Christian matchmaking
Whilst I'm on the topic of online dating... *grin* ...about a week or so ago, I saw an ad in the papers for a matchmaking site catering to Malaysian Christians. A similar ad was run in the latest issue of Asian Beacon (a local Christian magazine).
I'm insatiably curious, so I popped into the site and did some poking around. Seems pretty similar to the usual online dating or personals sites from what I can see. I decided to run a search for males of any race, from all states, aged 26-34. There were 13 matches.
Putting aside the not-so-outstanding command of English in a few of the profiles, the "preferred description" of the lady some of those guys are looking for made me raise my eyebrows. One user said, "She must love God, her age 21-30. She long hair [sic], cute face. She like children. She love old people. We can go to serve the Lord together. She simple, not materialstic, she soft, polite, gentle, caring. Not easy to get angry, patient. She know how to drive."
Wait a minute. Knowing how to drive is a REQUIREMENT now??!?! And what's with guys and long hair? Every time a guy tells me his ideal girl must have long hair, I tell the fella, "In case you didn't realise, hair does grow, you know..." *rolls eyes*
Another user actually said, "She will be doing the cooking!" *choke* *sputter* *cough* Why didn't he just say, "I can't cook!"??? 
In the interests of fairness, I did a similar search for females of any race, from all states, aged 26-34. There were 29 matches -- more than double that of the guys!!!
The ladies were generally more articulate than the men and provided more details in their "preferred description" of the man they were looking for. Many of them said they were looking for a man who would "love me for who I am", and specified "non-smoker & non-drinker".
Once upon a time I filled out lots of similar profiles and forms. I joined 30 personals sites (my profile is still on most of them, but I've long ago lost the list of URLs, usernames and passwords). Nothing came of that, and I don't think I would do it again now. For one thing, when you write out a description of your hoped-for partner, it's like putting your deepest, most precious, secret hopes & dreams out there. I feel vulnerable now when I think about some of the things I wrote, even though I meant them back then and still mean them today.
For another, I'm starting to suspect that while the women are earnestly seeking a mate, the men are not quite so serious about it. I get this feeling when I look at the difference between the profiles of the two genders. Yes, I know that females are generally said to be the more detailed sex and more open about their personal lives and whatnot. But... I don't know. I think it's also about whether you want to, and anyway that sense of purpose just didn't come through the guys' writings.
Finally, I just don't think it's for me now. Back then, I was really looking for someone. Now I'm trying to trust God to engineer things in His own time and His own way. People keep on telling me, "Maybe you aren't ready (for a relationship) yet." I have no idea. How would I know whether or not I'm ready? Maybe it's the guy who's not ready ;) But I'm sure God will know when both of us are ready. *shrugs*