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Friday 29 June 2012

How Do I pursue Christ in the Relationship Situation I am in?

Wow. I can't believe the wisdom and thought that has gone into these posts, I am so thankful to you four ladies for hosting and posting on a topic as important as this. It has been wonderful to hear your thoughts and hearts for this topic and to be encouraged in the process. This is what I love most about blogging.


This topic is an interesting one for me, as you probably gathered from my purity and waiting post earlier in the week (read here). The Lord cultivated my heart for encouraging others in their singleness many years ago. The joy I have in sharing my thoughts and encouragement with someone in this topic has only increased as my relationship status has changed.


In high school, when I was single, I struggled.
Then the Lord brought an interest into my life.
Then I was single again for a while. Then he brought that same guy back into my life who then pursued me and became my husband.
So all that say, I feel I have walked through many of the different relationship paths even though I am now in that (often coveted) marriage relationship. So I love to encourage other women as I have walked many paths even though they may be different from your own.


These past two years of marriage have been such an adjustment in so many areas of my life. Also with my heart for encouraging single girls. You see slowly the Lord has removed my influence in this area. But the heart for young girls and their pursuit of the Lord has not disappeared.


I think honestly it's hard to pursue Christ no matter what relationship status you currently find the Lord has you in. I think you spend a lifetime learning about and pursuing Christ, regardless of your relationship status. A lot of the ways you pursue Him will be similar regardless of your love life.


A lot of things about pursuing Christ have not changed since my single days:

  • Reading my bible ~ the main way I find to learn more about who God is
  • Praying (either alone or with other people)
  • Fasting (I really need to do this more than I do)
  • Sharing with others ~ accountability with people. Letting them in so they can speak truth into your life.
  • Going to church & having fellowship with other Believers
  • Listening to sermons during the week for teaching & encouragement
  • Reading good christian literature
  • Listening to worship music in my car ~ This makes me so much more content as I start my workday by driving and singing along with music. {Britt Nicole's album Gold has been on repeat for weeks now.}
  • Just spending time with the Lord ~ While I was single, I had several 'dates' with the Lord. Where I would purposely seem to be by myself at dinner or out so that I could be with Him during those moments. Like you would spend time with someone in any other relationship. 


Other things have changed since I got married two years ago:
  • Praying with the hubby ~ now something that we strive imperfectly to do together.
  • Talking about or sharing sermons with my husband.
  • Reading good books with my husband.
  • Balance in spending time alone with God and spending time with the Lord together with the husband ~ requires a lot more balance and effort than those single days.

A lot of the struggles I dealt with while single have in fact disappeared or been resolved. But they have been replaced with different ones with marriage.
Instead of feeling lonely, I now struggle to try and prioritize spending time alone with God and trying to be purposeful in setting aside time to spend with my husband pursuing God together.
Rather than finding discontentment with not being in a relationship, engaged or married....I now find that I could easily be discontent with feeling my marriage should be better or we should have children by now. 


It has definitely been an eye-opener while being married to see that it seems the 'grass is greener' on the other side. While single I was desperate to be married and pursuing the Lord together with my husband. Often now I realize how much easier it was to pursue the Lord while single as I didn't have to do that as well as spend time together with my husband pursuing God. 


Regardless of where you find yourself in your relationship status ladies....I hope you glean wisdom from the posts of this wonderful linkup and grow in learning how to pursue Christ and trust Him with where you are at. 

As Paul said:

'I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.'
(Philippians 3:8)



Hope you have been encouraged and continue to pursue the Lord with all your heart.
Whether you are single. Dating. Engaged. Or married.


Much Love,
L

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21 comments:

  1. love love love love this! thank you for all your sweet comments on my blog! you are too sweet. i love the kindred spirits comment. I love finding kindred spirits!

    i am on twitter...@happythehome

    in response to this post: the Lord really drew me to himself during my single years and really allowed me to cultivate such an intimate relationship with Him that it has served as an anchor for me through the transition of dating to marriage..and now to motherhood. i am nothing without HIM in my life. ((if that makes any sense)) :)

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    1. Thanks for sharing girl! I love your sweet heart for the Lord. Much Love! =)

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  2. You and your husband are adorable! Thanks for visiting/commenting on my blog! :)

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    1. aww thanks girl! You are so sweet! Much Love!

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  3. Thanks for linking up at Find + Follow Friday:)

    -Nicole @ Me + the Moon

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  4. Hi!! I tried going to the post you linked up to First Day of My Life's Thankful Thursday but it says it's gone? Hmm. So not sure which one you meant to link up.

    But anywho, I am so blessed to read this post today. Thank you for the inspiration and your sharing your beautiful heart with us <3

    Happy weekend my dear! My God bless you mightily today & always :)

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    1. Hey Cami!! =) Thanks SO much for letting me know....no idea what happened there. I have relinked up (is that a word?) so its there again now =)

      Thanks for stopping by and sharing your sweet encouragement.
      Much Love,
      L

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  5. I love this, L. & I love that you share the differences in what your pursuit of Christ looks like now that you're married. It's interesting & enlightening to see marriage doesn't alleviate the struggles we deal with when we're single, it only trades for a set of new ones. It's Christ who gives us the strength to overcome them in either situation. Thank you for your wisdom!

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    1. Thanks for your encouragement Annie =) =) Thanks for hosting the Ablaze series & for encouraging us all to examine our walk with the Lord. You are a gem! =) Much Love!

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  6. What you said about the struggles that come with marriage (having a better marriage or worrying about when to start a family, etc.) are things I've never thought about before! As a single girl, it never crossed my mind and I'm so glad that you mentioned that. I'm encouraged by the snippets of advice you shared that you've learned from the different seasons of your life.

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    1. Thanks for your encouragement Samantha =) =) Much Love!

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  7. This is such an incredible post. You have such great wisdom and I loved the list you had about what all stays the same no matter if you were single or married. It is so true! Thanks for linking up, girl!

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    1. Thanks for your encouraging message Nicole =)

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  8. Great post! I'm glad that you included both things that have stayed the same and things that have changed. Thanks for posting!
    -Tiffany
    http://thewanderingtheologian.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks for your encouragement Tiff =) =)

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  9. You are so right about the difficulty of pursuing God no matter your relationship status. It was hard while I was single and it was hard while I was dating and it's still hard now that I'm married!

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    1. Oh I hear you girl! =) Thanks for your sweet comment! =) Much Love!

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  10. So true! Pursuing God as a wife or mother isn't really better or worse...it's just different! I love how the Lord uses every season of life to show us things in a different light.

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    1. That is so true Jenni! Thanks for your comment =)

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  11. Thanks for such a beautiful and encouraging post. I love the end where you pointed out that we need to pursue Jesus first, regardless of our relationships. I know sometimes I forget what is really important when I focus on just what I want.

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