"Promise me, O women of Jerusalem, by the swift gazelles and the deers of the wild, not to awaken love until the time is right."(Song of Songs 2:7 NLT)
A few days ago, I read this verse on Rebekah's Blog, as a part of her daily Bible verse. I have to be honest, this verse got me to thinking...a lot! I pondered how absolutely vital living this verse out is.
Lately, I have been reading a lot about weddings. Natalie at YLCF, Alice's sister, Naomi, Genevieve from Isaacharian Daughters. I think these are the three I can think of off the top of my head. Now, I am absolutely happy for them. They have waited for their turn to say those wonderful words and start families of their own. I find weddings to be one of the best occasions on earth...and it can be HARD not to start imagining our own. You all probably know the feeling: the colors, the bridesmaids, the music, and (dare I admit it) wondering who the groom is.
Now, we all know these thoughts are wrong, particularly the last one. We know that we need to be not only physically pure, but emotionally as well. All of us recognize that for most of us, we have some years of singleness ahead. And that "Unless she has been asked to marry him, why would a sensible woman promise any man her exclusive attention?" (Elisabeth Elliot, yet I read it in I Kissed Dating Good-Bye) is very sound advice.
I wanted to write this post to be honest once again. I do struggle with my mind sometimes. As I find highschool nearing its completion, I wonder if my husband is around the corner. For the record, I am not going to stop creating my list of essential qualities, or reading beautiful courtships stories that bring God glory, or even praying for the man who will come in my life. And yes, I will still watch my favorite movies. However, I want to have accountability with all of you. I want us all to be praying about this area in each other's life. Not awakening love is Biblical, and I want to follow what He says. Sure, it isn't going to be easy, and it might mean taking some measures, but I want my husband not only to have my purity in body, but in my mind as well. Do you desire the same thing as well? Let us give our husbands a wonderful gift on our wedding day...or would it be our courtship? Let us give them a heart that has been touched only by God and our earthly father, and not many men. Let us not awaken love until the time is right.
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14 comments:
That was beautiful, Ella. I am so happy that you are committed to staying both physically and emotionaly pure. It makes me think of Proverbs 31 - she does him good and not evil all the days of her life - that means before marriage too. What a wonderful gift your future husband will have.
Amen, Ella! I strongly agree - in fact I've posted about this before (a while ago!) I will commit to praying about this for you and other friends. Being pure in body and mind is a beautiful gift for our husbands one day.
AS always, I stand amazed at the convictions you have....and I thank God for giving them to you.
I only wish I had had a similar desire when I was growing up. But, of course, as an unbeliever, I lived the typical teenage life of dating....lots of people. I gave my heart away MANY times....never realizing that years later I would wish I hadn't. So, I am so thankful that your heart desires purity.
Mrs. Beverly and Mom, thank you both so much for your encouragement. I recognize that it is a special gift for my future spouse. It is hard, though, for marrying and having a family is my greatest desire. And while I have always beem committed to purity, reading I Kissed Dating Good-Bye has made the desire increase.
Anna, you are in my prayers as well for this area. Again, it is a special gift. I don't know if you read I Kissed Dating Good-Bye but the senario at the beginning really challenged me. I don't want that to "happen," if you know what I mean. However, the battle of the mind is daily, hourly, minutely. I pray that my husband has decided to do the same thing.
Ella, thanks for the reminder.
That is one of my favourite verses.How easy it is for us to get caught up in emotions, especially when there are lots of weddings around (2 of my best friends are engaged and about to get married).
I keep that verse close so when my mind creeps into "Could that guy be the one?" territory I can gently remind myself "Do not awaken love until the time is right."
Oh, Ella, I can't even begin to express to you how wonderful that post is!!! It is SO refreshing to me to meet girls that are likeminded in this area!! I have been really upset lately at times because an old friend from my old church is only 15 (my age) and she is into dating, flirting, thinking about guys all the time, etc. It breaks my heart!!! I send her e-mails all the time(I don't see her anymore in person) showing her why dating is wrong, etc. And she just doesn't see it that way at all. It is so very frustrating at times! I constantly have to remind myself that it's all in God's hands. I just wanted to say what an encouragement this post was!! It truly blessed my heart! And I think us being accountablility partners would be a wonderful idea! That's something that we all really need. I find myself thinking about different aspects of the wedding as well, and unfortunately (you don't know how much I wish I didn't do this!!! I'm trying so hard to stop) everytime a new family that has a son about my age or a little older, starts attending our church regularly (we only have about 70-80 members currently; we just started the new church. if you want, you can check it out at www.christchurchofchattanooga.com),I wonder if he may be my future husband. I know with all my heart that I shouldn't do that, but I still find myself wondering that occasionally. :( So, accountability in this area is needed I'm sure for all of us!!
Thanks so much for a truly wonderful post!
Many blessings,
Rebekah
Beverly,
How true that is, what you said about that verse!!! I had never thought about it that way before for some reason until I read So Much More, and they said that in there. I had always just read it and thought it meant during marraige (i.e. faithfulness, etc.) but it does mean before you even know him!! ALL the days of her life. What a wonderful reminder that we must be pure in all areas for him.
I know what you mean, Ella, about that book. I really really love the courtship series by Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Castleberry (I very highly recommend them!!!), but I often finish reading them really excited about starting a family of my own. And it just makes my desire for a husband and children bigger.
Yes, that area of the book (that girl's dream) is something that I shared with my old friend from church, hoping that it would get her to see the light.....
Oh! I wanted to ask you, have you ever seen the movie, Pamela's Prayer? I honestly cannot recommend it enough!! You all must watch it! :) It's about a girl whose mother died giving birth to her, and whose father desided that he would not allow her to date. She hated this, because she saw all of her friends dating. Then she meets this guy who she ends up marrying. Because she had never dated, she had never kissed anyone. And she found out later that this guy who was to be her husband knew that she was the one for him because he had made the committment before God that he would never kiss anyone until his wedding day, and he prayed that the Lord would send someone to him that had done the same thing. I won't give away all of the movie, but it is so wonderful-you must watch it!! :) Mama and I always find ourselves bawling at the end because it's just such a wonderful movie!
Yes, I've read I Kissed Dating Goodbye - 3 or more times in fact! It's a really good book, and wonderful to re-read to strengthen you in your resolve.
Erin, I find myself doing the same thing, uh, lately, when my mind wanders to that thought,"Could he be the one."
Rebekah, I am sorry that you have a friend who is so into dating and guys. I had one like that, and God chose to let it go by the wayside. At first I struggled with that, but now, I praise the Lord, knowing it wasn't the best for me. Like you, when I find guys my age, I can wonder, and boy, do I try to stop that!! I have never seen the movie you mentioned. I will look for it at the library, but one question, is it entirely decent? Our family can tolerate a little language, but sexual elements are a no no.
Anna, I see myself re-reading I Kissed Dating Good-Bye...when I finish it for the first time. Having the study guide has been wonderful!
Ella,
Yes, I know what you mean. We were very close for about 2 years, and then the Lord performed His amazing changes in our family and our convictions, and I was forced to cut off the friendship. It was so hard, and I found myself crying over it at times, but I know the Lord has my very best interests at heart. That He has made very clear to me this past year! He has now blessed me with the 5 most like-minded girls. It has been so wonderful getting to know them this past year through our new church group (which started out as a Friday night Bible study at one of our homes). It's just so hard for me to watch this other girl go down a road that I know will lead to nothing but heartache. If you would, please pray for her. Her name's Katie. Thank you so much!!
As to the movie, it is 100% decent. It's truly a wonderful movie. There is no language or sexual scenes. There is a part of the movie where one of Pamela's friends comes over to her house and just cries and cries because she gave herself away to her boyfriend. They have a good talk and it is then that Pamela sees just how blessed she is by her father and his plan for her life-which includes no dating. I don't know if this part of the movie would be ok with your family or not? It really is a great one, though, that I do recommend highly.
Rebekah, I will pray for your friend. It is hard to watch, and sometimes, that is all God has for us to do. As to the movie, oh yeah, that scene is fine with us. Unfortuantely, my library didn't have it, so I will have to look another way.
Hello! I just stumbled upon your blog and this post made my heart glad!!! I wrote this post: http://followingforward.blogspot.com/2007/09/list.html
and I wrote it with the hope and encouragement that I may see God rise up girls with a heart such as yours. Your story fits so well and I may just share it with my high school girls! :)
God is faithful to give you desires of your heart and I look forward to reading more about your journey to one that God has perfectly picked out for you.
Following Forward, Thank you so much, Kaylyn, for the nice comments. I am deeply honored and humbled that you would mention this post to others. I seek to speak my heart, admit my failings, and raise the Lord up. Blessings to you!
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