"A Man Worth Waiting For" by Jackie Kendall

This book contrasts Boaz, the godly, honorable man from the Bible, with "bozos" (lame guys), and encourages young ladies to hold out for a worthy Boaz instead of a jerk.

There are four parts to the book. Part 1 has three chapters. Chapter 1 is an in-depth study about Boaz from the book of Ruth, chapter 2 assures us that the man worth waiting for is not an extinct ideal, and chapter 3 talks about the characteristics of a bozo.

Part 2 discusses the "essential elements of a man worth waiting for". I thought this was excellent--she wasn't saying he has to be perfect, but rather he has to be striving to be more and more like Jesus. She included lots of comments from men and women that had answered her questionnaire about what they thought the characteristics of an ideal man were. This helped me form my official list. :-)

Part 3 talks about "your role in locating a bozo". Basically, your role is to become a "Ruth"! The last chapter talks about practical ways to guard your heart, grow in godliness, and be content where you are.

I really enjoyed the book, and definitely recommend it! Some of her standards about dating I didn't exactly agree with, so I would read this book at the same time as "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" to get a balanced view. :-)

"Hold Me Jesus"

So I climbed all the way to the top of Mt. St. Helens yesterday.

Anyway, while I was in the car with several friends, we listened to this song, and the chorus was running through my head the whole time we were hiking up the mountain. Especially when I was pushing myself as hard as I could to get to the top.

And then I came home and listened to it and thought that this part was interesting...

"Well, sometimes my life
just don't make sense at all
When the mountains look so big
and my faith just seems so small."

I didn't even notice that line when we were listening to it in the car, and I think it's pretty cool that song was going through my head the whole time I was climbing.

Because that mountain looked so big.

Prayer

Oh, magnify the Lord with me,

and let us exalt His name together!

I sought the Lord, and he answered me

and delivered me from all my fears.

Psalm 34:3-4

God gave it to us as a gift, and I think sometimes don't realize what an amazing blessing it is!

It is clear in God's Word that prayer is a vital, effective part of the Christian life.

Personally, I have found that it is very easy to get lazy about, but once I start making a point of praying regularly, I get into the habit and do it automatically through out the day. Like many other things (worship, loving people, reading the Bible), you have to just do it, even when you don't feel like it, and your emotions will catch up eventually. 

And this is the confidence that we have toward Him,

that if we ask anything according to His will,

He hears us.

1 John 5:14

Something that I think some people are jumpy about is asking God for "insignificant" things.

It seems that God delights in giving us the desires of our hearts, as long as they aren't contrary to His word, or things that would not be good for us.

I think one of the most important things that God tells us about prayer is that we have to trust Him to answer our prayers--whether it be in the exact way we want Him to, or in another way that is far better. If we're just praying out of duty, assuming that he's not really going to do anything about it, we aren't doing it right!

Confess your trespasses to one another,

and pray for one another, 

that you may be healed.

The effective, fervent prayer

of a righteous man avails much.

James 5:16

Set-Apart Femininity by Leslie Ludy

READ THIS BOOK!

I thought it was very, very good. It delved into a lot of topics that I have thought about, and helped me to cement my opinions and views on several things. One of the main things she emphasized is summarized in this quote from the book:

"If you ever catch yourself "putting off" happiness until you finally get married, or thinking that when you finally meet your spouse all of your dreams will be fulfilled, that's a sign that Christ hasn't fully captured your heart. If Jesus Christ isn't enough right now, then he won't be enough after marriage either. And you'll always be seeking fulfillment from the wrong things--setting your marriage for disillusionment and tension."

This is something I have been thinking about a lot recently-- it has to do with so many issues that young women face, like insecurity, boy-craziness, self-hatred, loneliness, and discontentment. If we make Christ our all-in-all, we won't have the driving desire to be married, have a boyfriend, or flirt with every guy that crosses our path.

Not only will this keep us pure right now, it will save so many problems in marriage. In my post on love, I talked about this a little. When we think one person is all we need in life, we just set ourselves up to have the relationship fail.

She also had some good thoughts on how to be friends with boys without it getting out of hand. There is a post brewing about this topic, too. :-)

Summer Goals 2010

Mama and I went to the beach last week for just one night, and amidst lots of eating, being on the beach, and laughing (read more about it here), I got my summer goals written up!

Summer Goals

finish reading the Bible

buy a camera

finish all of my sewing projects

learn to make bread

cook dinner once a week

finish memorizing I Corinthians 13

memorize four more Scripture passages

get 30 followers on both blogs

read 20 books

eat a poptart

There's lots more stuff I have planned to do, but those are my specific goals. It's not a huge list, because I wanted it to be do-able. :-)

Book Review ~ The Divine Dance

I read this book a couple years ago and it really affected me. In a cleverly metaphorical style that is very fun to read and easy to understand, she teaches girls that instead performing for the world and begging for attention, they should be "dancing" for God alone. 

Every girl wants to be beautiful. She wants to be admired and adored, and too often we morph into whatever we think those in the world around us want us to be. And we never feel fulfilled because God didn't design us to perform for other people, but rather to perform for Him. This is a very important point for girls to grasp, because it is integral to most issues we struggle with.

I recommend this book very strongly. I think it can be helpful to girls from below eleven or twelve, up to married adult women. It would be a good book to read and discuss with your mom. View Shannon Kubiak Primicerio's website here.

Have you read "The Divine Dance"? What did you think?

Deliberate Living

de·lib·er·ate 

adj.

1. Done with or marked by full consciousness of the nature and effects; intentional

2. Arising from or marked by careful consideration: a deliberate decision.

3. Unhurried in action, movement, or manner, as if trying to avoid error.

v.  de·lib·er·at·ed, de·lib·er·at·ing, de·lib·er·ates

v.intr.

1. To think carefully and often slowly, as about a choice to be made.

2. To consult with another or others in a process of reaching a decision.

3. To consider (a matter) carefully and often slowly, as by weighing alternatives.

Deliberate Christian living is something that I have been thinking about recently. What I mean by this is living life consciously and intentionally, instead of rushing through, without set purposes and goals.

I think this is especially applicable to young people, because it is easy to think, as the world tells us, that these years are meant for partying, living it up, and having fun. Have you heard the song "So Young" by the Corrs? Here are a few of the lyrics.

We are taking it easy

Bright and breezy

We are living it up

Just fine and dandy

And it really doesn’t matter that we don’t eat

And it really doesn’t matter that we don’t sleep

It really doesn’t matter, it really doesn’t matter at all

‘Cause we were so young then

We are so young, so young now

And when tomorrow comes

We’ll just do it all again

This is a good example of our culture's attitude toward youth. Youthful immaturity and irresponsibility is meant to be enjoyed and be extended into your adult life as much as possible. 

However, as Christian young people, we should be using these valuable years to serve God and further His kingdom where we are right now.


I think it is important to be thinking consciously about what we are doing with our time. Instead of just bumming around, getting by, racing through life and not really thinking about anything, we should be making practical, specific goals for this period of life and then deliberately pursuing those goals. 


We shouldn't think that life begins when we get married. Even though it is important to prepare in specific areas for when we have our own families, we should realize that God has work for us to do here and now. 

We should be actively finding ways to serve others, which starts with serving joyfully in our own homes. We should be doing things, not just coasting along. There are many ways to serve others--we should choose ones that will help us grow in areas that we would like to grow. Spending time with another family who has young children is a perfect opportunity to learn from a mother and also to be a servant to others.

What are some specific things you want to accomplish with this time of your life? Deepening certain relationships? Learning more about certain topics? Finishing reading a list of books? Can you make a list of achievable goals for this summer? I'll get a post up in the next couple of days with a list of my personal goals for this summer.

Let your eyes look directly forward, 

and your gaze be straight before you. 

Ponder the path of your feet; then all all your ways will be sure. 

Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil. 

Proverbs 4:25-27