d a t e , l o v e . .

Intro
Got one of those 'nudges' today, and just felt that I need to post about this before I hit my bed tonight.


Dating??
Funny...so far, I've read I Kissed Dating Goodbye and almost finished Boy Meets Girl, both by Joshua Harris. In both his books and even in other books about dating, the authors would usually talk about the gift of being single and how it's a good time to spend with God. To grow, to learn and to reach out to God's people. All this while, I thought 'Yeah, ok...makes sense to me.' Seems like a super good excuse not to date too!! Yet, this morning I found a bible passage that actually says the exact words...practically spelt it out. Here it is:

"I would like you to be free from concern.
An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord's affairs-
how he can please the Lord...
An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord's affairs:
Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit.
I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you,
but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord."
- 1 Corinthians 7:32, 34-35 -

Imagine when I read this, I was like..."WHOA!!!" Like, really!!! He really cares that much to get Paul to pen these words down...I'm still in awe...like, it's ONLY dating...nothing wrong with it, nothing big about it. But this just proves that no matter which aspect in our lives, in fact in every possible aspect of our lives, God will be involved...whether we actually like it or not. Because He cares too much, He simply, really, truly loves us or He wouldn't have made us in the first place. And most of the time, every single one of us human beings like to push Him away and tell Him, 'I can handle it by myself.' When, really... we just can't.

But anyway, Joshua talks about how being single really is a gift from God. He gave the analogy of how when his brother was given a wonderful present on his third birthday, his brother got fascinated with the wrapper instead of the present. The present God has given us is being single, not being 'attached' or 'unavailable' because that's too boring. Where's the fun and adventure if you gotta spend all your time with just one person?? If you're not going to get married to that 'special' someone, and don't plan to, man, hate to break it to you...but you're definitely wasting your time. If you're not ready to get married? LoL..don't date!! I realised, dating will full-on restrict the individual completely...social-life wise.

I kinda admire my sister Nicole, she's come to the point of time where everyone starts asking 'when are you gonna get a boyfriend?' They seem to get worried she won't find that special someone, but the way I see it...she's enjoying life to the max...her social calendars are always jam packed; and every night, she's on the phone with one or another friend(not A boyfriend)... she's in the process of making friends for life!! And I do believe, she's surrendering her real love life into God's hands; because she doesn't seem to be moved by their unnecessary concerns. It makes me think...that's how I'm gonna be. =)

I'm really beginning to understand how being single can be a gift from God. Most people would think 'how can something like that be considered a present from someone so big?? ' But learning from Nicole, I'm certainly enjoying life to the max right now...and maybe by the time I turn 21, I'll need to do-up a timetable to rotate how many hours and how many days I get to spend with which friend...LOL!! But let's hope that doesn't really need to happen. ;)

I guess what's important to God is just for you to live your life according to the way He planned it, not the way you think you can or did.

' "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord.
"As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." '

- Isaiah 55:8-9 -

So, anyway just gonna close off here with this; something some of you will be familiar with:

"Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking,
it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts,
always hopes, always perseveres."
- 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 -

I have no idea what you're thinking right now, but I do know that I've got a lot more to learn about this dating and love stuff...especially how to love.

So, Take care and God bless. I love you!(I do mean it)


Love,
Audrey.