The Current Issues

So much has gone on since my last post....not only have I gone to Creation but feelings have been dealt with and situations have been rectified....that being said...let's get started---

Wednesday, the 23rd, me and my youth group left for the Gorge, where we hoped to experience the joys and wonders of Creation Festival, a once a year christian music festival where christians come from all over the west coast (and Canada) to listen to the various groups and join together as one to glorify His (Jesus) holy and amazingly magnificent name. The experience was more than I had hoped for. Not only did I draw closer to the people around me but also to Jesus. It was here, among people I didn't know, that I felt my freest, something I hadn't really felt in a long time.

As to the whole rectifying of situations goes, I realized I had been building a wall between me and one of my dear friends. Without knowing it I had become bitter and resentful towards them, something which is not in my nature, and certainly not of God's. Last night we talked for the very first time in a long while. And I don't just mean casual chit-chatting, but situations were discussed and things, that I had never even thought about were put on the table. Although I now feel at peace about alot of things, I still have a nagging feeling in my gut for some reason. Maybe it's the fact that it feels like me and my friend are initially starting over in our relationship; the fact that doors are now open and communication can flow is a good sign, but somehow something still feels out of place?

One of the subjects me and my friend discussed what our views on dating. It is widely known that I do not date, and that I never will. At seventeen years of age I have never been asked out on a date, further more I have never really "liked liked" a guy, save a select one or two. And it is now my readers that I will now give you my reasons why I do not date.

I believe that dating leads to intimacy not commitment. By pursuing a non-commitment relationship I believe that you are setting yourself, in the future, for hard and painful heartache. My solution: don't try "clothes" on before you're ready to "buy". Why shop around, trying on people, if you aren't ready to settle down and commit. "But everyone dates! You're crazy for not dating!" you might think. And I agree. I am crazy for not dating. But why am I crazy? Could it be that I am only crazy for going against the pressures society has put on people to date and "shop around" and "have fun"? I don't need a guy to have fun.
Secondly, in a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, the friendship stage is often missed. When you and the person are alone you never get to see how they truly act around people they aren't trying to impress. I mean come on, when you go on a date you are trying to put forth a good impression. Girls take hours doing their hair, makeup and putting together an outfit. For what? To be impressive. Now take those same girls and put them with their friends. They are free to be themselves, makeup or not. In a group of friends you aren't trying to impress, you are just being yourself. Within a group of friends each person can see how they interact with the people around them: what makes them tick, how do they treat people they don't particulary get along with? These are just some of the things couples avoid to look at when they are alone on a date.
Thirdly, I want to pursue purity in every area of my life. That just doesn't mean not sleeping with anyone until I'm married. By being pure I am pursuing what God wants and keeping myself, my heart and soul, complete until one day, when I find that awesome guy who I will give my heart to, my everything, without reserve, no strings attached. It is my belief that when you have a boyfriend you give part of yourself away to that person. You get emotionaly attached, and before you know it, you've given a slice of your heart away. Boyfriend after boyfriend you go, until your wedding day comes and instead of giving your spouse your whole heart, you can only hand over the little slice you have left, every other part invested in someone else and some other relationship. "...do not stir up love until it pleases" (Song of Sol. 3:5). Do not stir up love until it please. Do not stir up love until it pleases. Pleases who you might ask? Pleases God. Wait until God brings that special someone into your life. Wait. Seek. Listen.
What's the true difference between courting and dating? In dating the person is responsible for finding their mate. In courting the person must rely on God to bring them the right person, when God is ready. When God is ready, not when we're ready. God's timing is key. His timing is all that matters.