I have a friend here, I'll all her Mary. She's going through an interesting phase in her life, getting ready for marriage, learning through some interesting trials what God wants to teach her. And as she is sharing with me all that the Lord is teaching her, I feel the Lord preparing me for a change. I started reading "I kissed dating goodbye" by Joshua Harris. And before you go and get all worked up about how you don't like the book, let me just say that I don't agree with everything, but I sure do agree with a lot. It's making me feel even more resolute in a lot of my convictions concerning dating.
Here in Chile, it's really common to have a palolo (boyfriend). It's NOT common to be single for a purpose. It's really common to make out in public. Seriously, ask anyone who has lived here and we have plenty of stories of couples rubbing up against us as they make out on the bus. Gross, right? And before you go thinking that this kind of behavior is just non-christians, oh no, physical boundaries aren't so strict even among christians. Now, this will be fun once I'm married. The whole getting to sit on a bench in a park and just kiss your heart out. But for now, it's just a challenge to navigate the life I want to live here.
And yet it has also strengthened my faith that God will bring the right guy at the right time. The odds seem against me that a guy who loves Jesus and wants to live a life for Him would end up in my life here. But as my friend Derek reminded me last night, the more against the odds my situation seems, the more it forces me to trust Jesus.
And I feel like this change is around the corner. That might mean in a few weeks, or a few years. But it feels like it's coming. In any case it's so nice to be here, in this country where I want to be, living a life that is more awesome that I could ever have imagined. So when that time comes, I'll gladly take it. But for now... it's all good.
Here in Chile, it's really common to have a palolo (boyfriend). It's NOT common to be single for a purpose. It's really common to make out in public. Seriously, ask anyone who has lived here and we have plenty of stories of couples rubbing up against us as they make out on the bus. Gross, right? And before you go thinking that this kind of behavior is just non-christians, oh no, physical boundaries aren't so strict even among christians. Now, this will be fun once I'm married. The whole getting to sit on a bench in a park and just kiss your heart out. But for now, it's just a challenge to navigate the life I want to live here.
And yet it has also strengthened my faith that God will bring the right guy at the right time. The odds seem against me that a guy who loves Jesus and wants to live a life for Him would end up in my life here. But as my friend Derek reminded me last night, the more against the odds my situation seems, the more it forces me to trust Jesus.
And I feel like this change is around the corner. That might mean in a few weeks, or a few years. But it feels like it's coming. In any case it's so nice to be here, in this country where I want to be, living a life that is more awesome that I could ever have imagined. So when that time comes, I'll gladly take it. But for now... it's all good.
Comments