Don’t be deceived by the title. This book does not assume that one fine day all of its readers will be married. It’s not even written solely to the singles crowd. With relatable storytelling and sound wisdom gleaned from Scripture and plenty of difficult, awkward experiences, Marshall Segal titles his book to remind us that “on this side of heaven we are all not yet married” (15).
Read MoreLike a growing number of people, I met my husband thanks to a dating app. Since things turned out well, I’m glad that I decided to try using the app, but I also spent a lot of time going on multiple dates with guys that were never going to work out.
Read MoreBridges of Madison County (1995), Notebook (2004), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997), An Affair to Remember (1957). Have you ever seen these movies? If you haven’t seen them, I can’t in good conscience recommend them, they are very secular and represent lifestyles we as Christians should not seek to emulate. But let’s be honest, we’re all women here, more than one of us has clutched a tissue box or pint of ice cream and wept through one of these films. I mean, he wrote her 365 letters for a year! And she was hit by a taxi! Their love is just meant to be!
Read MoreI’ve said “I love you” to three people. I’ve been heartbroken over two of them. And by the real meaning, I only love one. By that math, that means I’m with the one I really love, right? Not quite. But this isn’t a “woe is me” story about breaking up and losing trust and not believing in love anymore. It’s about forgiving better and loving more.
Read MoreOnce again, you’ve heard how my family’s story has led to me opening a home for teenage mothers in Parts 1, 2, and 3. Part 5 was telling y’all how the wrong guy can distract you from Jesus and his calling on your life. I’m going to circle back to Part 4. Maybe you remember the numerous guys that helped me start my home? Well, now I’d like to tell you about my favorite human.
Read MoreHave you ever studied the history of marriage? Many people know the story of Adam and Eve. How God said “It is not good for man to be alone”. Then, He created Eve. This tends to be the start of the Christian concept of marriage.
Read MoreFor those of you who haven’t been following along, this is Part 5 in a series about my journey to starting a home for teenage mothers. In Parts 1, 2, and 3 I discussed my family’s history and how it played a part in my journey. Part 4 was the introduction to how I journeyed through my first year of starting a non-profit. That’s the part where things get tricky.
Read MoreWhen we ask how do we change our life and become more foundational in truth rather than the word, we have to start first with reading the word. The more we read the word, the more God’s truth becomes ingrained in our brains. It’s not just God hearing our prayers but us speaking with him and the connection point is receiving the word in its totality.
Read MoreSomewhere along the way, a belief might have become a part of our thinking: we receive love when we do something good or something worthy of praise. As a result of believing this, we end up doing things, not out of love, but with the motive to receive love. When we view our relationships with a transactional mentality, it shapes how we believe God loves us. For example, if we do something good, we get love and if we do something bad, that love is taken away. Our brains revert to this perverted version of love; that is a lie. This destroys our view of God, what He has done for us, and His grace.
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So you think you are ready to get married. Then be prepared to guard your heart like never before (Proverbs 4:23). Be obedient to strip down every ounce of pride that hides in the shadows of your heart (James 4:10). Be ready to fight, to be tried, and to be tempted (Hebrews 4:15).
We touch our Bibles with the same hands that touch what, in God’s eyes, is someone else’s husband or wife. We worship God with the same mouth we flatter and flirt with, and sometimes, during prayer as we stand in the presence of the Holy One, the guys think about how good she looks in that skirt and we ladies daydream of what it would be like to be married to him.
Read MoreAs the young people in my life recently discovered dating, watching them couple off has left my heart burning with one overarching piece of advice. This is not a purity post (although that is an important discussion as well!). No, this is something much more important. This is about a holy God and the heart He has for His people, especially the youth, because I’ve gotten a glimpse of the Lord’s heart for the next generation, and y’all, if we can walk before Him with a pure heart and love Him above all else, what God can do through us and in us is without boundaries!
Read MoreGodly, socially adept men seem to be extinct, which makes dating hard. Too many disappointments, let-downs, or occasions of being “ghosted” have left their mark on the masses of Christian women and the general response is despair or cries of, “Where have all the good men gone?” I’ve even done this. I’ve been embittered and hopeless after one too many heartaches. I’ve blamed men for being too cowardly, too selfish, or, in some seasons of my life, too elusive.
Read MoreLove is the unconditional commitment to the well-being of others. It is a gift from God and He has given us the perfect picture of love through the sacrifice of His Son. God’s grace is a result of His love for us. We are called to love one another regardless of our differences or if we feel we have been wronged. We are called to commit ourselves to loving others. This is a hard concept to comprehend sometimes. It’s easy to say that I love people, but when it comes to those who have hurt me, it can be so hard.
Read MoreThat moment, when God was so faithful to touch me with His healing hand and fill me with His rich love, I knew that it was necessary. I knew that I would never be the same. You see, I grew up worshiping a creator who I believed was present but apathetic. A God who didn’t think good thoughts towards me. Who preferred others over me. The abandonment I experienced from both my biological father and stepfather so tainted my view of fatherly love that I didn’t know how to receive pure love from my Father in Heaven.
Read MoreWhile it might be easy to get caught up in what stationery you should use to announce your engagement, we should be spending just as much time, if not more, focusing on the journey that lies ahead, your marriage. Here are three ways God is teaching me to serve my fiance in our engagement season:
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