My Girl and her Guy-Courtship

When my girl was 15 she made a vow with God;

later she came to her Papa and I telling us of how she vowed with the Lord

to wait for the one He had made for her. 

Over the years her focus has been on pursuing God.  

She served Him with her life, foregoing the the route of most young girls,

Christian and not;  

our girl  never dated. 

She never even had eyes for anyone.

  She gave God her heart and trusted that He would one day meet all her heart's desires.  

As she served Him with her gifts and talents, very near to her was a boy who was doing the same.  JoJo has somewhat of the same story- vowing with God and then serving Him with his life.  In the midst of their vows they bumped elbows in their service to Him.  Over the past few months they realized that maybe there was something more.  

In February JoJo called my Knight to discuss his heart. 

My Knight listened and gave him some guidelines.  

We will revisit, over the course of their courtship, JoJo's intentions.  

Normally courtship is not longer than a year,

as by this time enough time has gone by to realize whether marriage is to be the direction or not.

Also realizing that much time together opens up both of their lives

for crossing lines that God never intended non-married couples to cross-

which leads to confusion and sin.

However, as no courtship is totally black and white 

and we are allowing for the fact that JoJo is currently serving our Country in the Air Force. 

We are looking at a longer time of courtship, but realizing too that most of this time will be not face to face.  

I can't say that I've read any books on dating versus courtship, but I know our church's youth Pastor has preaching on the dangers of dating for many years.  Personally, I think as you give your life to Christ, and as you submit more and more of who you are to Him, that He leads you on roads of righteousness for His Name's sake.  Courtship is one of these roads.

Am I proud of my girl?  Absolutely.  Am I praying for her, absolutely!  As I know that there will be great temptations for both of them along this road.  But I trust that she will continue to put God first and that she will be sensitive to His Presence within the courtship.  I also think JoJo is a young man of integrity and honor, and I know he will be doing the same, not wanting to tarnish my girl in any way.  

Where did this all begin? 

Well, I think it began when my girl was born and I asked God what He wanted her to be named.  The name He laid on our hearts meant, "Consecrated to God." 

From the beginning we asked Him to guide her steps and to help her to lead a life that would glorify Him.  Since she was a wee lass we talked about the *one* God had for her.  We talked about the world's ways versus God's way. We talked of how dating is like tasting to see if something perhaps might be the flavour that appeals to you, but how it is fleeting and not focused on allowing Him to lead. 

We talked about divorce and the solemnity of vows spoken in marriage.  

We talked about how long forever is in marriage

...until death do you part.  

Prayer has covered her from the moment we knew she was discovered within my womb. 

Prayer has paved the way for God to move in her life. 

How thankful I am to see how He is working it all out.  

It is my joy to share our lives here 

...my hope is that we can inspire you to seek Him and to see His goodness and grace in your lives too.

 

ps- the tattoo is washable and put on by one of my littles.