Our Groom.

I read this article on one of my favorite blogs, please read it and click on the link below. Its absolutely amazing. Enjoy!

The Proposal

❤Joyfully Single❤

     
           You may have noticed a lot of posts lately about relationships or romance or just genuinely cutesy writing. I'm sure the Shakespeare's sonnet and "Dear Diary" post may have caught your attention. After much prayer and a few chats with God, I've realized that right now is a time for me to embrace being joyfully single. You see, nothing's wrong with having small crushes or dating, but rather the priority it has in your life. If it takes away from your relationship with God, its probably not the most fruitful thing to be doing at the moment. And that's what I realized. I'm leaving for college and less than a year as it is so any relationship I might eventually form would be short-lived considering my quick departure. Right now in life I want to be inseparable with my creator. Completely and hopelessly in love with Him.
       Knowing that I could easily get too attached to someone God hasn't intended for me is also something I have remembered in making decision these days. A quote by C.S. Lewis caught my eye recently. It states,

"Don't let your happiness depend on something that you may lose."

           I know that I will never ever lose Christ. He'll never walk away. So, as long as my happiness depends on Him, I know I shall never be let down. He will never leave me. He's my true love. I'm not a princess because I'm married to a prince, but rather because my Father is a King.

Dear Diary,

              I realize this is an awfully childish thing to do. To write in a diary... especially an online one, but despite that, for the sake all things girly and child-like here I go. Once again I'll say it:
Dear Diary,
               I wish that boys would grow up into men. They're all too young now. I'm impatient about them, I know, but still, can't they mature sooner? However, in the midst of this, what if there is one mature enough to suit me? What do I do about it? What if there is one I find that I like? What then? And what if he's the type that's "untouchable, like a distant diamond sky" you know, the Taylor Swift song kind? What if he's someone no one would even would think I thought of? What if he's prideful and unreachable, but wonderful all in the same? What if He's like Mr. Darcy, a complete opposite to me, the Elizabeth?  In the midst of all their pride and prejudice their relationship still worked, and marvelously so. But I guess that's just a book, an exception to love, not a rule for it. But what if... what if? I know it could never happen... I'm still not even sure about it, how could he ever be? Besides I'm leaving soon. Oh well, a guess a far fetched dream. Still, a dream nonetheless.

Sonet CXI.

"Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Admit impediments. Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove:

O no! it is an ever-fixed mark 

That looks on tempests and is never shaken;

It is the star to every wandering bark,

Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.

Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks 

Within his bending sickle's compass come: 

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, 

But bears it out even to the edge of doom.

   If this be error and upon me proved,

   I never writ, nor no man ever loved." 

~William Shakespeare

Patient Endurance

"Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God's will. Then you will receive all that He has promised." ~Hebrews 10:36

A song for everything?

Some say she's got a song for everything... so maybe she does.... Wish I could be this enchanted...

Picture Perfect?

What will it feel like when we're together?
          How will we show our love towards one another?
                    Will he be handsome and strong?
                              When we share that first kiss, will it be pure and innocent?
                                        Will I be a better person because of him?
                                                  When will he step into my life?
                                                            Will he hold me in his arms?
                                                                      Will the wedding be sparkling?
                                                                               How will he draw me closer to God?
                                                                                      Will he make me feel special?
                                                                                               Will he twirl me around the dance floor?
                                                                                                        How will I draw him closer to God?
                                                       
          Will it be... picture perfect?

173 days.

       
              On September 17, my church put on a young woman's conference called the JANE event. It was all about defining who we as young women are in Christ. Our day consisted of for main sessions and 2 break-outs, and lunch/ cookies refreshments. The day was amazing. All girls. No pressure. Just a day to take in all the honest truths of who we are. One of the break-outs I visited was called "Like-Minded - finding your other half." I took these 3 things away from it:

    1. Guard you heart (Proverbs 4:23)

    2. Do not awaken love until it so desires (Song of Solomon 8:4)

    3. Walk in purity (Proverbs 31)

             At the end of this session, the main leader challenged us girls to take a break from pursuing romantic relationships with guys and pursue our relationship with God further instead (for 6 months to a year). After she said this first, I thought "this is possible, I've never really dealt with romantic relationships with guys anyways, so no problem!" Then I thought, "What if I take this vow for 6 months and a guy finally starts to pursue and like me? I don't know what I would do..."  In either situation, I must admit I will really need God's strength. 
            I want to keep my vow to Him, so that means no dates for homecoming, no small crushes, nothing. But in a way, I'm actually excited. I'm excited to enjoy the next 6 months pursuing a strong relationship with Christ and my friends and even getting ahead in school. Sounds extremely boring you may say. Well, life's not always exuberantly fascinating, but its being happy with the little things that make it so fun. So here I start my journey. 173 more days to go.

What's love these days?

           Okay, so maybe I said that I wasn't going to write about relationships a lot, but some things have happened in the last day that make me want to address the topic just once or twice more (unless you like this... then please comment and I'll keep writing) So, anyways, yesterday I watched the movie "Valentines Day" with my sister. Its a cute film about all these different couples and their interesting day of "love". If you've ever seen the movie (I'm presuming most have...) there's one particular line that made me laugh, but still I realized how very true it was. After interviewing a high school couple on Valentines Day, a reporter makes this concluding statement,

"There you have it, folks. Young love. Full of promise, full of hope, ignorant of reality."

             Isn't that in a way kind of true? So many times we get so caught up in the promise and hope that "love" brings that we become awfully unaware of the reality... hearts still get broken. I feel like you can't watch a single movie or listen to a single song these days that doesn't have to do with romance or finding "the one" or breaking up or getting back together or ....etc. In many ways, it makes it so much harder on single girls like me. The world makes "falling in love" a god. Its so sad. And what's almost worse than that, is the fact that they degrade what love actually is. So what is love in all actuality? I thought it best defined  by this quote from Joshua Harris...

"The world takes us to a silver screen on which flickering images of passion and romance play, and as we watch, the world says, “This is love.” God takes us to the foot of a tree on which a naked and bloodied man hangs and says, “This is love."

              That is love. God's love. A love that's sacrificial. It doesn't want things, it only gives. What many don't realize is that sometimes these days relationships in high school are nothing more than personal gain. "What do I get from this?" "He makes me feel good." "I never am lonely when I am with him." "I feel beautiful around him." These are such common thoughts and statements with girls that are dating at my age. We tend to look for what we can gain from relationships, while real love is sacrificial. Its not self-seeking. Its giving up your wants and needs for another person... rather hard if you ask me. Love is patience. In Song of Solomon it states three times,

"Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires"

                What does that mean? Basically its saying... wait on God's timing and don't take things into your own hands. Which is so hard for me. The world makes this kind of love look so appealing, sometimes I just want a little taste, yet God once again firmly states... WAIT. So I wait and wait and wait... and I still am waiting. But then I remember this, waiting is not doing nothing. Its seeking and searching all while God's preparing something amazing for you. Waiting is not killing the desires of your heart, which is something else I unfortunately used to do. I know you might not understand what this means, however there's a quote from this book "The Sacred Romance" that explains this better than I can.

"Anybody can look holy if she's killed her heart; the real test is to have your heart burning within you and have the patience to enjoy what there is now, while waiting with eager anticipation for the feast to come. In Paul's words, we "groan inwardly as we wait eagerly." Contentment can only happen as we increase desire, let it run itself out towards fulfillment, and carry us along with it."

       

       You see, for the longest time, I'd been trying to kill the desire of my heart for romance, but God has recently shown me that's not at all what He wants! He wants me to endure the desire and to "groan inwardly, but WAIT EAGERLY" and along the way he be right beside me helping me. Its still hard, but I always know its worth it! And that's what I encourage you to do also... wait on the Lord. He's the definition of real love these days. And one day, Lord willing, he'll bring you a man to love also, just keep waiting for the right one, the best is yet to come! 
P.S. for more on relationships and saving you heart visit A HopeFul Romantic!

Rambles About Junior Year

           Well, tomorrow I start my Junior year... the hardest academic year in a high-schooler's career. I'm surprisingly excited yet calm right now, which is weird because most kids my age are dreading this year. I think I'm just ready for excitement. My summer was much different than I thought it would be. In good and bad ways. Taking my mission trip to Haiti was amazing, returning home to hard-core spiritual warfare was not. Even so, I'm ready to hit the books and bury myself in their ever-so exciting words. Now, blog readers, I'm about to enter a whole new category never mentioned on this blog (just this one post)... relationships.
           Yes, I've kind of avoided the whole topic of high school relationships for a few reasons... however the main one  is...that well...its just too much to write in one post. I also do not have much experience in this arena. I've never dated (in fact I'm kind of proud of that!) and my love life has had about no drama. Sure there were few crushes here and there, but nothing really exciting and worth telling about. Right now God's asked me to wait. And at first, I thought waiting was sitting and doing nothing, but in all actuality, its a lot more than that. I've found before I start to date I should be quite firm in my relationship with God. So while I wait, I fall in love... with Jesus. And believe it or not, He pursues me more than any man would. He sends me kisses in the forms of rainbows and butterflies (as corny as it sounds...). He never breaks my heart and he continually shows His love for me. He's more faithful than any boyfriend, frankly He's all I'd ever need right now. I hope you know though, its ideal to be fully in love with God and not distracted by anything else, however the ideal isn't always the case.
             I also hope you don't think that I have the ideal, because I'm far from it. Unfortunately I get really caught up when the slightest thing happens with anyone of the male gender. Any tiny or subtle hint that someone may be interested in me makes me go crazy inside... I think that if I wasn't a Christian I'd probably be pretty "boy crazy". Luckily God has helped me contain all my excitement. He's doing a new work in me. I'm falling in love with Him and I know that at the right time He'll bring the right guy along. That time might not be now. So until then I'm waiting.
            Before I finish this off I'd like to let you know that I may not be posting as often since the school year is starting. I'll try to at least post once or twice a week (as opposed to every other day...). I hope you all have a good start to your school year!
P.S. I know this is a small blog and I'm hoping to have at least 10 followers by the end of this year... so... remember to share with friends :)

Teaching People How to Treat You (guest post)

 Matthew 7:12 “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets”

       “I can’t believe they did that to me! Jerks! Who do they think they are? You don’t treat people that way!” This is a common rant that I tend to hear a friend of mine fuse over often. I do agree with her though, how the guys treat her is terrible, inappropriate and the exact opposite of a true gentleman’s behavior. However, she taught it to them—she gave them permission to treat her like that. “Say what?!?” I know I know, but before you click off thinking I’ve finally snapped, please try to hear me out!

       You see, my friend acted in a way that said “Yeah, that’s right! I’m easy and flirtatious! I’m willing to do crazy things to be the center of attention!” My friend would sit on guys’ laps, act “dumb”, allow guys to be “touchy” with her, be excessively giggly and act like a complete flirt with any guy who seemed the least bit interested in her. She taught them how to treat her by acting in such a way. The guys figured “Oh, well if it’s okay for her to act that way, then it must be okay for us to treat her that way.”

           Luke 6:31 commands us to “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” When people read this verse, they think “Oh, I should be nice to people, because I would want people to be nice back to me.” There is nothing wrong with this thought, and it is on track, but today I want to show you a new element of this verse that I desperately hope you will apply to your lives. Instead of thinking in terms of “being nice and people will be nice back” instead think “treat others/act appropriately and respectfully to people, and they will treat you appropriately and respectfully back”. In simple terms, this verse is not just telling you to put others first and treat them well, but it is also saying that how you act is how people will treat you. You teach people how to treat you. If you act flirtatious and playful, then they are going to act the same way back. If you act reserved and respectful, then they will treat you the same way.

          “Oh Heather, that’s not true; it’s just how that person was raised, and he/she will treat everyone that way!” For the majority of people, this is not true. The boys who treat my friend this way, don’t even think twice about treating me, or a few other girls who are “guarding their hearts”, that way. We try our hardest to act as if Jesus were in the room (which He is!), and they in return treat us well and with respect.

            People will test you, they will observe you. If someone makes a suggestive joke, don’t laugh. If they try to sit on you or invade your space, then either get up and walk away, or tell them as respectfully as possible to get off immediately. The key to teaching people how to treat you is to simply be real, and be who you are, and not a fake or overplayed version of yourself. Act in one manner, and turn your two-faced mask over to the drama department. 

           So many girls tend to ask “Why do I keep attracting jerks? Why are guys treating me like this?”, and for the majority, it is because it’s how you taught them to treat you. True, they may treat you the same way that another girl had taught them how to treat her, but that ends when you come into play, and don’t allow it to happen with yourself.

           Girls, this lesson goes hand in hand with guarding your heart, honoring your future husband and helping to prepare other guys for their future wives by not being a stumbling block to them. The Bible tells us how we are to act; check out the following verses, and try to apply them to your own life.

• “Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to self- control, perserverance; and to perserverance, godliness.” -2 Peter 1:5-6
• “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God”- 1 Corinithians 10:31
• “As God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” – Colossians 3:12
• “The fruity of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance; against such there is no law” –Galatians 5: 22-23

Girls, it’s time for a revolution. It’s time that we stop acting flirtatious, stop being “easy” for guys to “claim”, stop disrespect the body God has given us, stop being selfish and a stumbling block to our brothers and sisters; it’s time that we instead strive to replace all bad characteristics with godly ones. It’s time to put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. It’s time we strive to add faith, goodness, knowledge, self control, perserverance and godliness to who we are. It’s time to let Jesus shine through us, and make His temple (you!) acceptable and capable of being used by Him!

Off with the old, on with the new!                                                                                                                “Throw off your old evil nature and your former way of life, which is rotten through and through, full of lust and deception.  Instead, there must be a spiritual renewal of your thoughts and attitudes. You must display a new nature because you are a new person, created in God's likeness -- righteous, holy, and true. –Epsheisans 22-24.

It’s time that you’ve started teaching people how to treat you.

This was a guest post done by Heather, who happens to have her own blog too called "A Hopeful Romantic"(http://becomingahopefulromantic.blogspot.com/) I am so thankful to have her do this for me! Thanks Heather!