Marriage, Sex, Singleness and Divorce...

wow! its been a long time since ive updated this thing... Sorry to the readers out there! Life has just been a little hectic, and still is but hey I got a few minutes to spare tonite so why not write a little update.

So I went to Austin TX about a month ago to see my two besties- Jen and LP! It was by far the best weekend Ive had in a LONG time. I mean any minute spent with those two is =). Well on Sunday we attended Jen's church (Austin Stone) and they began a new series. This series was perfect for the newly engaged Jen... but also amazingly perfect for me too. "Marriage, Sex, Singleness and Divorce" was the title of this new series of sermons. Matt Carter the lead pastor talked on Marriage that Sunday, and as always I loved hearing what he had to say. I knew that coming back to NE and not being able to participate in his weekly sermons would make me sad, since I was so excited to hear the series... Well lucky me found it on iTUNES and have been able to listen to them that past few weeks. This last week was the one that I so badly needed to hear. What was it on you may ask... SINGLENESS! Now why would I want to hear this when we all know a girls wish is to get married and be a mommy... Ladies and Gentlemen, this sermon was by far the best sermon Ive heard in a long time. I have heard these verses and this type of talk a million and one times, but I guess it takes just that one time you hear it again to actually take it to heart... 1 Corinthians 7:7-9
A few of the points that Matt made were...
1Corinthians 7:7-8
"to the widows/unmarried, it is a good thing to be single..."
-desiring a husband is NOT an unGodly thing...
-What God joins together, you should never break apart. If you think it will eventually break that is it better not to marry.

Singleness=Blessed institution... We may not think or feel like this, but it is.
-If singleness is such a bad thing for us humans to endure, Why did Jesus choose singleness?

Being single is a gift from God, it is an opportunity to spread the word.. Not a failure!

1 Corinthians 7:32
Singleness: secures undistracted, undivided devoted time to the Lord.
Singleness: offers us a blessing eternally better than earthly children

The challenge given by Matt Carter to WOMEN-->
If you allow your wants of being married and wanting kids be taken over by devotion to the Lord, you will be honored in heaven. Can you say Jesus Christ is all you need? Can you say that he is enough for you? Can you let your wants of being having a bf, being engaged and getting married be taken over by your devotion to the Lord? If you choose to give your undivided and undistracted time, God will give you great things in heaven.
Stop worrying about being in a relationship, getting married and having a family! Start running harder after Jesus because he is the reason we live. Use your time and energy studying the word, and spending time with Jesus instead of thinking/worrying about your future with someone! If one day you are running hard after Christ and a guy is running next to you as hard as you are... GET MARRIED! (haha i laughed at this part cuz they mentioned this at kamp so many times! but its true!)
Listen to it on Itunes Podcast.. Sermon 2/8/2009- Marriage, Sex, Singleness and Divorce. Actually just download the whole series..!
Just a little nugget that ive learned and really taken to heart... can i say it is easy.. HECK NO! its harder than you'd think, but God is the one who created whom I may someday marry and he knows when and if it will happen. Why worry about when hes got it all taken care of. Worry about your relationship with Christ before someone else!

Thats all for now...
<3 b!