She Smiles, She writes: Part 2 // What worked for me: preparing for intentional dating

My pretty lady asked me to write how I was prepared prior to courting her.
I love this topic because I feel that God has blessed me with wisdom on the matter.
Our relationship is not perfect. In fact it is far from perfect, and honestly I don't have a step by step science on dating/courting.

What I have is one statement that can & will forever change your dating/courting life:

seek God.

The one action of seeking God is the one action that changed my dating life forever.

When I was in High School God asked me not to date. So I didn't. However, I couldn't have heard Him say that, unless I was seeking Him. In that little obedience He was preparing me.

When I got into college I saw her & God immediately said she would be my wife. This wasn't the important statement though. The impornatnt statement was what was to follow, "she does not need a boyfriend, she needs a friend." If you know our story, you know that I disobeyed on the latter (it wasn't long until I told her I liked her...and that didn't go so well), something that I regret, but it was in seeking God that He spoke that instruction.

By November of the next year, God had me read "Boy Meets Girl: Say Hello to Courtship" by Joshua Harris (I highly recommend this text). I didn't realize it, but God was using that book to prepare me to start a relationship. Prior to that text, God had been working on me the whole year. How could I enter into a relationship with someone else when I didn't even know who I was? And how do I learn more about myself? By seeking God. He is the only one who knows me better than I know myself.

The best way to prepare is to get to know your God and out of that you will get to know you. Books are good, wisdom from elders is great, but nothing can replace the relationship you have with God in your quiet place.

Seek God. It's all about Him anyways.