dating advice

Some dating advice for any of you young'ns who might be interested.......

When Rob and I were dating, I was still living at home, and my dad had this crazy rule called a curfew. Well, since I was an adult it was really more of a strong suggestion, but he always said that "nothing good happens after dark." And I was so annoyed by that. So annoyed that I did not care to honor his wishes.

But once Rob found out about this rule, he held me to it. Not perfectly, but he was intentional about making sure I was home by 10 from that point on. And I still remember his exact words during that conversation. He said, "until you're my wife, we need to honor your dad's wishes."

And while I was annoyed by it then, I love him for it now. Because now that I AM his wife, those same values of protection and honor look different. It looks like making me go to the doctor when I need to get better. It looks like letting me go on a mommy road trip when I need to get away. It looks like stepping in to take over the discipline of an unruly child when he can tell I'm overwhelmed. It looks like asking me how he can pray for me. It looks like considering my feelings and my schedule before he schedules an outing with the guys. And it looks like him still doing things to honor my parents.

Ladies, watch for these things when you're dating. A guy who will honor your father's role of protecting and leading his daughter, will be an honorable and protective leader when you're his wife.

you just never know

Today's lesson. Less judging others, more praying for them.

I mean, hypothetically speaking, if you ever happen to hear a woman yelling at her child at the community pool, pray for her. Because you might not know that earlier that day, that same child and his mom had already spent all of their patience and obedience and stress tolerance at the doctors office during an unexpected hour and a half wait. Or that they were maxed out on their threshold of stress for that day, and every day before that for several months bc of whatever reason. Or that having reached their threshold, they then went past it when they were met with the disappointment of first world problems like the whirlpool and fountains not being turned on at said community pool until the very moment after the mom said it was time for her child to get out. And that the mom was trying to corral 3 other children to the car. And that moments later, that same mom would be apologizing to her kids.

So when you see that kid throw a fit, don't judge. Pray. And when you hear that mom lose her cool and in a moment of fearful anger call her kid a jerk and yell at him to stop it, don't judge. Pray.

Because you don't know what that mom and child have been through that day, or what they're headed home to. And you don't know when that mom and child might be you.