Is that even the right question

2 Years and 1000 stories since my last post. Lately, though I have been feeling as though I need to get back to this. Sharing some of what God is doing in my life, and the things I am learning daily.

It is important to have a record of the progress.

Recently, I have been bombarded from every side by the questions of what it means to be a woman in the church. What it means to be a wife (some day!) and how my female gender impacts my calling in God.

One of the biggest things that single women face daily is the question of dating/hanging out with/ making out with/ seeing/ (insert title or justification here) non-Christian men. We all know that the ideal is for us to marry a wonderful Christian man who will lead our homes with wisdom, grace, and the occasional delivery of flowers or chocolate! But somehow in the walking out of that, I see all around me wise women of faith settling for something less than God's best. For the sake of full disclosure, I am referring to others' actions around me, not because I am blameless, rather the opportunity hasn't presented itself. For the most part, the Godly women around me are not completely falling off the bandwagon, we are all still hoping for a Christian man to sweep us off our feet.... and YET.... WHERE ARE THEY!

This desire was so succinctly expressed by a good friend late one night when she lamented: :WHAT DOES GOD EXPECT??? IF CHRISTIAN MEN ASKED ME OUT I WOULD GO OUT WITH THEM!!!! But in the meantime.....

For a while I took up that battle cry (let's be honest, I am open to any loopholes!) and decided it was all God's fault. Again.... without the "opportunity" to put my new-found conviction to the test.... it sat for a while. But it didn't quite sit right.... it seemed to still fall short of the best that God says HE has for me. And truth be told... I KNOW what God "expects of me!"

A podcast of a sermon by Andy Stanley entitled "Character Under Construction" touched briefly on this topic. And to sum it up..... as I listened, the lament of my good friend of "God, what do you expect of me" was answered by the words "ABIDE IN ME".

I got to thinking about that. When did we decide that it was our "right" to get physical affection from the opposite sex? When did we decide that there was a lifetime quota that we are "owed" and if God doesn't bring along someone who fits His standard... then we are free to "get some"(not ALL) from whoever stands in front of us (and is asking... and is interesting!).

The world would tell us that we are not in control of our thoughts, or actions. That when it comes to the full spectrum of sex... it is a physiological necessity for us to "git me some!"

I have found in 3 years of travelling for work and being away from my family for long periods of time, that I struggle MOST with physical purity when there are not people in my vicinity who "KNOW" me. Those people who fill up my love tank with their very presence. Those intimate friendships where you have seen one another at your lowest point. Those people who you are happy to have in your house in the midst of the Saturday morning chaos!

So... today I stand in the promises of God and remind myself of what GOD expects of me... that in ALL things... I would ABIDE in Him.

Now if you will excuse me.... gotta freshen up my makeup.... off to lunch!