Media: I will Lift Him Up!

Happy Thursday Luvs!!!!!

Spiritual Autonomy

My whole life, growing up in church, I've been told not to date someone who wasn't saved. As a kid I thought that was completely ridiculous, because really, there was no one in the church who was truly saved and single (in my age bracket at least), so what just be by myself forever??? NEGATIVE. It wasn't until I was older and tried by the fire so to speak, before I realized how important it was for my partner to have their own walk with God. 

It is important that the person you are dating has spiritual autonomy for the relationship to be successful.  "That is, he has his own walk with God that he pursues on a regular basis, regardless of his circumstances. Spiritual autonomy ensures that he does not look to you to provide his religious direction or motivation." [Boundaries in Dating: Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend] 

You need a person who can go to God for themselves! We, as women, need a sense of security in a relationship: physically and spiritually.  I need to know that in the time of trouble, my mate can go into spiritual warfare for us and our family. [Ecclesiastes 4:10] No one is perfect, so at some point we all fall; in a relationship your mate needs to be able to challenge you and encourage you to pick yourself up, and not to further hinder to you spiritually.  A good question to ask is: does the person your with bring out the best in you or the worst? And this not something that you put off bringing up until marriage: courtship is practice for marriage. These are the stages were you find out of the person you are dating is marriage material. 

If you find yourself continuously attracting unbelievers, and wanting to pursue something with them, you may want to take a look at yourself. "If something is broken inside, you will tend to find yourself drawn to unhealthy or absent spiritually [relationships]". This is something that, I myself experienced. I noticed that as my faith was failing, I was entertaining relationships what were spiritually dead. It wasn't until I renewed my faith in God, and trusted him fully; closing the door completely on the past and not looking back like Lot's wife, that I was able to walk into the blessing that God had tailor-made just for me. That's not just with dating, that with everything. You can't fix everything yourself. When you standstill and let God be God in your life is when he will show up and show out.

That's a whole other topic in and of it's self, but back to the point I was making, the bible says "how can two walk together less they agree?" Take it from me, holding a serious relationship with someone who doesn't know God for himself is a disaster waiting to happen. If you are saying "well there is no saved guys out there who aren't taken already", God has finely crafted someone just for you and he is preparing you and him for each other. Why would you want God to give you something that you are ready for? Just to mistreat it? NEGATIVE. A lot of time we are our on worst enemy in this area. If we would just stand still; know that God is God; be quick to listen and slow to speak, we could hear God and allow him to move in our lives. 

I'm pretty sure I've spoken on this topic before, but it was placed on my heart today, and I hope it blesses someone. 

My Big News

So in a previous post I stated that I had big news that I was going to share with you all; now I am ready to do just that. For those who know me personally, this is no news, but to everyone else, as of February 15, 2013, I started a new relationship with an awesome man of God by the name of Mr. Derrick Glenn.

Yes that's right, I've been sweep off my feet. And I will admit, it caught me completely off guard, because at the time that we met, I had completely given up on seriously dating. I was hanging out with other guys just for the sake of having something to do.

How we met: My best friend had began dating this guy, and they were getting really serious. He lived down state, so she would go down and visit. At that time, I was going back and forth with two guys from my past; casually going out from time to time. But in my mind knew nothing would come from either one, because neither one were saved, so we were just hanging out.

My best friend really didn't care for the guys I was seeing, so one night she was telling me about her boyfriend's best friend and how we had soooooo much in common. Some things that was in fact creepy, like that fact that we both have twin brothers named Devan and Devon (spelled differently) who are 18 and graduating from high school this year. I told her, very nonchalantly, that I didn't mind meeting him. So about a month later her boyfriend and his best friend were in town for the Thanksgiving holiday visiting family. On Black Friend my best friend and her boyfriend had this bright idea that we should met. So me and my best friend met up with the guys at IHOP. Well apparently Derrick didn't know that this was an attempt to match us together, so he was completely taken off guard. 

I will admit it wasn't love at first sight for me, but I had a great time. In the mist of play the crane game at Brunswick Zone, I thought to myself "Hey he seems pretty cool"; I was open to learning more about him. Shortly after I made it home I had a message in my Facebook inbox from Mr. Glenn asking for my number. After a few months of small talk on the phone and through text, one night things just took off and it was a love that I had never known before! I was completely swept off my feet, head over heels and I could do nothing but thank God for the awesome thing He had done! It was so refreshing to experience the type of love the bible spoke of; for a man to love me as God loves the church.

I honestly thought I would never feel this way about someone again. But now, experiencing what I am experiencing with this man, all of the other "great loves" in my life pale in comparison. This is the only relationship I have had were God is truly the center. This type of relationship  is something completely new to me and is taking some getting use to, but I appreciate the patients he has with me, and I thank God that he has healed me from the past and gave me to grace to allow this man to love me for me truly. I am really happy, and I am glad to share my happiness with you, my loves!