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October 1
Couple who met through Christian dating service credit God for their love

Couple who met through Christian dating service credit God for their love

By Mary Therese Biebel mbiebel@timesleader.com
Features Writer

When Melinda Harvey was thinking and praying about whether Sean Fathel was the right person for her to marry, she paid attention to the details.

Pittston-area native Sean Fathel and his bride, Melinda, cut the cake during their wedding in Pottstown.

SUBMITTED PHOTO

The wedding rings symbolize their commitment to marriage. Earlier, Sean and Melinda had worn ‘purity rings’ as a reminder of their commitment to chastity.

Sean and Melinda Fathel took ballroom-dance lessons so they could dance smoothly at their April wedding.

submitted photos

Sean Fathel sweeps his bride, Melinda, off her feet.

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“I wanted to see how he acted with his family and with my family,” she said.

Was he kind? Caring? Generous with time and energy?

The answer was yes. And, as she thought about this man she’d met though the online dating service www.christianmingle.com, she realized his compassion extended beyond friends and relatives to the special-ed students he taught in the Philadelphia area.

“He was always telling stories about kids who were less fortunate. He’d bring a bar of soap to a kid who didn’t have one at home. Or clothes. If kids didn’t have a lot of support at home, he’d provide that at school. He’d give them a role model.”

While Melinda was pondering and praying about Sean, he was doing the same – imagining her as a future wife.

“There were certain situations I wanted to see her in,” said Sean, who grew up in the Pittston area. “I wanted to see her around kids because one of my desires is to have a large family.”

The couple babysat for a 2-year-old, and Sean noticed with delight that Melinda was patient and gentle.

Now, if it seems their courtship had a serious purpose about it from the beginning, it did.

“When I was younger, my mother gave me a plaque, and I will never forget the words of wisdom it had. Part of it read, ‘Choose only a date who would make a good mate,’ Sean remembered.

“Needless to say, I did not date much,” he added. “But it was worth the wait.”

After corresponding online for a month, Sean and Melinda met face to face in November 2005. Part of what had piqued Melinda’s interest was Sean’s photo, which showed him posing with a yellow lab.

“I thought, oh, good. We have a common interest,” said Melinda, who is also an animal-lover.

Later, she would find out the dog belonged to Sean’s aunt and uncle, but by then it didn’t matter.

For their first meeting, the couple journeyed separately to Eastern University, a halfway point on the 40-mile distance between her home in West Chester and his in Philadelphia.

They walked the campus grounds, he met her sister, and a few days later they had their first “official” date at the Bamboo Club restaurant in the King of Prussia Mall.

The following June, Sean was set to leave for China, where he would spend a month teaching English to children in a camp setting.

“I was about to board the plane when she gave me a large envelope with 31 smaller envelopes, labeled ‘day 1,’ ‘day 2,’ and ‘day 3…’ I opened a smaller envelope every day and found a little note or picture or poem or Scripture verse from the Bible. ”

“Sometimes I would put in pictures of the two of us, with a note ‘I’m missing you and I’m praying for you,’ ” Melinda remembered.

Sean appreciated the effort and was likewise grateful when she sent him a package of cookies – because he really missed American food during his month away.

“To be culturally sensitive, I had to eat what I was given,” he said. “But I was really craving Western-style food.”

Despite his hunger, Sean shared the cookies with his students.

When he returned to the United States, Sean and Melinda continued to spend time together. At the end of each date, they’d go their separate ways.

“We didn’t live together before we were married,” Sean said.

Actually, both he and Melinda had made a commitment to chastity during their teen years and wore “purity rings” to remind them of the promise.

They don’t mind sharing that personal detail, they said, because they’d like to encourage other couples to do the same.

“We prayed that we would be an example of godly living and sharing his love with everyone,” Sean said.

By the beginning of December 2006, Melinda and Sean were feeling fairly sure about making a commitment to marry.

“I knew that, even if I was upset with him, I still wanted to be around him,” said Melinda, 24.

“She was always so caring toward me,” said Sean, 27.

So, on a visit to New York City, as they walked across the Bow Bridge in Central Park, “I told Melinda I got her a gift, and told her to close her eyes and stretch out her hand,” Sean said. “When she opened her eyes, I was down on one knee.”

Melinda accepted his proposal, and the couple exchanged vows April 26, 2008 at Meredith Manor in Pottstown, where part of the celebration took place outdoors.

“It was overcast the entire day,” the bride remembered, “but then the sun came out for a minute, and all these flower petals were coming down from the trees.”

The lovely sight felt like a blessing from heaven.

Love Stories

About the couple

Vows is an occasional series of romantic

stories about couples and how they found each other. If you would like to share your story with our readers, call 829-7283

or e-mail mbiebel@timesleader.com.

After all, who doesn’t love a happy ending?

• Sean Fathel is the son of Diane Fathel of Laurel Run. He is a 1999 graduate of Pittston Area High School and a 2003 graduate of King’s College. He also has a master’s degree in special education from Wilkes University and earned certification in school psychology at Eastern University. He is employed as a special-ed liaison in the Philadelphia area.

• Melinda Fathel is the daughter of Patricia Harvey of West Chester and John Harvey of Hatfield. She is a graduate of West Chester East High School and earned bachelor and master’s degrees from West Chester University. She is human resources coordinator for SAP Americas, a global software company.

•The couple took a honeymoon trip to Jamaica and live in Havertown.