’t willing to settle for a spouse that I wasn’t thrilled about. Allyvianna is my desire fulfilled, and she is such a blessing to me. Marriage also has its sanctifying challenges which, ultimately, help to make each of us into the man/woman of God that He made us to be. We’ve now been married 10 months, and we are praying that God will bless us with a child.
Allyvianna:
Our first year has been so fun. We have had many opportunities to travel together and have made some really cool memories. Also, it has been a year of seeing the Lords faithfulness in both of our lives in answering our prayers and coming to a full understanding of how His timing is truly perfect. Of course, marriage is also very sanctifying and continues to grow both of us to give of ourselves and learn to exemplify Christ and His church.
Would You Recommend Helpmeet Singles to others?
Shawn:
Yes! I already have, and I will continue to. It’s a great place to meet singles who love the Lord and who have a vision for building Godly households.
Allyvianna:
Of course. I recommend it to singles often. Being Reformed and traditional can make it very difficult to find a like- minded spouse. It’s nice to have a site that is both well-vetted and robustly Reformed.
We’re grateful to Shawn & Allyvianna for sharing their testimony! We hope their story encourages you to remain hopeful, prayerful, and patient in the pursuit of marriage. If you know someone who is on the fence about trying Helpmeet Singles, please share this testimony with them and encourage them to take a step of faith and give us a shot.
If our network is instrumental in helping you meet your spouse, we’d love to hear and share your testimony. Email us at feedback@helpmeetsingles.com
Housekeeping Matters
If you’re currently a HMS network user, make sure you have added at least two photos (an up-close headshot plus an action shot). For optimum engagement, we recommend 4-6 pictures total. Make sure you are modest and decent in your photos.
Profiles without pictures will be displayed at the bottom of searches and are unlikely to receive much notice or engagement.
One practical takeaway from the above testimony: Our network requires a proactive approach to the pursuit of marriage. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. If you’re curious about someone in network, send them a message, and/or message them back.
Right now we have 168 men and 116 women in our network. We’re working to scale this up, and to get a more balanced male/female ratio.
Our network continues to be free to use while we scale. To learn more, visit us at helpmeetsingles.com and check out the latest episode of the Pursuit of Marriage Podcast:
Have Questions?
If you have questions or feedback, we’d love to hear from you. Email us at feedback@helpmeetsingles.com
Thank you for partnering with us!
Bnonn Tennant
Kevin VanGelder
JB Durham