True Love...Is It Worth the Wait?

True Love Waits 

We've all heard the whole "true love waits" thing. Stay pure, save yourself for the one you'll marry, and wait for sex until you are actually married. We've seen the message displayed on posters, tee shirts, bible covers, purity rings, etc. A lot of us have even made the promise, but under the pressure of pop culture we've also been faced with a question.

Is It Really Worth Waiting? 

Well, is it? In a world that objectifies, idolizes, and pushes sex is it really worth it to wait? How can you guarantee your future significant other will? How can you know it isn't just some old-fashioned and outdated idea? What if you're missing out on something? Besides everyone's doing it, right?
You go through school being taught "safe" sex. You watch it promoted on TV. You hear about the scandals and the one night stands of Hollywood that are glorified for everyone to see.
They tell you to explore, have fun, experiment, and get experience. Make yourself feel good just so you can get sick on the emotional roller coater that follows.
With so much social pressure from the media, friends, and even in some cases family waiting almost seems like a huge waste of time. But is it?
What's the answer?

Yes,  Waiting Is Totally Worth Everything. 

After all when was the last time you head someone say they regretted waiting? I don't know about you, but that's one thing I have yet to hear. On the other hand I've lost track of all the young women in their twenties that have told me they regretted not waiting. Waiting might seem old fashioned, but it has never hurt anyone, whereas countless futures have been complicated because of the extra emotional baggage that comes with sex outside of marriage.

Why? 

Well you see, when Adam and Eve were created they were meant to stay with each other for the rest of their lives. Marriage was something that was supposed to literally last until death, and intimacy was created for the confines of marriage. It was perfect.
That is, it was perfect until sin entered into the world, which was followed by lust. On average, statistics show that most teenagers loose their virginity between ages 16-18. At this time you're emotionally confused, driven by hormones, and certainly (or at least in most cases) not ready to get married. However, the issue is that relationships today are so caught up in the physical that concern for purity gets pushed to the side.

Will You Wait? 

Yet despite the push from pop culture, there are so many kids out there who are sticking with the struggle to stay pure and save themselves for marriage. Not only does this decision give glory and honor to God, but it also helps safe guard yourself against sin now and helps build a pure foundation for marriage later on.

Preparing To Be a Help Meet {Book Review}

Hello everyone! I hope you are having a beautiful day! God has been so good, I hope all of you are enjoying His blessings as much as I am.  

                                                                                                                                   

When trying to decide on what to blog about today, I realized no one had done a review on a wonderful book, Preparing To Be A Help Meet yet. So I decided to write about it for you all. It's been a while since I read this, but hopefully my memory will do it justice.           

                   

 This book is written for girls and women who have not been married yet. I'm sure it would be interesting for married women to read, but most of the information inside is targeted at younger girls.

 Debi Pearl truly did a wonderful job with this book. She started with her own beautiful story, how God told her she would marry her husband when she was just thirteen years old, and he was twenty-one, and how about seven years later, it really happened. She includes several love stories, about girls who waited, and trusted the Lord for the man He meant for them. Some of the girls had to trust the Lord even if they didn't really know the boy that well. 

 But she also talked about girls who had such sad stories- girls who had a nice guy interested in them, but didn't trust God, and lost everything. 

 Besides the initial relationship stories, she also writes on health, and how that can affect your family. Because this book is called Preparing To Be a Help Meet, it is about preparing for your future as a wife and mother. Preparation is so important. She includes lots of great tips and advice. She also writes how many of the girls who had guys interested in them were noticed by the guys for their working in the church- doing things for the Lord. This is really important. God blesses those who serve Him.

 She put girls into three different categories, and guys as well, and talks about how they match up. Are you a dreamer, a servant, or a queen? You'll find out in this book! (I'm a dreamer... :D)

 At the end of each chapter, there is a section for you to write. There is an assignment at the top of these places. You could be writing a letter to your future husband, making a list of qualities you want in a husband, or analyzing a scripture.

There is so much to this book, that you could go on and on, but I don't want to ruin it for you. Just get it so you can read it. :) It is worth everything you would spend on it. 

 This is one of the books that opened my eyes personally about courting. I had always assumed I would, since it was what my family wanted, but this really laid it out, and explained how wonderful waiting for God's plan really is.

    

 Here is the link to the Amazon page, but you can get it just about anywhere online. I highly recommend it! 

 I hope you have enjoyed this review. See you next week!

                                                               

On Courting

 

 Hello all. Today I'm going to talk a little bit on courtship. Not everyone shares the same views as me, and I'm not going to be all judgmental about it if you don't. This is another one of those personal conviction things. But I thought I would share a little bit about this with you guys.

 I'm the girl who gets all the weird looks when this situation happens. People ask me if I have a boyfriend, and I answer with a "No." They ask why not, and I answer that I'm waiting for the guy that God meant for me to come along, and when I do get in a relationship it will be with the intention of marriage. Let the weird looks begin. ;)

There are many different opinions on what courtship is. Some say it's basically dating. But this article is about what I believe courtship is.

 My parents dated each other, kissed, etc. before they got married. Now, almost 25 years later, they wished they hadn't. They realized that if they had waited for some of those things, it would have been much sweeter.

 So, when my sister, Charity was old enough to talk about that sort of thing, my parents sat down with her. They asked her if she'd be willing to wait, and she agreed. My sister's story is really wonderful- hopefully she won't mind me sharing with all of you. ;)

 We're very good friends with another family that also believes in courtship. Charity, and the oldest son in that family were best friends since they were about fourteen going on fifteen, and fifteen going on sixteen. God told both of them at one point or another, that they would marry each other. My sister didn't want to believe it- she thought of him as her younger friend- but he took it a bit more seriously. When he was almost nineteen, his parents finally decided he was ready to ask about courting my sister. By this time, Charity had realized that she really did like him, but she didn't want to let anything get in the way of her relationship with God, and told the Lord she was willing to give up her friendship with him, if that was His will.

 One night, my parents got a telephone call from him. He asked if he could court my sister. My parents talked to Charity, who said yes when she realized it was actually God's will to become even greater friends with Beau. They had a courtship that lasted almost a year. Then he blindfolded her, walked her up a mountain, and showed her a giant glowing cross before kneeling, and asking her to marry him. She said yes. :) They've been married for going on two years this month, have a beautiful little daughter, and a son on the way.

 My parents never really had that talk with me, but I've made the decision based on many things. Their wisdom, my sister's experience, books I've read. (Preparing to be a Helpmeet) The decision isn't being forced on me, but I feel like it's the right thing for me to do.

 Here are some things my family does in courtship.

 Courtship is to get to know someone with the intention of marriage. My sister and bro-in-law talked on the phone a lot, and got to know each other more then they did as just friends.

 My sister and bro-in-law didn't kiss, and neither will I. O.O But how will you know if you have 'sparks?!?!' Don't worry. I plan on praying about it just like my sister did. The Lord will let you know if someone is the right one.

They didn't hold hands either. WHAT???? This isn't a courtship principle that everyone follows, but my sister and bro-in-law wanted to keep their relationship pure in the sight of God. They realized that holding hands, (and kissing for that matter) could lead to things that would not please the Lord. Once they were engaged they did hold hands, though.

 We will have a chaperon. Isn't that a little strict? Not really. Having a chaperon helps the two individuals not get caught up in anything that wouldn't glorify Christ. And it's always fun to be the third wheel who gets to do fun stuff. ;)

 So that's a little bit on courtship. There are other reasons I've decided to court, and if you want to know any more about it, just ask in the comments. Once again, courtship is MY choice. If you don't feel that way, do not feel bad.

 I hope you've enjoyed learning a little about courtship. :)

Genesis 2:24  Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

 God bless!

Waiting

His steady brown eyes look into hers with so much love as he carefully pours the new wine into the cup and drinks from it before handing it to her.  She looks up at him knowing that this decision will effect the rest of her life and his.  The covenant has been read and she can choose to reject or accept his proposal.  She takes the cup, smiles and drinks.  The room erupts in applause as the covenant is now agreed to and the man and woman legally married or betrothed.

The man goes away to make a home for his new bride and she waits in anticipation, not knowing when he will return and take her away with him.

This is the way Jewish marriages began in history.  Yeshua repeatedly compared His relationship to us with that of a bridegroom and his bride.  Like the Jewish bride who had to be ready at a moment's notice when her bridegroom arrived, we must be always looking forward to the day when our

Bridegroom will return for us.  We ought to remind ourselves to never do anything that we would not be happy to be doing when He does return and we are at last united with Yeshua Ha'Mashiach, the King of kings and Lord of lords!