Till Death do us Part

I've never been married. And quite frankly, the thought of being married terrified me. I've never been the girl who is just waiting for her Prince Charming to show up in his Maserati and whisk me away to Paris for a long weekend. No, I'm more of the 'I'll get married when I'm 60 and have the potential to be bored with the single life' type of girl. However, I decided to explore the reasoning behind my attitude a little bit. It's not that I don't think I can be happy with one person my entire life, its the fact that my future husband lives in a world that doesn't take marriage as seriously as I do. In 2012, the divorce rate was at 50%. That means that half of the people in the US don't fully understand what marriage means. So I'm going to explain its meaning. Marriage is a covenant (stronger than a promise) with God. It's not the next step in a relationship with the girl next door. It's not something you do to prove you love someone, just buy them flowers if that's what you're going for. And its definitely not temporary. No matter how many government officials, pieces of paper, or excuses you can come up with, once you get married, there is no getting out of it. I don' believe that marriage is about making yourself or another person happy, true joy only comes from God, not other people or circumstances. I believe that I am single because this is the status that I can bring the most glory to God. When God grows me and my future husband enough and knows that together we can bring Him more glory that we can separately, then and only then will I give into marriage. Luckily, God knows my stubbornness and fears so I believe when the time comes, He'll be fully prepared to beat me over the head with His instructions. I can only hope that my marriage will be accompanied with happiness, love, and at least 900 crazy adventures. I know that God's plan will work itself out in me and until that happens, I'll be here just enjoying the perks of being single!

Next post (before I get off my soapbox completely) on Divorce. Here's a preview:

People can justify their reason's for wanting to break this covenant 1,000 different ways, but according to the Bible, there are only 2 situations in which God will grant you a divorce. 1) Immorality: Matthews 19:9 and 2) Abandonment by an unbeliever: 1 Corinthians 7:15.

More Than a Supporting Role

I got the pleasure of going to Florida for a long weekend, and there is something about being close to the Ocean that makes God seem all the more present.

I decided to read the book of Jonah from the Bible and see how this overwhelming presence of God was translated. It's interesting when the actual story line isn't what hits home in a book. It's not always the main characters, but how the supporting actors can change the entire outcome. I never bought into the whole 'there's no small parts, just small actors' craze, but I will admit the idea is growing on me. The Ninavites, sailors and even the worm add so much flavor to Jonah's story. Without the context of others, he would just be an extremist, spastically running around countries waiting for destruction. With the addition of each character, a new understanding of Jonah's true character appears as I got to watch his story unfold. And the most amazing part was to see his interaction with God and how he became a completely changed man when he was following God's plan to a tee.

The thing that really got to me was seeing God's relentless compassion and hope in people. God told Jonah he would destroy this entire city unless they turned from their wickedness. I can compare this to when 9-11 happened. It was like America was Nineveh and we had an imamate threat of danger. Nothing motivates people to find God like the fear of losing their life. All God needed to see was a little change and He became overwhelmingly hopeful for His people. It is hard for me to imagine not only forgiving someone who has been slandering me, back stabbing me, and totally discounting my worth as a human being but also deciding to love and cherish that person as if they were going to be my best friend or family member. God is truly amazing and it blows me away every time I read about his unconditional compassion and forgiveness and hope in people.

Compare to Equalize

Its interesting to me how people are always looking for a way to get rich quick that doesn't involve a lot of effort. It's not the fact people want money that puzzles me, I can understand the desire to live in riches. It's the idea that people are so incredibly lazy and would rather be given a hand out than roll up their sleeves and get a little dirt on their hands. I know most people will blame the media for putting the idea of luxury in our minds, or the government who tends to blame the wealthy, but I think it really is just how our society works. We live in a world of comparisons. It's a constant battle of who is better than who, the richest, the most connected, the most well known. And now thanks to cell phones, twitter and Zuckerberg, we've been forced live in the competition with no escape. I can't simply hide in my house and escape the constant battle to out-do every other human that I encounter. I'm bombarded with alerts from endless facets on how many people are one-upping me. Don't get me wrong, I'm extremely proud of our success and how well people have progressed, my thought is more on the lines of the continual, relentless nature of the competition between people. I think sometimes we forget that we are all created equal. That no matter how good the world measures you, it will never out you ahead of someone else because we are not judged on works, but simple on the acceptance of forgiveness. Unfortunately, I'm not perfect and cannot say that this reminder alone allows me to never reflect on my short coming, but it does serve as a kind of release from constant comparison. I don't have the solution to societies problems, but I do hear that admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery.