Kissing The Toilet

              I started this post months ago, and just now have the time and revelation to finish it.

   This evening I was in the bathroom with my puppy Reagan. I was washing my hands while she was on the floor, and she walked over to the toilet. Now, Reagan is a sweetheart, and she loves to give kisses. So as soon as she walked over I knew what she was going for. Sure enough before I got to her she licked the side of the toilet a few times. I promptly scooped her up and she started licking me! Somehow her kisses did not seem so sweet, and were rather off putting because I knew she had just been kissing the toilet! I started thinking about how often I do the same thing to God. I defile my lips and being by "kissing the toilet" myself. I give praise to things I shouldn't give praise to, I say things I shouldn't say, I give my time to things I shouldn't give my time to, I meditate on things I shouldn't meditate on. I watch, listen to, read and write things I shouldn't. I give my being and my love to so many distractions of the world. And then I so quickly turn around to God and start giving Him my kisses. And somehow, He still loves them.

   I vowed to save my first kiss for the alter, because I didn't want to defile my lips before God*. Yet how often do I freely give my kisses to the toilet? I also wanted my first kiss to be special, and to be a gift I saved and treasured for my future husband at the alter. But how often do I freely kiss idols, and then expect my kisses to God to be special and a treasured gift I saved for Him?

   To be holy for Him, and wholly for Him, is what I desire. I desire to know no other than Him, to "not even let their names be found on my lips."** I want to be so in love with Yeshua that none other compares, and that none other can hold my attention for even a moment. I want to be so captivated by His beauty that I never look away, never once to turn my gaze. I want to be wholly His.

   What's it to be to know only Him? What's it like to never look away? What do the angels in the throne room feeling after an eternity of His presence? What do the Elders feel after the thousandth casting of the crowns? That's what I long to know. Jesus for eternity.
 

*This was something I felt called to, but I don't believe it is for everyone. I do not believe anyone who has kissed a guy before the alter has defiled their lips! I just believe for me, as one who is called not to, that to do so would be to forfeit God's best in that area.

**Exodus 23:13, "Pay attention to all that I have said to you, and make no mention of the names of other gods, nor let it be heard on your lips."

Waiting For Marriage...or Not.

I don't think that God is calling you to wait for marriage. 

Waiting, a photo by h.koppdelaney on Flickr.

Now that I have your attention, I'll clarify. What picture comes to mind at the word "wait"? Perhaps it's a pair of hands folded submissively on a lap, a patient dog beside the door, or bored travelers at a bus stop. I've heard some people talk as if single young women should act like this: passive and stagnant. 

But what does God have to say about waiting?

In Matthew 25 Jesus told the parable of ten young women who had to wait all night for wedding festivities to begin. "Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps." When the bridegroom came along, guess which girls were ready to come out and meet him: the ones who were prepared.

I'm a homeschooled girl who has never had a boyfriend (gasp), and yes, sometimes it's difficult to imagine how I will ever meet Mr. Right unless it's through some kind of random accident. At times it's easy to ignore the fact that I'm single and I can throw myself into living a full and meaningful life, but sometimes it's easy to sit back and bemoan my fate, saying, "Well, I guess I have to wait." If you've ever been tempted to say that, then here is a wake-up quote for you:

A girl who lives a static life of waiting to be married is not attractive. Think what it conveys: “I’ll just sit here idly while waiting for someone to come and give me a purpose, and a house and money and food and make me happy and love me.” It’s very needy. A man wants a companion, not a sympathy case. 

-Debi Pearl, Preparing to Be a Helpmeet 

Let me tell you Lydia's story. Lydia is a beautiful woman with a heart on fire for God. For years her friends admired and appreciated her talents and passion, watching as she embarked on mission trips and made beautiful music with her hands and voice. She was cheerful, sweet, funny, adventurous, and strangely single. Why weren't there dozens of eligible young men snapping her up? 

Perhaps Lydia was thinking that too. I've heard her talk about her struggles in this area, how she wanted a husband but God didn't seem to want that for her. Well, she decided, if marriage wasn't part of the plan she would find out what was. So she took a trip to Israel with the sole purpose of praying and seeking God's heart. And guess what: she found a husband! The moment she stopped waiting for God's will and started doing God's will, Mr. Right fell into her life in an amazing way. 

All of this to say, don't wait, girls! Wait for intimacy, wait for giving your heart away, but for Heaven's sake don't wait to do something meaningful and purposeful in this world until you've found a mate. Unfold your hands and stop being "needy," do the things that will prepare you to be an amazing wife and an amazing woman, because you never know who could be watching....

 

Dreams in the Sky



 Thinking of lace and flowers, cake and rings...

Dreaming of the one whom I shall give my heart to, the one whom I will walk down the aisle with, the one who I shall love all the days of my life.

Um, wait. Did I just say all the days of my life?

So, that means every day... even before I even know that special him? Yes, dear friends, it's true.

"She does him good, and not harm,
    all the days of her life."

Proverbs 31:12

In my thoughts now. My actions now. My feelings now.

But you may ask, "Well, how would I bring him harm?"... and that is what I want to talk about. As women, created in God's sight as beautiful and precious, we have that God-given desire to love, and to show love and comfort to people. Yet sin has twisted that love and made it an idol, in which all we do is dream about who that special "Mr." is whom we can love. {Or can I say fall in love with us and sweep us off our feet?}  So we get carried away... start dreaming, and often fall into seeing us stand up alongside a certain young man we know. Maybe he's cute, or funny, or really nice. Today, we call that a "crush". You know that you want to save your heart for one man, but sometimes it's hard not having those feelings... those dreams for you and him. And what if it is that young man? Maybe that is why God has placed him in your life, right?

Well, not exactly. :)

See, this is a part of loving your husband all the days of your life. It is saving your heart, affections, and thoughts just for him. We don't know who that special someone is, and until the Lord reveals it to us, we need to keep our heart and thoughts pure. But it's hard, isn't it? How can we put aside these feelings, so that we can do good to our husbands all the days of our life?

Here's a few concepts that have truly helped me and strengthened me as I strive to live in purity.

•Seek God's will above your own

So many times we focus so much on ourselves, that we forget to whom we truly belong and live for.

We think about me.. and me ... and my life... and my dreams.. and, well, we lose our heavenly focus.

Yet by asking the Lord to turn our hearts ever more to Him, our priorities shift and our desires are changed to what He desires.

• Remember that we do not have a claim over the certain young man.

We may think "Oh yes, this ones mine. I have every right! I've known him since first grade, have done so many things together, etc." We have to remember that this may be someone else's husband, and if we truly want to show the love of Christ, we must desire their personal good, not our's. If we see the young men around us as someones husband, or as if they were already married {for God has ordained our future}, then we will be able to guard our hearts and keep our thoughts pure.

• Don't build castles in the sky

By dreaming of what house you and him are going to buy, where you are going to go on your honeymoon, and thoughts like that, you are building something that may never even happen. This ends in heartbreak and pain as we see that they never really thought of a relationship with us. And when we start dreaming and planning our life together, it is almost as if our brain goes out the window in that we fail to realise what kind of man we want our husband to be and begin to "settle for less". We fall in love with our romantic fantasies and adventures, where we are always being saved by that special young man. Yet we fail to realise that He doesn't truly live for Christ.

        •Remember the bigger picture.

Is our life supposed to be about how much happiness, joy, and attention we can get out of this life?

Um, no. Sorry to disappoint you. :) As daughters of the Lord, our aim in life should be to live to bring Him glory and honor... to show His love and mercy to those around us, and to put others' interests before our own.Remembering that we are accountable to God for what we do in this life places us back on our feet and gives us a vision for more than our temporal happiness.

These thoughts have helped and encouraged me as I strive to live for my Heavenly Father... to keep my heart pure and to guard it. They have reminded me that if I truly desire to show God's love, I must seek a love that is patient and kind, selfless and forgiving, rather than a self glorifying love that is centered around {guess who!} me.

May these simple thoughts bless you and encourage you as you continue to walk this narrow path.

Blessings,

{All photos via Pinterest}

{Key points and thoughts taken from "Its' not that Complicated", a wonderful book by the Botkin sisters which I am in the middle of reading}