I have read some interesting books lately that I would like to suggest.
"Before You Meet Prince Charming" by Sara Mally, "Preparing to be a Helpmeet" by Debbi Pearl, "Wait For Me" by Rebekah St. James, & "Boy Meets Girl" by Joshua Harris.
Sara, inspired me to dedicate my youth to serving Christ while waiting for him to prepare my heart for my future mate. Mrs. Pearl, inspired me to discover the kind of gal I am, while learning the differences in guys; Kingly, Priestly or Prophet. Rebekah, has always been an inspiration to me, and her book has challenged me to not compromise my purity. Joshua, inspired me to not awaken love before it's time as in Song of Songs.
I am preparing to read Passion & Purity by Elisabeth Elliot.
It is neat how God uses such books and their authors to inspire & make us aware of so many things. For the most part these books confirmed things I have known & desired for my life since a small child, but some helped me to see things I was doing wrong that could possibly compromise myself or friendships with guys. I have several guy friends & I would never want to be a stumbling block for them in their christian walk. I do not wish to cross or even come close to a line I have created for myself either. I have learned being friends with guys is different from being friends with girls even if it is a "Just Friends" status, we still have to treat the friendship with caution & care. We have to treat them as our brothers in Christ & in turn they will treat us as there sisters in Christ(or the other way around). It is very easy to get emotionally involved with a guy friend without even realizing you are forming emotional ties. With girls we tend to form emotional bonds that can last a lifetime & that is good. When those ties are formed with the opposite sex though we can end up giving away a piece of our heart that we intended to save for our future mate. It all seems so innocent & it is but we have to ask our-self, "am I giving something that does not belong to me?" Or "am I taking something from my friend that belongs to his future mate?" We just have to be very careful to find a casual balance to our friendships with guys.
Be careful of long in depth talks that may cause you to have emotional ties. If that happens then you have to ask if you are ready to move that friendship to something more, if not then you need to step back before you or your brother in Christ begins to fall. Of course it may be you are ready to move forward into a more serious friendship perhaps a time of getting to know each other with the possibility of courtship. As stated in "Boy Meets Girl" it should be the guy that makes that move not the girl. Allow them to be the initiator in the relationship. We girls tend to get controlling & liking that lead roll if it is given to us.
Sure, I have dreamed of the day that special someone would approach my dad about getting to know me on a personal level & exploring the possibility of a courtship. I am trying harder these days not to dream of that day so much, but to simply serve the Lord in my youth & trust God with 'the one' he is already preparing for me.
For me it is my hearts desire to one day have a beau that will lead me in a Godly courtship with Christ as the head & the two of us as faithful followers.
I have learned so much from all of these books and really encourage you to read them if you have not already done so. For you guys there are many greats books for you as well. Some of the ones mentioned are for both guys & girls but there are others such as: The Mark of a Man by Elisabeth Elliot & Michael Pearl is coming out with the guy version of "Preparing to Be a Helpmeet" it is called, "Created to Need a Helpmeet" I know my dad is looking forward to reading that one.
Brothers & Sisters in Christ, I encourage you as, Sara, did in "Before You Meet Prince Charming" & Joshua did in "Boy Meets Girl & I Kissed Dating Goodbye" to use this time of singleness to do the things for Christ that you may not be able to do once you are committed to marriage.Discover what it is he wants to do in your life - this could determine your future & possibly even the kind of man or woman you one day marry. I want to serve my future mate with my whole heart, & I think by first serving Christ in my youth I will be better equipped to do that for my future husband.
Let's honor our brothers & sisters in Christ so that we can one day stand before their future mates & be proud we did not rob them of something that did not belong to us.
Your Sister in Christ,
Hannah
