We
recently asked a group of teenage girls to list topics they would like to study
more in our Bible studies; the most requested topic: dating & marriage. One
request in particular: “Tips for dating and marriage.” Honoring their request,
this will be the first in a series addressing these topics.
Most little girls dream about
their wedding day. We dress up and practice marching down the imaginary aisle. We
play mommy to my baby dolls and picked out names for our future children.
During our middle-school years, we use our notebooks to doodle our first name
with the last of our current crush. Then we approach our high school years; the
years most of our dads (and moms)-begrudgingly-allow us to begin dating. While
I was in high school, I remember discussing the topic of marriage in our Bible
class at church. Here is how the conversation went…
Teacher:
“Who are you going to marry?”
(blank
stares and silence)
(finally
someone speaks up)
Student:
“We can’t know the answer to that yet.”
Teacher:
“Wrong. You will marry someone you date. Therefore, be careful who you date.”
Common
sense, right? After all, the dating process is designed to help you get to know
someone in order to find out if they are the type of person you would like to
spend the rest of your life with. To a group of teenagers, this advice still
seemed rather mind-blowing. Yet, it was some of the best advice we ever
received. This month my husband and I celebrated five years since the day we
vowed to love, honor and cherish each other. Guess what? I dated him. Last week,
my grandparents celebrated sixty years of wedded bliss. Guess what? They dated.
Ladies, be careful whom you choose to date; you just might end up sharing their
last name.
-M
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