Posted on 07/28/2006 5:00:29 PM PDT by Maximus_Ridiculousness
That is a pretty post Dolly!
I don't think your snake hobby will be a detriment to finding someone. Not all women fear snakes. The only time I really fear snakes is when I bump into one out in the wild...I'm not fond of rattle snakes.
I don't think that I'm different from most women.
Keep your snakes, and don't give up!
My girls are lazing around on the furniture after having a big party (or fight, or riot, or whatever... who can tell with catz) about 3:30 this blessed AM.
I'm going to let them fall asleep and then start crashing commercial kitchen pans next to them. Paybacks... ;>)
/johnny
That was very PROFOUND. Thank you!
I've had my own kitties do very similar things - the jumping in the bathtub one, climbing up my jeans at feeding time, the kitten in the mirror thing...
LOL! They're clowns, that's why it's so easy to love cats!
Ping to myself for later.
Dolly, thanks for the kitty ping, and thanks also for the beautiful comment at # 334.
LOL
Thanks,
Bill
I'm not entirely sure what you mean, and my confusion might be all the answer that your question needs.
Like a close friend that knows you well or something?
But this one is quite different for me.........so it's a new kind of kick. :)
She was sitting up on her haunches, in a standard sitting cat pose, weaving from side to side, eyes firmly shut, just almost asleep when I accidentally dropped those pesky 4" half pans. And the big roaster.
/johnny
/johnny
Awesome video!
Bump! Thanks for the ping DC.
First of all, as Evangelical Christians, we'd like to say that the Church does a pretty bad job of dealing with the whole dating/marriage topic.......perhaps because of fear, perhaps because of misinformation. (Let me say that anyone who says the Song of Solomon is only in reference to Christ and the Church is sadly misinformed. It's practically a sex manual.......passionate, and very frank).
The Church is made up of sinners, who sometimes get things really wrong, and though it seems to reflect on God Himself, it is not His will, nor His purpose for the body of Christ, the Church, to be a source of discouragement, as it has been for you.
But having said that, neither of us thought that the things you brought up in your post encouraged what you call 'passivity.' For example, Paul's words that it is better to be single than married (for the purpose of ministry) are not in any way, shape or form advice to all Christians. Paul knows that God's plan for most includes marriage, and that passage doesn't encourage passivity either in marriage, or in ministry. Also 'seeking first the Kingdom of God' doesn't imply that we don't work hard at any other aspect of our life here on earth. While marriage is not the same as an engineering career, there is nothing in seeking God first that implies or states that we don't have to work hard in life to succeed........and that includes our relationships.
It sounds like you either got some bad advice in those churches, or possibly, you interpreted what was said incorrectly.
God doesn't ever expect us to 'sit around and wait' for anything. If we feel God's calling us to a profession, we still need to pursue the education, apply to the colleges, take out the loans, and study our tails off to achieve it. There is no passivity involved in following God's will in any area of life. If those in your church said that there was passivity in something as critical to our lives as marriage, they, frankly, misinterpreted God's word. God gives us minds, hearts, passions, interests, and two feet. We're not supposed to sit around and wait for things to happen. We are supposed to be active in our obedience to His commands.
Secondly, we would like to address your own insecurity when it comes to women, as you have expressed it in describing your present relationship with the friend with whom you have 'chemistry.' You stated that the woman has never SAID you weren't her ideal, but that you still thought that you were inadequate. Is it possible, first, that you are wrong about that with this woman? And is it possible that there have been other women along the way that you drew the same conclusion (due to your own insecurity) who may have been very interested in you? (As for the 'experience' stuff........our now married 24 year old son never dated......never even TALKED to girls if he had to, and ended up marrying a very popular, attractive young woman who was smitten by him....and he, by her. 'Exerience' means nothing). btw, EVERYONE is insecure. Some just hide it better than others.
Third, we would like to strongly counter the idea that at 42, it is too late for you. I have two sisters who were both married (for the first time for all four people), at the age of 37 (neither dated much, never seriously). All four of them thought at some point that God intended for them to be single, and had made peace with that, but along came the perfect partner for them in 'middle age' and they are both extremely happy now, many years later. (One had children, the other not).
It seemed in your post that you have given up, and that you have now resigned yourself to the passivity that you know was the wrong advice in your twenties. Why would it be the right course of action, now that you are in the prime of life, and mature, financially solvent, and responsible? As we see it, that line of thinking doesn't make sense.
Last...........it seems that your understanding of God (due, perhaps to unfortunate church advice) is quite small. God doesn't change based on our understanding of who He is. There are often times in our lives where we don't 'feel' God near us, but He hasn't moved. God's love for us doesn't go away because we don't feel it. And God's love for us doesn't diminish because we are angry with Him.
It is a very human and common response to get mad at God when things go wrong in our lives. For you, being single is 'wrong.' (For Paul, it was ideal). You believe that God has let you down, but God's purpose is to love us and bring glory to Himself through us, and not to give us our way. And in that, it is up to us to allow God to be glorified in us even when life's circumstances don't make us happy.
You seem like a great guy. You're smart, you're sensitive, you're responsible, you're mature, you're able to communicate REALLY well (which is RARE in guys).
It is my (ohioWfan's) opinion, that you are a great catch, and that this is YOUR TIME to find that perfect mate to compliment your qualities with her own.
Go for it!
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