This is why

It's a lazy week this week.  I'm down to crunch time in the office, so I'm just copying a lot from my facebook notes.  It's all good, they're still gems.  

1.26.10
I've been down that road. It's nothing but a vicious cycle full of lies, use, abuse, insecurity, depression, and self-hatred. Society tells me that's normal. Society tells me to be masculine. Society tells me that I'm not beautiful, loved, worth the fight, or worth the wait.

Song of Songs tells us THREE times: "Do not awaken love before its time."

Proverbs tells us to "guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life."

Jeremiah also tells us that "more deceitful (torturous) than all else is the human heart, beyond remedy; who can understand it?"

Josh Harris, author of I Kissed Dating Goodbye, tells us that there are 4 stages in any relationship, romantic or otherwise:

1. Casual Friendship

2. Deeper Friendship.

(it is at this point in a co-ed friendship where the man decides to take it to the next level.)

3. Courtship: purposeful intimacy with integrity.

4. Engagement/Marriage

William Davis tells us: "Your reputation is learned in an hour; your character does not come to light for a year."

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that the four marks of the sacrament of marriage are "Free, total, faithful, and fruitful."

JP2 tells us that "you are not the sum of your weaknesses and fears, but the sum of God's love for you."

Ephesians tells husbands to "love your wives as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water with the word, that (you) might present to himself the church in its splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. so husbands should love their wives as their own bodies."

Genesis tells us that God made "a suitable partner for man" which is "why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body."

Romans tells us "Do not conform to the standards of this world."

This is why I'm considered old-school, out of touch, and unrealistic.

This is why I don't date.

This is why I don't hug men that I don't know or consider my brothers.

This is why I celebrate true femininity.

This is why I know I am loved.

This is why I affirm true masculinity.

This is why I won't kiss my husband until I've proclaimed my vows.

This is why I challenge men to be men.

This is why I know I am worth fighting for.

This is why I challenge women to be women.

This is why I don't follow the idols of fashion.

This is why I love to be pursued.

This is why I WANT to be pursued.

This is why I pray for my future husband.

This is why I'm radical.

This is why I won't emasculate.

This is why I challenge men to give me a reason for why they spend time with me.

This is why I don't listen to secular music.

This is why I know I am worth waiting for.

This is why I don't wear makeup.

This is why I crave chivalry.

This is why I pray for my future children.

This is why I insist on building a strong friendship first.

This is why I lead by example.

This is why I know I am beautiful.

This is why I know that my Prince has my best interest in mind.

This is why I follow Him.

Proverbs 4:23