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During that year, the Smiths did their best to stay close. Angie feels God helped them to be faithful to each other.

In fact, as noted in Figure 1, recent studies have found that between 30 and 40% of dating and married couples report having sex within one month of the start of their relationship, and the numbers are even higher for currently cohabiting couples. However, two recently published studies call into question the validity of testing sexual chemistry early in dating. This study involved a national sample of 2,035 married individuals who participated in the popular online couple assessment survey called “RELATE.” We found that the longer a dating couple waits to have sex, the better their relationship is after marriage.

Are these dating patterns compatible with the desire to have a loving and lasting marriage later?

Edward and Angie Smith were high school sweethearts.

They met when they were freshmen and started dating their senior year. Of course, the couple didn't want to be separated, so Angie traveled with him as much as possible.