Eleonore and Willie attended, too. That was the first time Elly has had a date for a Valentine Banquet - and she's attending one with him tonight at his church, too! They sure are enjoying each other's company! Curt and I are very happy the Lord has brought them together and that they are taking their time getting to know each other. Willie is great about spending time with our family and all the kids really like having him around.
Tim Joiner brought a great devotional for the group. He recommended a book by a man whose first name escapes me, but his last name is Vinney. He wrote a book on the ministry of marriage - looks like a great book, and I'm anxious to read it. He brought out some very great points. As most of know, marriage is a symbol of Christ's relationship for the church. Our marriages are to bring honor and glory to God. This can be extremely difficult at times, but our heart's desire should always be to honor and glorify God. Does this desire begin at the marraige altar? It shouldn't. It should begin when a young man or a young woman first begins to seek a mate.
This is one of the reasons Curt and I now promote courtship and not traditional dating. On some points, the two may seem very similar, causing some to say, "So what's the big difference?" However, there is a big difference, starting from the very beginning. Our oldest child did not wish to have any of our involvement in her dating relationships, but the next three have expressed a desire to comply with our ideas of courtship and marriage. Consequently, they are watching Elly very closely.
Traditional dating, which many parents allow to begin at age 13 or 14, is not best on a variety of levels. First, you begin an endless stream of "falling in love" and "breaking up" - practice runs for multiple marriages and divorces. We believe there is no point in "dating" unless you are of an age to consider marriage. Why allow children to have all the emotional ups and downs associated with traditional dating, when they shouldn't even consider marriage until they are finished with high school? When you really stop to consider it, young teen dating is very irresponsible - it does nothing to benefit the teen, and many times only causes hurt, grief, regret, and sorrow over lost emotional and/or physical purity.
Some folks criticize courtship, saying, "Oh - I'm not having my parents pick who I'm going to marry!" We don't "pick" who our children will marry. But we do offer advice, concerns about someone's character, point out positives or negatives, etc. We've learned a lot about Willie. So far, we approve of all his answers and his character seems to bear out his beliefs. So, we have approved of him seeing our daughter. If at any point along the way, Elly had said, "Mom, I'm not really interested in him that way," we would simply have told him that, relieving Elly of any emotional burdens. But, she has been as interested in him as he is in her. We want what is best for both of them - we want each to know God's will for their lives. I think Willie has a lot of character because he is willing to come to my husband and talk. So many young men today wouldn't dream of such a thing. Yet it shows incredible respect for both Elly and her familiy! Why wouldn't parents want that? Why wouldn't wouldn't a girl want that?
Well, I'm sure there will be more to post on this topic as time progresses. But for now, I'm glad Elly sees the importance of honoring God in her relationship with Willie. If more young couples would seek to honor Christ while "dating" or "courting" then there would be more young married couples doing likewise.
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