Forever For His Glory

I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord. 1 Corinthians 7:32-35 Generally speaking, being single can be viewed as being better suited for ministry. But is it? As the Bride of Christ, we are serving him and awaiting for His return. We don’t view it as being worse than when we were “single” (separated from Him), but we sometimes view marriage as less than being single in ministry because you have more time as a single person to “do stuff dedicated to the L...

These past 12 months (April 2016 - April 2017) were honestly the most painful and yet best I have ever had. They were challenging in ways that I didn’t expect and joyful in ways that were surprising. My heart felt like it was constantly in a time of being broken and then built back together only to have it broken and put back together, stronger than before. And not always broken in bad ways, but simply having preconceived ideas and dreams challenged and things stripped away and replaced. And it hurt! But God is good and He makes things new! When I used to hear people say, “I’m in a time of consecration” I’d just think, that’s kind of odd…. Isn’t that just the way singles are supposed to live? What’s the point? Ha ha ha….. This year: I’ve discovered is that it is very hard to be mentally “not available” when I technically am available (single). Before, there was pretty much always the thought in the back of my head of, “ What if he shows up soon?! ”. It took time...

“We’re not perfect, but we’re perfectly imperfect for each other”, she replied, smiling as her eyes divulged the many emotions she was feeling. Today I was thinking about couples that I know. Some are together, some just had painful break-ups, some are in the process, and some just smile at each other from across the room. The friend that I was talking to that said the above quote is in one of the more pleasant categories and I’m excited for them! Not just in a, “Oh! Its another cute couple!” but in a “I know they’ve prayed a lot about this, they know each other, they’ve been friends, and they don’t have unrealistic expectations” way. I’ve seen so many couples going into relationships with unrealistic expectations, only to have their heart broken because the other person didn’t fulfill them in the ways they wanted, or they discovered that they were a sinner, or maybe they just plunged in too hard too fast without really knowing the other person and the direction they ...

I remember when I first got my purity ring. It wasn’t something someone told me to do - I wanted to do it.  I remember looking online for the perfect one, and then receiving it for my birthday. Ah, I wore it proudly! As did the other girls in our homeschool circles. The silver band sat glistening on my right hand, because the left hand meant you were married, and you couldn’t have people [aka guys] thinking that! Though I knew a couple girls who wore theirs on their left hands (aka the radical ones).   The ring symbolized a vow to the Lord to keep oneself for one’s spouse. It was something that you’d keep, and then give to your spouse. It was a symbol of purity; a gift. Years went on.... I still wore my ring (though I had since exchanged it with a delicate silver band that my brother made). When I went out of the country to India and St. Vincent I moved move my ring to my left hand so that guys would think I was taken. And during the 4 months I was in St. Vincen...

So, one of the main things (if not the main thing) that single girls look forward to in life is marriage (I'm not a guy so I can't speak for the single men in our midst). I've wanted to get married since I was 4, and I can't imagine how many hours I've spent talking and thinking about the subject. The subject was recently once again brought to the forefront of my thoughts as I've been thinking about various things. But this morning I was listening to a message by Mike Bickle and it was about having God first in our lives, what that means, etc. After the message I was talking to God about it, asking that He would be my one love that all of the rest of my love came from. And God of course always goes to the heart of the matter because He knows what I've been thinking, and so He said, "All of this will fade away - your marriage will not last for eternity. I will survive for eternity. Your relationship with Me will last for eternity. Don't look...

This post was written in response to Thomas Umstattd Jr’s. article, “ Why Courtship is Fundamentally Flawed ”. In Part 1 , I discussed the main problem with dating and courtship, in Part 2 , I showed from the Bible an alternative to the way most relationships are carried out, and in this post I would like to return to the topic of dating to answer some more points that Umstattd brought up. “ How can you tell who you want to marry if you aren’t going out on dates? ” - Umstattd’s grandmother’s query when she heard about courtship Umstattd’s grandmother’s question brings up the important issue of, “Are you trying to find the person you’re supposed to marry, or are you trusting God to bring you the person you are supposed to marry?” Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” If you’re trusting God to bring you whom you’re supposed to marry (the sa...