Where God's Word Meets Our Mess
In His kindness, God sustained me through my first year—and my second, third, and fourth years. But I genuinely don’t miss that season of my life because I spent so much time worrying about things I didn’t need to worry about. My hope is that you’ll learn from my mistakes though. Please please please don’t waste your time worrying—especially about the future—while you’re in college.
Maybe you’ve never dated anyone either—or you’ve dated very few people—and you’re afraid of doing the whole dating thing “wrong.” Unfortunately, your fears about dating seem to be getting worse, especially as you get older. As a fellow inexperienced dater, I want to share an encouraging truth with you that will hopefully help you conquer your fears about dating.
I’m a big fan of Paris—at least the idea of Paris. I’ve never actually been to Paris, but it’s on my bucket list. I own several canvas paintings that depict the Eiffel Tower. I even shared a (mostly positive) post about Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris not long ago. But even though it’s set in Paris, the TV show Emily in Paris is something I’ve purposely avoided—for one unavoidable reason.
I’m going to be honest with you—I still feel like a failure sometimes, even though Real Recovery was published back in 2022. In the past three years, I’ve learned lots of hard lessons about writing, dreaming, and trusting God. One of these lessons has been particularly hard for me to learn, but my hope is that it’ll ultimately encourage you in your endeavors.
Seven years ago, I published a post called Are You Ready for a Romantic Relationship? right before Valentine’s Day. In that post, I shared a few indicators that someone might not be ready for a romantic relationship. But honestly, I didn’t focus enough on the most obvious (and significant) indicator that someone isn’t ready for a romantic relationship, so I'll do that in this post. Consider it a very delayed sequel.
There are so many things God designed a man and woman to experience and enjoy in marriage, but this post just focuses on three of them. I do want to note that the unique characteristics of marriage included below are based on God’s intent for marriage. I realize some marriages are very challenging, dysfunctional, and/or brief. However, imperfect marriages exist because of the Fall, not because of a flaw in God’s design. With that in mind, let’s examine three major distinctions between marriage and friendship.
Several weeks ago, I listened to a podcast episode during which a pastor discussed a sermon he’d preached about true love. Ultimately, it seemed like he viewed marriage and friendship as equivalent. He treated them as substitutes—as if there are no major differences between them. But I was frustrated with his message because there are major differences between friendship and marriage, and honestly, that frustration fueled this post.
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Though you’ve tried to avert your gaze from the red flags, you can’t help but see them whenever you’re with your boyfriend. At first, you thought he would recognize his flaws and work on them. But nothing has changed in the past three months. The red flags you saw on your first date are the same red flags you see now. And you’re worried they’ll be part of his life forever.
Tizzie's Tidbits of Truth 