Welcome... to the Minefield of Christian Dating

My first thoughts for writing a blog about dating- among the many – is that I cannot seem to find one geared toward Christians. Believe me, I’m not going to throw the “I kissed dating good-bye” philosophy at anyone, since I’m not willing to follow it. I want to go over my experiences – happy, sad, funny, and just plain weird – so that anyone who reads this will maybe be inspired to look at dating a different way. My thoughts come from a myriad of places, and, knowing there is not a specific “dating guide” in the Bible, I want to do what would please God. I’m not coming to you as someone with all the answers, but as a single Christian walking beside you in this world today and battling all of the forces that want to drag me (us) down.

1 Corinthians 2:1-5

¹ And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. ² For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. ³ I was with you in weakness and in  fear and in much trembling, ⁴ and my  message and my preaching were  not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, ⁵ so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on  the power of God.

My most difficult challenges come from being a single mother and trying to find decent guys who might be datable. I’ve been on every dating website there is, met some really (REALLY) strange people and had some experiences I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. Seriously.. I’m not kidding about that either. Some of the men out there (and women too, I know) are so completely out there that it scares me. You never know what crazy guy is going to throw himself at you and declare ever-lasting love.. even though you just smiled at him in the store you just left. Okay, so it’s not that weird, but sometimes.. it just is. J

1 Corinthians 4:10

¹⁰ We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor.

For the longest time I have wanted to write a book about dating and how difficult it truly is. I have my own set of rules for dating that apply only to me. If one of my rules offends you, please do not think I am trying to shove it down YOUR throat. I’m not. I’m only saying what works for me. If you disagree with something I say, please tell me why. Keep it clean though.. I will delete any post that is vulgar or offensive.  

I started this blog because I just can’t seem to get the book thing going.. that’s okay though. I think I can reach out a little further with this medium. Growing up, I didn’t date much. I don’t know why. Maybe it is because I was considered one of the nerdy girls. Maybe it’s because I wasn’t very out-going (some people who know me now have a hard time believing that). For whatever reason, I only had three boyfriends through my high school days. None of them lasted a long time either. A few months at the most. I had two major crushes that over-powered any boyfriend I did date (sorry guys, if you are reading this). One was a local Tennessee boy and the other was out of state. Both broke my heart in different ways, but I did learn from those experiences as well.

So, that’s a little of my early dating history. The years after high school were wrought with turmoil and strife, bad decisions (really, really bad ones) and stupidity – on my part. So, I won’t go into the details on that era of my life, as it is now history. But, the most recent years have seen me dating as an adult, instead of a teenager or young adult, without maturity and wisdom. There is a marked difference, in my opinion.

Next post… a list of men (boys??) that I’ve met in the past few years – nameless, of course. I won’t totally dissect the issues each one had, but in a way I will. I will also say why I wasn’t interested in continuing a relationship – dating – with them. I think that will lead into the rules I have for myself as well. We’ll see.. looking forward to the journey!