Jesse Peterson and Sara Anziani - Married October 2016
My name is Sara Anziani from Phoenix, Arizona. I am excited to let you know that as of this past Saturday, I am in a relationship with a wonderful brother named Jesse Peterson, who I met on your website. Jesse lives in Spokane, Washington and we began connecting in November 2015.
I was baptized in the teen ministry in Boston 11 years ago and have never dated in the Kingdom before. As much as I wanted to date, the thought of putting myself out there was absolutely terrifying because I didn’t want it to be obvious that I was looking.
After talking to friends and lots of prayer, I signed up for a one-month trial in June 2013. I signed up again in January 2015 for three months. Unfortunately, my first two experiences on the website were frustrating for various reasons. I concluded that online dating was not for me because I felt like I gave it a fair shot after the second time, so I chose not to renew my subscription.
I turned 28 in October 2015. My mom encouraged me to try the website one more time. I gave many excuses as to why I couldn’t renew. She challenged me on my lack of faith, handed me my iPad and her credit card, and told me to renew my subscription as my birthday gift from her. Reluctantly, I renewed my subscription for one month and didn’t check it for the first two days.
On November 3rd I came across Jesse’s profile. He mentioned in his profile that he was “looking for a woman, not a girl” and in one of his pictures he was holding his baby nephew. I sent him a message asking him what he meant by the fact that he was looking “for a woman not a girl” and who the baby in his picture was. He responded with his answer and we started messaging each other that day.
A week later he found me on Facebook. I received a message from him asking how my Saturday was going, which led to a 1 1/2 hour Facebook chat conversation, during which Jesse informed me that he was planning a trip to Phoenix with his sister and some friends to help another friend move back to Spokane (it was planned before he knew I existed). At the end of the chat, he initiated talking on the phone sometime. I was hesitant at first, but agreed to it.
We talked on the phone for the first time four days later, and then started talking on the phone about once a week. Soon after, we were talking on FaceTime. A month later we met in person when he came to Phoenix for the trip with his sister. He came to my Bible talk, served with us at an orphanage in Mexico that the Phoenix Church supports, and took me out on our first date (Chinese food and Zoolights). At the end of that initial visit, I wasn’t sure if he was still interested in me due to some differences in our pasts that came up, but we resolved it and resumed our weekly FaceTime/phone talks. Our conversations became more robust, spiritually-based, and transparent. It was that talk that opened up the door to more meaningful conversations where we really felt like we were getting to know each other.
Because Jesse travels often for work, he was able to visit me two more times in January. During those times we went on dates, hung out, and spent time with people who are close to me. In mid-January we established that we had an interest in each other. He invited me to visit Spokane for his birthday in February. After much advice and prayer, I booked a trip to visit him.
I wasn’t sure what to expect while in Spokane, but I knew that I had to be prepared in case he asked me. The sisters hosted a brothers’ encouragement night at the house of a brother’s parents on Liberty Lake. After the event, Jesse walked me down to the beach of the lake. It was a dark and rainy Saturday night. Being used to the Phoenix weather, my hands were very cold. Jesse let me borrow his gloves and then gave me a blank Sweetheart candy. I held the candy out one hand and my umbrella in the other while Jesse proceeded to tell me how he felt about me. Jesse was speechless and nervous, but very sweet and genuine. He apologized for not having a speech prepared, but I assured him that it was okay and that what he had to say was perfect because it was from his heart. He told me that dating him would be “a ride” and compared it to a movie with “drama, comedy, romance, and lots of spirituality.” God would be the main star and the director. He then asked me to be his “leading lady.” I said “yes” and gave him a hug.
The next day I joined Jesse and his family for dinner to celebrate his birthday. The day after that we had a triple date and Jesse and the two other couples surprised me by having his award-winning celebrity chef childhood friend make us dinner!
This is only the beginning, and we couldn’t be more excited. Jesse and I are looking forward to see what God is going to do in each of our lives, both separately and together. Thank you for your hard work in creating and maintaining this website. If it wasn’t for DTHS, Jesse and I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to connect the way we did.
