Jul 18, 2017 | Dating & Marriage
For Christians, the wedding night is a treated with sacred significance – and for many young women, a whole lot of fear. Because of the biblical emphasis on sex within marriage, Christian culture has placed a burden of weight on the wedding night that this one evening really doesn’t deserve.
That said, pretending the wedding night doesn’t exist and refusing to educate young women about their sexuality, their bodies, and the act of intimacy itself is a foolish decision. It is bad stewardship of a very good gift. So how much should one think about the wedding night before it happens, and should they do it at all? I think young women should absolutely consider this before the big day, but within some healthy boundaries.
Jul 17, 2017 | Christian Life & Theology
I tried to diet and exercise my body into submission, but I could never arrive at a place of contentment. I went through my twenties thinking a man’s love might help me feel better. But, all my comparing only seem to exacerbate once we said, “I do.”
Naively, I assumed that some day, I’d be free from all my comparison struggles. And, I thought that day would come when I changed my title to, “Mom.”
Jul 11, 2017 | Dating & Marriage
It was a passing comment as she walked out the door. “I can usually tell when my priorities are out of whack,” She said, grabbing her purse from the coat rack. “I start seeing marriage as an escape from my reality, and that’s when I start wanting it too much.”
Her words rang in my ears for hours afterward. That’s it. That’s the problem.
It’s a problem I’m all too familiar with – I did the same thing when I was single. When work and school and life got stressful, I’d daydream about the day I’d be married – the day a man would “pick up the slack” and help me bear this burden. Though I’d never label myself a damsel in distress, that’s exactly what I acted like under pressure. Outwardly, I was capable; but inwardly, I was searching for a human rescuer from my circumstances.
Jul 3, 2017 | Dating & Marriage
The division between single and married remains a difficult barrier in the modern church. Though both sides are well-intended, many married couples act as if they don’t recall the difficulties of singleness. In turn, singles feel as if married people are only interested in the status of their love lives – and little else.
Jun 27, 2017 | Dating & Marriage
I decided to save my first kiss for my wedding day long before I started dating. Some will applaud this decision. Others will scoff and roll their eyes. Others will pity me for being a product of my conservative Christian upbringing.
My conviction was shaped through many years of attending weddings my dad, a pastor, was officiating. Some couples had saved their first kiss, some had not. Some weddings deeply moved me in their Christ-centered simplicity. The pure, strong love I saw some couples share in Christ made a deep impression on me.
