Seasons

So lately ive been thinking a lot about dating. i mean its pretty hard not too when virtually every conversation that takes place at my school is about said topic. i had made a promise not to date until college, but that didnt quite satisfy my curiosities about the way godly dating relationships should look. my approach, of course, was research. so i asked my youth pastor if he knew of any good books on dating, and of course he did. A few nights ago i decided to dive right in. to say that i was shocked at what i found would be an understatement.

'the gift of singlehood!?!...from friendship to matrimony!?!....i thought this book was going to be about dating, but it sure seemed like this author didnt approve of dating at all!' (or so it seemed from the table of contents) unfortunately, my own naivete, hindered me from noticing the very title of the book, I Kissed Dating Goodbye by: Joshua Harris. at that point i was about to put the book down because...well.... that was just not what i had signed up for. the aspiration of my existence for the past three years had been, 'I must find a boyfriend. im only happy when i have a boyfriend. ' and thats sure how it seemed seeing as how whenever i didn't have a boyfriend, i was perpetually looking for one. so how on earth could being single be a gift?! and friendship to matrimony? how was that even supposed to work? But, really, i knew that my old mindset of dating wasn't really how a Christian's should be, and so i decided to give this Joshua Harris a shot.

The first chapter caught my attention immediately, and from there on out i became so interested. the book was divided into four parts, but what i really want to get at and discuss right now is just a tiny fragment of a chapter in Part Two. the name of the chapter was: "The Right Thing at the Wrong Time is the Wrong Thing."
and how very true i believe that statement to be now. you see, Mr. Harris compared the seasons of the year to the "seasons" of our lives. Singlehood is a season in everyones life that a person can either choose to embrace or rush out of. so often have i wanted to skip this time of singlehood and get on with dating, but now i realize that God has blessed me with this time of singlehood so that i have the opportunity to focus my life on furthering His kingdom and for my undistracted devotion to Him.

now there are many, and i mean many other topics addressed in this book that i would love to discuss, but i dont believe that a blog is the place to do so. i simply felt the need to jot down some thoughts that i had come up with that really stirred me up as i read this book. i could never do this topic justice or even fully convey my thoughts on this through writing, so i highly recommend this book to any and all of you. (and please, let me know what you think) Well then, it looks like i may have a new favorite season.