"Abby and I have decided to hold hands forever. Love Wins," wrote Christian Blogging Mom Glennon Doyle Melton on her Facebook page Saturday evening, referencing her new engagement to be married to soccer champ Abby Wambach.
Known as the "ultimate confessional writer" for her honest portrayals of her struggling marriage, addiction and eating disorder, Melton revealed in November that she and Wambach were dating, just three months after divorcing her former husband of 14 years.
Within the first hour of Melton's post, she received more than 10,000 favorable reactions and 560 comments. For example, Kirsten Marie posted: "Wow, so sometimes the second chapter in life can be better than the first!"
Melton is best known for her 2014 New York Times bestseller "Carry On, Warrior: The Power of Embracing Your Messy, Beautiful Life" and 2016 memoir "Love Warrior," an Oprah Book Club pick.
As reported previously in The Gospel Herald, The Washington Post noted that Melton regularly speaks at Christian events and mainline Protestant and non-denominational churches around the world. However, she actively endorsed same-sex marriages for year, and said she believes such unions do not violate Biblical principles.
She explained her support for homosexuality in a 2015 blog post titled "I Support Your Right to Share My Rights."
"I support equal rights for my gay neighbors not even though I'm a Christian, but BECAUSE I'm a Christian," she wrote. "In the Gospel Jesus makes it crystal clear that if we are going to take seriously only one of his suggestions- we should make it this one: love your neighbor as yourself."
When asked how she interprets scriptures about homosexuality, Melton argued that "When these scriptures were written, there was no precedent for monogamous, consensual homosexual relationships."
American Abby Wambach, who tallied more goals in international competition than any other soccer player in history, male or female, retired at age 35 during October 2015. She scored 184 goals in 252 matches during a 15-year career in international play.
Wambach grew up in a Catholic home but began dating girls in late high school, reports The Washington Post. She mentioned during an NPR interview last year that she had been revisiting her religious convictions. "I kind of turned my back away from the church and did steadily until kind of, not necessarily the church, but just like my faith until recently," she said.
On her blog, Melton championed her United Church of Christ (UCC) congregation in Naples, Fla. (The UCC is a mainline denomination that advocated for and affirms same-sex marriage. It numbers about 5,000 congregations and 1 million adherents.)
