I'll Never

I swore in March of 2004 that I'd never live in Timberlake Apartments in Orlando, Fl.  I might have been an NSYNC fan but I drew the line at the overabundance of boy band references that surrounded living in Timberlake Apartments in Boy Band Central.  Turns out that the rent was affordable, the apartments well kept, and the area convenient.  I lived there for nearly a year.

"I think God is crying out to us: 'Don't just do something.  Stand there!  Enter into a love relationship with Me.  Get to know Me.  Adjust your life to me.  Let Me love you and teach you about Myself as I work through you.'  A time will come when action is required, but we must not short-circuit the relationship (Psalm 37:7).  Your relationship with God must come first.  Out of your walk with God, He accomplishes His plans for our world."

Henry and Richard Blackaby with Claude King

I had an interesting conversation with a friend the other day.  We were discussing how sometimes saying "I'll never...." means you almost surely will.  In Bible Study we are reading Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God we read that passage tonight.  A few pages later this passage is waiting for us to discuss in the upcoming weeks:

"God calls you to a relationship in which He is Lord-where you are willing to do and be anything He chooses.  If you respond to Him as Lord, He may lead you to do things you would have never dreamed of."

I've put limitations on God.  I wouldn't think of telling God "no" when He has directly called me to do something.  However, I have said "I'll never...."  I think God is challenging me to face down my resolution to never and asking me how obedient I'll be.  I am completely clueless about where God might be leading me.  Maybe he's testing to what end I'll be obedient.  He might be asking if I'll follow His will despite adversity or judgement.  Will I overlook my own thoughts on how life should play out so I'll follow His script?

There are more than twenty chapters left to this book.  The Will of God (following His Will, learning His Will, knowing His Will) isn't the easiest subject to find clarity on.  Right now I'm accepting the challenge to strengthen my relationship with God so that when He calls me to be what He chooses I'll be ready to follow.    

Bouquets

Jess these are for you =

Bouquets are hard to find...  I like these but I don't. 

I think the one I like the most is...

Wedding Dresses for a Fake Engagement

Reasons for Arranged Marriages

So after considering the reasons to get married and the reasons not to get married, I realized there are reasons for arranged marriages.  The following are potential reasons that you might put the pressure of choosing a spouse in someone else's hands.

• Avoid determining where a good place to meet people might be.  Nothing sucks more than trying to go meet people that you share interests with and striking out.
• Hopefully the person that you ask to arrange your marriage will take into consideration your interests and personality before recommending you to someone.  This isn't a DVD rental; you can't just pop it out and go to the next on the list.
• Avoiding the whole dating scene.  Do you really need more?
• The first date could be a group date with the person responsible for arranging the marriage. 
• If things don't work you can blame the person arranging the marriage instead of attempting the "it isn't you its me" routine.
• There are better things to do with your time than worry that every person you're attracted to "might be the One!"  

If you are going to have someone arrange your marriage make sure you pick the right person.  I have a couple of friends that I'd completely trust to arrange my marriage because they are made of Awesome.  This is to a level higher than made of Win.  For instance they accept what I'm attracted to.  My father would never be asked to arrange my marriage because he doesn't appreciate certain qualities like I do.  I happen to like a scruffy guy and my father would have me with guy who resembles a Marine.  Don't ask someone who wants to fix you up with a carbon copy of their spouse.  What works for them may not work for you.  Don't fall for the "he's the male version of you" because you need something to hold your interest.    

Top Reasons Not To Get Married

I believe in examining every situation from every possible angle.  Which means we are going to look at the top reasons to not get married.  Again same intro applies here only the disclaimer changes.


1.  Losing girl's weekends.


2.  Sharing a bed.  Seriously I love having a queen sized bed all to myself.  Sometimes I'm even mean and don't let the cats in to share and they are like 1/16 the size of the average American male.


3.  The potential that he might snore.  


4.  Losing control of the remote.


5.  Having to make dinners that consist of more than what is on the fast food menu or what comes out of a box.


6.  Having someone to go to every function with you and trying to remember to tell them.


7.  Football season and baseball season.  Go with me here.  Do you think a Red Sox fan should marry a Yankee fan?


8.  Having a driver.  Would make singing at the top of your lungs to release stress potentially irritating to the driver. 






* I would like to one day be married.  None of the aforementioned reasons are important enough to prevent me from getting married.  I felt that I needed to list them to be fair.  My point of view on marriage is that I am the marrying kind so I'm hoping more for the "one day" than the "hey it could happen."

Top Reasons To Get Married

This is the top reasons to get married post.  I am not numbering because reasons are likely to be added or removed depending on how pertinent they are at that stage of life.  *

1.  To have a full time driver

2.  To have a cheap mechanic or at least someone who can tell me I'm overpaying mine.

3.  To reduce the amount of junk food I eat or to keep the "odd ducks" who are strangely attracted to me from bringing me Godiva, doughnuts, and every form of chocolate imaginable.  

4.  To have a tag-a-long to all the things that I don't want to go to so we can suffer together.

5.  To be able to answer "yes" when meeting someone new and they ask if I'm married.

6.  To reduce the number of guys who freak me out and then ask me out.  At least I can be freaked out and unavailable.

7.  Tax deduction.

8.  Lower car insurance.

9.  To relieve my father's worries that he'll never be rid of me.


After spending the weekend with one of my best friends, he pointed out another factor.


10.  To learn to cook meals that don't come out of a box or off a fast food menu.

* Disclaimer - I believe in marriage and fully support marriage and hope to be married one day.  This is simply a humorous look into why I might want to get married sooner rather than later and not the reasoning for why I will get married.


** Additional disclaimer - This is not meant to be serious but a comical outlook on weddings.