Week 1- first 7 chapters
Sarah talks a lot about saving your whole heart for your husband, and committing to not dating. Now you might be thinking, "Not dating!?!? How would I get to know a person, or find out which guy is right for me?" There are plenty of other ways to get to know a guy/girl, without the dangers of dating. Sarah covers this topic, in her chapter Dangers With the Dating System. This chapter really made me realize that I don't want to be one of those girls that goes through boyfriends every month. And she showed me that I don't have to be! I never really knew how pointless dating was until now. I know I'm only 12, and surely things will change when the times comes for me to even think about marriage, but I have committed to not date. When I am of the age my parents and God think is the right time for me to start looking for a husband, if the right (godly, strong Christian, devoted, selfless, etc.) man comes along and asks permission from my mom and dad to court and my family and I see he's the right one, then I would agree to get to know him better. But this is not a game. You don't go around trying out and experimenting on a dozen different guys just for fun. I don't want to give away little bits and pieces to different guys, instead I want my future husband to have my whole heart. Sarah also uses the pure white rose as a metaphor of our heart. She says to picture our hearts as a white rosebud. It hasn't nearly bloomed yet, and if we try to force it open, we will break apart the little pedals, that could eventually be big, soft, beautiful, white pedals to a fully blossomed rose. Our heart is not yet ready. God has our whole entire life planned out, and he is telling us to wait. Wait until our hearts have fully blossomed and are pure and white, with Jesus. Don't try to force it open, and tear little pedals off of it.
She also talks about the waiting season. And how difficult it can be for young ladies to wait for Mr. Right. But how the time of waiting is the most important time of all. There are many Scriptures on waiting in the Lord, and serving Him while we wait. She points out that waiting is the best time to look into ministries. That while God keeps us single, He has work for us to do. Many young ladies have given their testimonies on how they've done things through ministering, things that they would have never been able to do married. That makes me even more excited about advocating and doing outreach now. Think about it, if God wants me to get married in my twenties, then that leaves me about another 12 years to do what I love- speak up for the silent, reach out to the orphans, and the poor. Now I could be completely off, I don't know God's plan, but as we're commanded to do I will let go and let God. I won't get in His way, I surely do NOT want to mess up His marvelous plan for me. I will stay out of His way, and do everything I can to bring glory to Him.
