Heartblown!

Within a day or two of my previous post, God expanded my understanding even more on the matter of transformation for the believer.  God showed me that the soul is made up of three parts as well; our mind, will, and emotions.  Our mind produces thoughts, our will produces choices, and our emotions produce feelings.  Our mind has been deceived by this sin-ridden world, our will has become rebellious, and our emotions become controlling.  At salvation, our spirit becomes alive and the Holy Spirit indwells us.  We become new.  Our thoughts, choices, and feelings want to change.  The Holy Spirit desires to work through our soul to bring fruit to the body.  The spirit and fruit of the body is God's part.  Our part is to renew our minds and surrender our will and emotions.  We have to make those changes and allow God to rewire our thinking to please Him and glorify Him.  WOW!  What an incredible concept.  It is amazing how everything works together for a purpose.  I am thankful for the love He has shown us just so we can know Him.  I am so excited learn more, and ready for God to reveal what I need to change next.  It won't be easy, but it will be worth it.

 For the Glory of God,

~ Untitled Post ~

I just ran across this post draft dated on a very life-altering day for me and many people around me.  I can only imagine myself then trying to articulate all of the emotion in me and around me at that moment.  That is why I believe this post remained unwritten.

I couldn't put my feelings into words and still can't fathom the reasons why such things happen.  I do know that God is in control.  God is the Author and Finisher of my faith and knows exactly what He is doing even when I can't grasp or understand the things that He does.

Within the last two months, God has shown himself faithful to me in miraculous ways.  As a teacher, God has provided me with many harvests of children over the past 4 years.  Right now, I currently have 3 different harvests of children.  I have an amazing job built for me working with children. I volunteer with an organization working with children that need the love of Jesus.  I also work with the children at my church  in various ways. As I continue to release control and trust God, I see God working more and more in my life.

I don't understand God's plans, but I know that they are higher and bigger than I can ever imagine and as long as I am abiding in Him everything will go according to His plan.  What I may see as tragedy God may see as victory.  The impact of a life or set of circumstances can't fully be seen this side of heaven.  All I can do is take it one day at a time trusting God in each step.

"I don't know about tomorrow, but I know Who holds my hand."

Getting Off of the Fence

I am attempting to get off of the fence about Courtship versus Dating.  At this point in my life, I lack some socializing skills with guys.  I can't learn them unless I am around men.  Cloud pushes dating but not in the super charged set apart for marriage sort of way.  His approach to dating is a process to get to know guys and ultimately yourself.  He advocates that we clear up our internal dynamics that are keeping us from dating and getting to know guys in a healthy and respectable manner.

Lovers' Lock Fence ~ Paris, France

I agree with this approach to dating, but on the other hand, I have seen and heard testimonies of women who waited without dating around so much and finally found the one God had for them later in life(late 30s) or even being content to serve God in their singleness.  God's timing is the best timing.  As for dating with no strings attached, for me that is hard for my mind to wrap around because I am a very emotional person and can become attached very quickly.  I don't want to invest improper emotions in a relationship.  I guess that all comes with learning how to socialize and communicate with guys.  As I get more comfortable and pick up my patterns, I can step back and analyze the situation better.

With this approach, it sounds like emotional investment in someone you don't marry is paid back in personal growth with interaction and learning of specific characteristics you want in a guy.  This part, keeps me close to that fence.  I don't want several men out in the world to know the very intimate details of my life.  That is reserved for my future husband.  Emotional purity versus emotional investment with the return being growth as a person and as a Christian is my quandary.

I can't really judge as to whether one is more right.  I do know that if I am following God and staying close to Him, I can't fail.  He will give me a sense of peace about whether or not to "date" or to just enjoy the journey.  I do know God won't send him to my doorstep, so I must be willing to interact and fellowship with guys and learn how I tick around them or I won't be prepared to be married to one.

As my Grandma always said, "Don't go solving a problem with a problem."