Why haven't I put  an entry in a long time? Well because I have been SUPER BUSY lately. Well on June 25-29 we went camping It was so fun. We went on a mammoth cave tour (Which was awesome).  W e also went swimming and I went horseback riding. We cooked all our food over the fire which was cool, and OF COURSE WE MADE SMORES YUUUUMMMM. Then on the 4th of July we went to see fireworks at our civic center. We also got a dog it is a full breed lab he is 8 weeks chocolate brown with blue eyes, and we named him Solomon. We also have been busy because we are moving to a little house in Macon county. We are going to live there until we get our cabin built on it. I am happy because the library is right next to the little house. It is a cute very very small town that we are moving to. We have been packing and cleaning alot. Until we write again.
                   Brittnee

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I have been tagged by little woman.....

1.) Where were you ten years ago?

I was almost 4 learning to read.

2.) What are five things on my to-do list?

a) Clean my room

b) laundry

c) Start on my novel.

d)look for certain colleges that offer a bacculerate in nursing

e) charge my mp3 player

3.) Snack's I enjoy.

Lot and lots of FRUIT!!! Cheese and crackers

4.) What would I do if I was a billonaire?

5.) Places I have lived?

Tennessee and Michigan

Others I plan to tag:

hanemlee , kaykay ,  monkeygirl1

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I have been thinking about college lately...Should I go or not?. Well I made up my mind. The answer is: Yes I will go. I want to go and be a Doctor or nurse. I am trying to figure out which one of these I want to be: ob/gyn,  labor/ delivery nurse ,or midwife. I am going to go Because I love to learn and help people. But when I marry I am going to settle down and have children. I think young people should get all their ambitions brushed off before they get married. Don't get me wrong I want to  court and get married and have children. I have always wanted to be a mom ( I do want 8-10 children).Well leave me a comment and tell me what you think.

Blessings
Brittnee

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Growing in grace are having a few contests!!!! One of the contests is for Life of Faith Books   If your a booklover like me you should enter the contest!!! They are also giving away scrapbooking stuff So enter that one to Go check out these giveaways. Hope you enter Brittnee

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When your english teacher asks the class if anyone has read The Lady of Shallot, you stand up and recite it, just like Anne, and then make a fool of yourself when everyone stares at you funny. (he he I did that :oops: )

When you scream at the top of your lungs whenever anne of green gables comes on PBS, even though you own the video.

When you scream at the top of your lungs whenever anyone informs you that they have never heard of anne of green gables!!!!

When someone asks you why you like anne of green gables so much, you give them a 45 minute lecture on how cool Anne and Gilbert are! (And I'm holding myself back.)

When you find yourself talking about the books to someone who obviously doesn't care. (been there done that)

When you make detailed plans on how to assassinate Morgan Harris and Jack , just in case you ever meet them.   

When you scream "Say, I LOVE YOUUUU" when Gil leaves with the train after he's met Anne in Kingsport.(been there done that) 

When you're jealous of every one of your friends who has freckles.

When you take it as a compliment when people tell you that you talk too much!!!!  


When you have to write a paper on anything...you somehow manage to slip Anne in somewhere....

When you watch the movies to either find the bloopers and then you yell at Anne when she's a jerk to Gilbert. ha ha! (check check check!!!!)

I will write soon..I have been really busy latly..So bear with me!!

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Rules: If you have been tagged, you must copy and paste the tag and rules onto your blog, delete my answers, and fill in your own. After that, tag 6 more people! Don't forget to inform your "tagees" that they've been tagged!

1. What's your name spelled backwards?eenttirb

2. If your name is added up two digits? 9

3. What did you last eat? PB&J sandwich and pretzels for lunch

4. Post a random picture:

5. What is your favorite website(s)? facebook , homestead blogger , and homeschool blogger

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Introduction: Where we're headed!

The teens of today are getting ripped off. Instead of enjoying our teen years as they build skills and character, they are getting distracted into the quagmire of relationships that they are not equipped to conduct. The teen years are those where they have the fewest responsibilities at the same time as having their greatest energy level. These should be fun times, exciting times. They should be an opportunity to develop a deep, intimate and personal walk with God, establishing themselves as young warriors who know the Father and have overcome the evil one.

Unfortunately, however, our culture teaches our singles to engage in multiple dating relationships as though it were a normal and useful practice. The truth is, the modern dating system has only been around for less than a century. And it is my conviction that the worldly system of dating, as it is currently conducted by most people, is far from God's original plan, as described in the Bible. I intend to expose the flaws I see in today's dating model, and at the same time point out how Biblical courtship addresses these flaws.

As Christians, our primary purpose in life is to seek and serve God, and fulfill our destiny in Him. This is equally true in the area of relationships. We need to find out what God's plan for relationships is, and then follow it. The current model that we are using is ineffective, at best. It results in divorce more than half the time. There must be something we are doing wrong. Let's study what we are doing now against what God has described in His word, and draw up a new standard. I propose to call this standard 'courtship'. Other terms, such as 'betrothal' or even 'biblical dating' could be used, although they would possibly be confusing.

An overview of dating and courtship

Dating was invented in the early part of this century. Prior to that time, marriage always involved much more input from the parents, and "trial relationships" leading up to marriage were not conducted at all. Courtship, as discussed in more detail subsequently, seeks to emulate the Godly models described in the Bible that were conducted by God's people up until the invention of dating. My basic premise is that regardless of how we feel about things, we should follow God's model, because it will be the most effective and fulfilling. My intention is to convey that conviction, then to describe my current understanding of His model.

In overview, courting should only happen once and ends in a life-long covenant relationship. Dating happens lots of times, and ends in many hurts, heartbreaks, scars, and if you're lucky, a partner that just may stay with you for the next few years, or (if you're really lucky) the rest of your life.

• In the modern dating scene you usually hide all your faults to give a false impression about yourself, in order to keep your partner liking you. Recreational dating is about self-gratification -- you date to satisfy your own needs.

• Courtship is about open and honest exploration of each others lives and families leading up to engagement and marriage. Courtship is about marriage -- you court in order to see if there is any reason why you shouldn't get married. There is no romantic interaction until after the commitment to marriage.

Courtship is a word that has been adopted to describe a biblical model for the relationship leading up to marriage. In the Bible, the parents were always involved in the marriage process. They did not arrange the marriage without the children's' consent, although they were certainly involved in the arrangements. Sometimes the parents found partners for the children, and then the children were consulted for their opinion. Other times the son would approach the daughter's father and make arrangements with him.

What's wrong with dating?

There are many forms of dating, perhaps as many as there are people. Everyone has a different view of what is right and wrong. But there is a glaring fault in many of our models, a double-standard. Once we are married, we recognize that certain things are sacred to our partner. Things such as co-habitation, kissing, intimate hugging, sex and bringing up children. We recognize that not only our physical body, but our emotions, even our spirit are dedicated to that one partner, for the rest of our life (according to our vows).

The dichotomy is this: in dating, we presume to partake of many of these privileges of marriage. We would be shocked if a married man had an emotional attachment to another woman, and yet it's quite acceptable for singles to have a different emotional attachment every week. On the one hand, we save sex for our partners (and some even do that sparingly), but on the other, we engage in rampant emotional promiscuity, giving pieces of our hearts away until one wonders what will be left for that special, life-long partner.

I have adopted the view that the Bible holds the truth for life today. If you feel that the Bible is not the standard for your relationships, then you might find some interesting information here, but you may remain unconvinced. If you're still not sure about this whole Christianity thing, now might be a good time to check out my essays on Christianity. Otherwise, you need to take the perspective that it's not what you want, but what God wants.

The primary purpose of marriage is not to please you, but to serve God. (Another way to say this is 'Our pleasure is not God's number one priority!' :) God wants us to be happy, but "happy" is subject to so many variances in circumstances that it is a very poor standard with which to judge life. Genesis says that God created Eve as a helpmeet -- to help Adam perform his duty, working the garden and taking dominion over the earth. That is God's purpose for marriage -- a team, fulfilling His call together -- pleased with each other, certainly, but primarily focused on Him, not their own pleasure. As Antoine de Saint-Exupery said, "Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking together in the same direction."

So to have a successful marriage, the most important thing is to ensure that you follow His principles that He laid down when He designed marriage. The irony is, when we focus on His principles instead of our pleasure, we end up having a very satifying and pleasant marriage! You may feel that courtship does not adequately describe these principles. If so, I would be happy to hear from you, because I don't believe I have all the answers yet, I feel I'm still on the journey. These articles have already undergone considerable revision from readers' feedback. However, from my review of the Bible, it is my firm conviction that the recreational dating scene is not God's plan for finding a mate.

What is a real relationship?

A real relationship is one where you love that person enough to be honest. Honest about who you are, honest about what you plan to do and be, and honest about how you feel about them and what they do and say. If you haven't picked out the common theme in this paragraph yet, I'll lay it out for you :) Next to love, the most important ingredient in relationships is open, honest communication.

How do you develop in this area of honest communication? In the Western world (especially in Australia), we tend to be shallow in our relationships, comfortable talking about hobbies and the weather, but rarely talking about our struggles, vulnerabilities and insecurities.

As Christians, this should be one of our major areas of witness -- showing how the grace of God makes up for our inadequacies. Too often, however, we are too scared to talk about our inadequacies, and thus others never get to see the grace of God working in our lives. Worse, we don't even take these inadequacies to God, in the fear that if He "finds out about them", He won't love us, or He won't forgive us.

If, as someone who is preparing for marriage, you are not at the point where you can communicate with transparency and vulnerability, then you need to work on these areas! Communication is a crucial foundation to every marriage, and open communication is necessary in order to understand what is truly motivating each other when you have differing points of view.

There are two key relationships you should establish to help develop these skills -- a mentor, and an accountability partner. A mentor is someone who is further along the path that you want to travel. They should be someone you respect and someone who holds similar views and convictions to you in the area you want to be mentored. An accountability partner is a friend who is more of a peer -- someone who is going through the same things you are, and with whom you can share your success and failures and find encouragement from the synergy of shared experience.

These relationships will not only help to prepare you for marriage, they will also serve you to keep your marriage well established and growing healthily.

Love thy neighbor?

Together with open and honest communication, the other major component in any successful relationship is love. What does it mean, to love someone? We have all heard the idiom "love is a choice", but what kind of choice is it? Let me sheds some light on this issue by bringing in 'loving your neighbor' and Romans 12:10.

I say that love is "choosing what is best for the other person". That's NOT the same as choosing what the other person wants. It's always having the other person's BEST interests in mind. Sometimes, this may mean disciplining them, correcting them, or exhorting them to change. Other times it may be to quash a selfish desire in your heart in favor of their desires. Basically, it means taking the focus off yourself and looking at what you can invest in the other person.

In the context of courtship, there are two neighbors that we should love (i.e. keep their best interests at heart). Firstly, there is our future spouse. Keeping her/his best interests at heart would result in things like saving your sexual and emotional purity for her/him, developing your character and preparing resources for a stable marriage with her, etc.

Secondly, there is the future spouse of that person you are interested in. Unless you are ready for marriage, you should not be having 'emotional exchanges' with any member of the opposite sex. You should treat every friend as thought they will be someone else's spouse. Loving that spouse as a neighbour means treating this person as a brother or sister in Christ, not defrauding their emotions or their purity but investing in them without motive for selfish gain.

Love or commitment, which comes first?

Some people wonder about a relationship where there is 'no romantic involvement before marriage' and the possibility that a couple could get married only to find out they have no sexual or romantic feelings for each other. To clarify, however, my conviction is that you shouldn't be romantically involved until after the commitment to marriage. This is the only way I can see of ensuring that you only romance one partner in your lifetime.

If you allow the romance before the commitment, then there is the possibility of several romances, with all the pain and emotional baggage that it entails.

Now this isn't the same as saying there no romance before the marriage/wedding ceremony! I think as well as being time for planning for the wedding, the engagement period is also the time when the couple fall head-over-heels in love with each other, so that by the day they get married, they are totally besotted with each other ;-)

Another comment has been that romance should be the very last stage a couple goes through before they consider marriage. I almost agree with that statement -- it's only the "consider" bit I disagree with. I think they should consider first, then romance.

I guess my conviction arises out of the fact that people's feeling wax and wane -- romance is a subjective feeling and when the rough times come, romance isn't what will keep you together, it's your commitment that will. Thus the Bible says to "love the one you marry" (Eph 5:28,33) rather than to "marry the one you love."

If, after working through all the courtship process and making a commitment for marriage, no attraction or romance develops, I would be quite concerned. But many surveys have shown that older couples say their love increased over time -- so getting married on the love you feel in your 20s isn't necessarily a good standard!

As far as attractiveness goes, I think that's one of the first things people consider in a relationship (whether that's a good idea or not is another story, but like it or not, we do judge people by their attractiveness to us!) so I think sexual attraction would follow as a natural consequence of the initial attraction and the growing feelings of romance and love.he worst thing about dating is your vulnerability. Dating is like marriage, but without the protection! That's the only difference. You relate, spend time together, give your hearts to each other -- with no life-long commitment, with no covenant! And then we wonder why we get hurt! We must learn to relate according to covenant -- marriage is the boundary that protects our 'sphere of vulnerability'.

Covenant vs. Contract

God designed relationships to operate in covenant. A covenant is a commitment that cannot be broken. In our contract-happy society, we think of legal contracts -- as soon as one party fails to fulfil their obligations, the other party is free from the commitments of the contract. In covenant, the commitment holds regardless of the performance of the other party.

An example of covenant relationship is God's love to us. No matter what we do, God is committed to our covenant! How different our view is -- at the first difficulty, we pronounce that "our marriage isn't working out" and we terminate the covenant. But it can't be terminated! It's a lifelong commitment, and it cannot be broken! (See also: Covenant and divorce).

With a life-long focus, you want to get it right the first time (since there will be no 'second time'! :)

Debunking arguments for dating

There are two arguments commonly raised in favour of dating. Firstly "If people don't date, how will they learn to relate with the opposite sex?" and secondly "Dating is just cultural. Our culture dates, the Jewish culture courted." I'm going to debunk these myths by taking them to their logical conclusions. :)

The first statement can be reinterpreted positively two ways "Dating teaches people how to conduct [good] relationships with the opposite sex," or "Dating is the only way people can meet their partner in our society." If the first statement were true, then we should see a growth in strong relationships and strong marriages since the invention of dating earlier this century. Instead, we see an exponential increase in divorce, date rape and many other stains on society. The evidence shows that dating does NOT build strong relationships at all! For the last 1900 years, people have been building good relationships with the opposite sex without dating.

What about meeting your partner? How can anyone expect to meet their mate if they don't date? I question if dating is the best environment to determine if someone has the qualities you desire in a mate. Much better opportunities lie in team ministry, or families visiting families, etc, where there is no emotional involvement, and no agenda to give a good appearance. Then partners can truly judge how that person acts in a variety of circumstances, before they even commence in their relationship. But more about that later! :)

Some people say that dating is our culture. But our culture also says that you should sleep with your partner and live together for a while before you get married, if you get married at all. By what standard do you call the first "acceptable culture" and the second "unacceptable?" The same standard must be used to judge both, and the Bible is not ambiguous in its teaching on relationships. How then can we justify drawing the line between emotional promiscuity vs. physical promiscuity instead of complete fidelity vs. promiscuity?

Dating vs. relating

I think hanging out with the opposite sex is very healthy and necessary. As singles, we need to invest in relationship with each other -- to encourage, to nurture, to bless and to protect. God has created each of us with strengths and weaknesses, and in our single years it is especially important to maintain a vital social network of Christian brothers and sisters to ensure balance and growth.

What I am highlighting is 'special' hanging out that encourages such distinction and segregation, as one couple distinguishes themselves from all others and loses the strength and support of that network by focusing on each other rather than maintaining a balance of focus that includes equal time for God and their community. And a relationship that provides the 'benefits' of a romantic relationships without the 'boundaries' of a defined, covenental relationship.

Let's maintain vibrant social networks, built on shared mission, shared commitment to God, shared interests and shared service. But let's do it in a way that focuses growth in character and godliness (Heb 10:24-25), and avoids romance without commitment.How does this all work?

The previous articles have mostly described the "what" and the "why." At this stage, it would probably be helpful to describe the "how", to give a step-by-step account of how a courtship could work. I'll start out by describing how I would like my courtship to work, "the ideal scenario!" Then I will go on to discuss a few possible variations on the theme.

Since this is me, I'll be talking about my wife -- ladies can flip all the gender pronouns around for their prospective husbands :) Specifically, I should point out that I make a number of demands on her character. I similarly expect that I should fulfill these demands before I begin to court her.

Step one: Some pre-requisites

She must be a friend!

This is true even in the dating model. A romantic relationship is a form of more intimate friendship. If you aren't friends, then you are going to have to expend a lot of time and energy developing a simple friendship, which is going to be a lot more complicated with all these emotions flying around! From a courtship perspective, I am basically entering the first phase of marriage here, so I need to know at least a few things about her and her character to make this rather momentous decision!

Not a great deal has been written on how to transition from 'Hey, I'm interested in you' to courting, i.e. how to grow a relationship from occassional friend (who I don't know enough about to make any decision) to close friend (with whom I would like to take our relationship to the next level). I've thought about this a lot in the last couple of years and will write on it soon (once I work out where it best fits in this series of articles).

She must be a committed Christian

I emphasized "committed" because I would expect to see her commitment to Christ worked out in her daily life. [2 Cor 6:14; See also 'Unequally yoked: Marrying your match!'] She will be eager to know more of God, enjoy going to church, enjoy serving others and generally be a faithful and diligent member of her church and her community. Most importantly of all, she must be willing to address her faults and work them out with God and her leaders. [Pr. 3:11-12; Pr. 1:5-7; Rom. 13:1-5; Lk. 7:6-10] She doesn't have to be perfect by any measure, but she does have to embrace the fire and desire to be more like Jesus, whatever the cost!

She should have similar belief systems to me

We're getting more controversial here, so I just said "should" but this is quite important to me. I'm not talking about totally agreeing with each other about every little point of doctrine, but merely emphasizing that we should have similar views of the world. [Amos 3:3] I enjoy being generous. I enjoy interacting with people from other cultures. I feel that accountability groups are very important for successful Christian life. These aren't essential things, but if my wife doesn't embrace them, it will put extra strain on our relationship -- things that are important to me won't be important to her. Yes, we could work it out, but it's a lot easier to establish these things before marriage than after! I would hope that my wife shares my vision for the generations, and a desire to see people from all nations get saved. I hope she likes VeggieTales too! :)

She must have a dowry

In Jewish culture, both parties had a dowry. Today, this would mean that a husband could probably buy a house whilst his wife could probably furnish it (full amount of three years wages each). [Romans 13:7-8] The responsibility for the wife's dowry lay with her father, ie. it was his blessing on their marriage.

The concept of dowry has been (fairly, IMHO) extended to include character. This means that, just as getting married with a huge financial debt over your head is unwise, so is getting married with a huge emotional debt over your head. Issues such as unforgiveness, bitterness, abuse and lust need to be addressed before marriage. Otherwise marriage might merely be the result of people trying to fulfill these needs in a partner instead of God.

By "dealt with" I mean there should be no areas of unrepentant sin, ie no-one should be able to walk up to you and say "You still ..., and you've never done anything towards fixing it." This is not the same as saying that you never struggle in that area, more that you have addressed all your past struggles. As I said above, perfection isn't necessary, but a desire to change is, as displayed through a commitment to embracing loving confrontation. [Ecc. 11:9; Rom. 13:5; 1 Tim. 3:8-11; 1 Pet 3:15-17]

Step two: Her parents must be involved

The parents would have close relationships with their respective children. The two friends would usually know each other well, have ministered together, served in church together, etc, and so are familiar with each others' values and belief systems.

Based on God's leading, the parents, together with the children, initiate the courtship process. Once both children commit to this process, they are "betrothed." In their cross-family relationships, they should have already addressed all "compatability issues" before this phase of the couple's relationship ever began. I would hope the girl's father is a strong spiritual leader, who could disciple me. Based on his intimate relationship with his daughter, he should have a good understanding of what she wants (and needs!), and through his discipleship of the me, know if I've got it (or help me to grow it).

This is a particularly critical foundation to a sound marriage -- having won the father's trust and support, there is a clear avenue of future advice and encouragement in times of trouble. All too often, parents are forced to side in a problem against the spouse, rather than in support for the marriage. A strong, mutual commitment to each other's success as Godly men provides an established positive advocacy.

Step three: The engagement period

After betrothal comes the commitment to marriage. When the commitment to marriage has been made, the couple are free to express their emotions. Up until this point, they should hide their feelings in their hearts, avoiding expressions such as "I love you" and "I will miss you" which naturally evoke emotional responses.

Step four: A very happy marriage! :)

Of course! ;)

But what if...?

Okay, so that's how it might happen in an ideal world. But what if her parents are dead? Or just aren't Christians? Or are Christians, but don't like the idea of courtship? These are all important questions, and I will address them in turn.

The parents

The most important points about the interaction with the parents is the process; and the principle of submitting to spiritual authorities. Therefore if her parents are no longer alive, or refuse to participate in the courtship process, you could turn to another spiritual authority in her life, like her pastor or youth leader. What is needed is someone who knows her well, who can protect her from "unqualified applicants" and can help her to build a relationship with the right young man.

If the parents aren't Christians, but are willing to be involved in the courtship process, then they should be. God's authority structure still stands, even when it is not fully embraced by those who are part of it. And who knows, your courtship may well be a very influential example to your unsaved parents! It would still be wise, however, to also involve some spiritual authority to cover the spiritual aspects of discipleship and relationship.

And here's quite possibly the hardest question -- what if her parents don't want me to marry her? Then, quite simply, I cannot violate their spiritual authority. I have heard of unsaved fathers who exercised great discernment, one who did not like any of his daughter's suitors prior to the one who married her. She is now very happily married -- and grateful to her dad!

We need to understand that when we marry, we marry the family too. So, if I, their daughter and our spiritual authorities feel we should marry, but her parents still do not, then we would take our case up with God. This is a matter of trust -- is God in control of your world, or her parents? If you truly believe in a sovereign God who answers prayer, then this presents no problem at all! :) I also believe that it is similarly important to have her pastor's blessing.

Me

I'm really not quite sure what to say here, but it seems I too should have a heading, for completeness! :) I think it is worth noting that, prior to meeting this wonderful man, I am focusing on building my dowry, both financially and in character -- I am pursuing God and my destiny in him with a passion. And I am praying for him -- that God will guide him, protect him and bring him to me.

The years before marriage are a time of preparation. The Bible talks about us being 'consecrated' to God -- that literally means having your hands full of purpose. You need to find out your destiny in life -- how can you be sure your spouse's destiny lines up with your own if you don't yet know what yours is?

Once you have found your destiny, you can start equipping yourself for it, and then doing it. More than likely, you will meet your spouse whilst you are out, fulfilling your destiny.He too, will be there, fulfilling her destiny -- similar to yours, since you will have a joint one together! Those who wait at home "for their prince/princess" to come aren't likely to meet (or attract) the partner of virtue they seek.

More than that though, you need to become a whole person, and then build a dowry. Many people enter in to relationships/marriage in an attempt to fulfill their needs.

Many of us have vulnerabilities and hurts from traumas in our childhood or even adult years. These needs must be addressed in God before you start to seek relationships with others, or you may well find that you have married a flea. Once you have addressed these major issues, you need to get prepared for marriage by building a dowry.

In Biblical times, a man would present a dowry to his wife, both as an expression of value in her, and as a security for her, should he be injured or die. This dowry (according to Jehle?) was usually about three years wages, around $100,000 today! Similarly, the wife (or her family) would bring something to the marriage, like a cow to parent their new herd.

But there is more to your dowry than just financial resources. Paul, Jehle and Lon Stokes also talk of a "character dowry". A character dowry includes things like a good work ethic, home-making skills (yes, woman should know how to cook and clean too, even if they feel it isn't their primary role), financial responsibility, faithful commitment to and service in a local church, etc.

I firmly believe that if you commit to God's plan in relationships, and focus on fulfilling your destiny in Him, He will fulfill His part of the bargain. Emotionally and financially prepared for marriage, as you develop your character dowry, God will surely direct to your side His chosen partner for you!Our covenant to God

If we make a covenant to be sanctified to the Lord until we are ready to court, we become sanctified/dedicated to Him. We claim that we are His special property until such time as we are prepared to give our hearts to another in marriage. This makes flirting very dangerous, because it becomes an invitation to steal from God. By flirting, you invite that person to be attracted to you, ultimately, to lust after you. Their desire is for something they cannot have — something that is set apart to God!

God's portion: 'cherem'

This dedication and ownership to God is similar to our tithe. God describes this portion as His, He calls it 'cherem'. Cherem is an Old Testament (Hebrew) term for something that is holy and set apart to God. Leviticus 27:28-32 describes it as holy (devoted); Joshua 7:1 as under the ban (banished/accursed).

In terms of our finances, our tithe is the portion that belongs to God. When we give it to him, he promises a blessing, even invites us to test him! (Malachi 3:10). When we keep it for ourselves, we rob God and bring a curse upon ourselves (Malachi 3:8-9) This is why God wants us to give Him our tithe — to remove the cursed portion from our families and our house, and release him to be able to open the floodgates of blessing upon us!

Prior to marriage, we are set apart to God. Our pre-marriage years are his portion, to be dedicated to developing character, growing in God and deepening our relationship with Him (1 John 2:13b, 14b). Those who make the commitment to wait, leaving romantic relationships for when they are ready to be married, have plenty to do in the meantime! :-)

Flirting invites others to desire God's portion

By flirting, we are inviting someone to desire what we have set apart for God — we are inviting them to act like Achan!

Joshua 7 tells the story of a man named Achan, who ignored God's plan for the tithe. In Joshua 6:17-19, God had described Jericho as cherem — it was Israel's first-fruits in battle and possession, and as such, should be set apart to God. Achan, however, disregarded God's warning and took part of this cherem for himself, hidding the golden idol in his tent. Achan's disobedience led to a great defeat at Alia.

The cherem of courtship

How does this tie in to courtship and dating? If you have committed your heart to God, it becomes consecrated to Him, just like your tithe — it is 'cherem'! And then, if you invite someone to lust after you (by flirting), you bring a curse on them, because they desire something that is 'cherem'!

Paul encourages us not to 'defraud' [1 Thess 4:6] each other, and [1 Tim 5:2] encourages us to treat each other as siblings, "in all purity." Flirting is about trying to elicit a reaction from someone else — usually, to boost your own self esteem. "They respond positively to my flirting, therefore they are attracted to me, therefore I am attractive, therefore I am worth something." Don't find your value in someone else's flirtatious smile, find your value in a God who loves you for who he created you to be!Why do people feel so strongly about these issues? Because the "dating game" is such a dangerous game to play! Whether you are the predator or the prey, you are quite likely to be hurt by the recreational dating scene. Some may come out unscarred from the pit of snakes, but is that any reason to walk through it? :)

In terms of the use of the word 'dating' here, you might want to read the beginning to distinguish between recreational dating and more healthy romantic relationships.

Dating...

• leads to intimacy but not necessarily to commitment.

• tends to skip the "friendship" stage of a relationship.

• often mistakes a physical relationship for love.

• often isolates a couple from other vital relationships.

• in many cases, distracts young adults from their primary responsibility of preparing for the future.

• can cause discontentment with God's gift of singleness.

• creates an artificial environment for evaluating another person's character.

• develops a self-centered, feeling-oriented concept of love.

• teaches people to break off difficult relationships, conditioning them more for divorce than marriage.

• develops an appetite for variety and change, creating dissatisfation within marriage.

• causes late marriages, leaving more time for falling into sins associated with singleness.

• promotes lust and moderate sexual activity, opening the door for fornication.

• creates a permanent endorphin-bond between two people who will not spend their lives together.

• creates a standard of comparison by which mates are first chosen, but after marriage rejected.

• lacks the protections and guidance afforded by parental involvement of courtship.

• doesn't prepare children to face "life's realities" -- it warps life's realities!

• devalues sex and marriage.

• destroys fellowship, leaving Christians alienated and ineffective for cooperative ministry.

• embarks on a romantic progression before people are ready to follow through (and commit to marriage)

• encourages short-term relationships over long-term friendships

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I bet most of you have heard about the tornado's in the south. Well We were thankful that it did not hit are street. But across the lake there was a tornado, that is only 3 miles from here. Then about 1 1/2 miles down the rode, is destroyed. They say it was an f-3 tornado. Are friends in Macon county (Layfette) are very thankful they did not get hit most of there town is destroyed, they were with out power for 2 days, They have a curfew of 6:00 p.m - 6:00 a:m,  200 people are still missing. Well I will tell you about what happend at my house that dreadful night when people lost everything and loved ones died.
                   We woke up about 10:00 '0 clock It was raining and hailing out side. My sister got so scared she jumped up and said" Oh my Gosh, close the window, close the window" we all said "It is closed".Then, my dad when out into the living room to watch the news to see were the tornado was. It was only 3 miles away.So he kept watching for a few seconds and then it went east of us (thankfully). Also a power plant got hit and the fire lit up the sky for miles.
                            So just pray for the people who lost everything, and you who had a tornado"s in Kentucky and Tennessee,Be thankful you are still alive,bye,Until we write again.
                                                                               Brittnee

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I love quotes and poems I have so many of them, so I thought I would share some of my favorites with you. So here they are:

"Am I in the mood for a good story of course I am in the mood for a good story" by: Winston Churchill

"You never graduate from the school of learning" by: Bryan Lewis (my dad)

 "To the world you might be someone, but to someone you might be the world" by: unknown

"If the people we love are stolen away from us, the way to have them live on is to never stop loving them. Buildings burn, people die, but real love is forever." -Taylor Hanson

"Someone out there holds the key to my heart and until I find him and it's unlocked, it will remain half empty"

"If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you."- Winnie the Pooh

"A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out." Walter Winchel

'If all my friends were to jump off a bridge, I wouldn't jump with them, I'd be at the bottom to catch them."

"The turning point in the process of growing up is when you discover the core strength within you that survives all hurt."-Max Lerner

"Sometimes you put walls up not to keep people out, but to see who cares enough to break them down."

"It's hard to pretend that you love someone if you really don't. But it's harder to pretend that you don't love someone if you really do."

If I die never having loved, then I die never having lived."

"A woman knows the face of the man she loves as a sailor knows the open sea."

"Love me now, love me never, but if you love me, love me forever"

"We come to love not by finding a perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly."

"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart, and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words." -Donna Robert..

 "Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same."

"Where there is love, there is God also."

"A friend is one who knows us, but loves us anyway"

Well I will post some of my favorite poems later. Bye.

Brittnee

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I have started the winter reading contest on joyfulheartblog. It will be really fun for me because I absolutly adore reading.Here is a list of the books I am going to read.


MY LIST:
When the Morning Comes
The Dowry of miss Lydia Clark (finished)
The Courtship of the Vicars Daughter (finished)
Love come softly
Loves enduring promise
Rainbow Valley (finished)
Rilla of Ingleside (finished)
Antony and Cleopatra the play (finished)
Romeo and Juliet the play (finished)
The first four years
The Hidden Staircase

Well that is my list, The link to a joyful harts blog is at the bottom of the page.

Brittnee



http://joyfulheartblog.blogspot.com/2008/01/winter-reading-challenge.html

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Hello everybody, I haven't put an entry in a month WOW . We have been so busy! Tommorrow is my Birthday, but we are not doing my birthday till 6th or the 12th because my friend (lianne1019) and I are having are birthday's together, since hers is on the 20th and mine is on the 4th.We are going to make a homemade ice cream cake and spaghetti for our b-day (yuuumm). Well I got to go, cya.

Brittnee

P.S If you see this blog entry leave a comment, I am trying to figure out if other people can see me blog...thank you!!

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Sorry, I have not posted in a long time. I did not go to Georgia I am going this weekend instead of last weekend (I can't wait). Well I don't have much to talk about I will post along entry after I get back from Georgia.Bye
                          Brittnee

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Type your Name.

Type your name with your fingers: brittnee
with your nose: br956j3ewith your knuckles: brittnee
with your chin: briknere
with your heels: grivftgtnedc
with your elbows: bfrtgkjkjgtfgyjfdd
with your toes: bb,adddyyyyyybbbbbbbbbbbugh
OK now its your turn but remember, NO BACKSPACING!!!
Have Fun!! You can copy and paste it or just type in the question then do your answer.

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192 Questions

1.Middle name?: Faith

2.Do you like it? Yep, I love it!

3.If you could choose a different first name, would you?: No, I like my name.

4.Does your last name have any particular meaning?: no

5.If so, what is it?:

~Basics~

6.Current age?: 12 almost 13

7.What age do you wish you were?: 13

8.What age do you act?:  16, I am always told that I am very mature for my age

9.Birthstone?: Garnet

10.Height?: 5ft. 7in.

11.Hair color?: Dark brown

12.Eye color?: brown

13.Would you like a different eye color?: no, but if I had to have a different eye color it would be green.

14.Nationality?: American ;-)

15.Ethnic Background?: Cherokee Indian, German,and french, but mostly cherokee indian and american

16.Current grade?: 7th

17.GPA: don't know

18.Have you ever failed a course?: Nope

19.Have you ever skipped a grade?: Yes, 4th

20.Have you ever been suspended?: Nope

21.Have you ever been expelled?: Nope

22.After school, you plan on - Well,  I might; possibly go to college, but probaly get married, have kids, and a home.....

23.Choose one- academics, athletics, the arts: The Arts!!

24.Ever skipped class?: no

~Family and home

25.What's your current living situation (who do you live with)?: Mom, Dad, and Siblings

26.Name your parents: Mom and dad

27.Any siblings?: Yep 2

28.If so, what is thier names: kaylee and josh

29.Do you share a room with anyone?: Yes, my sister

30.Any pets?: no

31.If so, name them and mention what kind.:

32.Is your room messy or organized?:  both

33.What color are your walls? wallpaper

34.What color are your sheets?: lime green

35.What color is your carpet?: biege and brown

36.What color is your ceiling?: White

37.How many bathrooms does your house have?: 3

38.How many TVs?: 2; living room, my parent's room

39.Do you have cable?: Yeppers

40.Do you have internet access?: Um, that's kind of obvious, no?

41.Do you do any chores around the house?: Yeah, but they are just things we do, not for money or anything......things like, laundry, bathroom cleaning, kitchen duty,  etc.

~Music

42.Do you play any instruments?: Yes

43.If so, what?: some piano

44.If so, do you enjoy playing?: Most definitley

45.What's your preferred genre of music?: Classical,

46.Do you ever go to concerts of any kind?: no not really

47.Any band you're ashamed of liking?: No, not really

~Favorite...

48.Movies: Anne of green gables, The Man of Snowy River, Forrest gump and etc.

49.Album: don't really know, have a lot

50.Girl's name: Anne, Sara, Lianne, Morgan, Miley, Kristin

51.Boy's name: Eligah, Isacc, Johnathan, Noah, Jacob, Kevin

52.Color: Anykind of blue

53.Day of the week: All of them

54.Month: All of them.....but I especially like November, December, January, september....okay yeah, all of them

55.US President: George W. Bush is the only one I can remember from my time

56.Food: bread, tatertots, pizza, bean burgers,And mostly anything made out of potatos

57.Drink: Water, Sweet Tea,

58.Country: America, canada, and London

59.Book: The Bible, Anne of green gables series, The series of unfortunate events, and alot more

60.Author: lucy maud montgomery, Lemony snicket

61.TV show: Don't Forget The Lyrics, Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader, Lost, Jerico, NCIS, CSI:, house, and AFV

62.Literary genre: Christian, fiction or non-fiction, mostly everything

63.Website: Gmail, HSB, clubpenguin, projectplaylist.......I can't think right now

 
64.Instrument: Piano,  guitar, violen

65.Subject: Music, math and reading

66.Animal: Horses ,dogs, and cats

67.Flower: roses and lilacs

~Personal~

68.Piercings?: 2, one in each ear 

69.Tattoos?: No way hosea!

70.Motto?: Don't really have one

~More questions

71.Is abortion acceptable to you?: No, no, no, no, no, and NO!

72.Is the death penalty just?: Yes

73.Should marijuana be legal?: No way!

74.What about other illegal drugs?: No!

75.Is war ever justifiable?: Yes, it is sometimes

76.Even if not just, is war unavoidable?: No, there will never be world peace

77.Is torture an acceptable means of obtaining information?: No, no, no!

78.Is Heaven real?:  Yes

79.Is Hell real? Yes

~Word Association

80.Freckles: face

81.Lemon juice: lemonade

82.Antartica: snow

83.TV: Shows

84.Satan: Wicked

85.Pillow: sleep is calling

86.Frog: Pond

87.Fish: Food

88.Shoelace: shoes

89.Lantern: Light

~This or that

90.Night or Day?: Both

91.Sun or Moon?: Both

92.Asia or Europe?: Europe

93.Chocolate or vanilla?: Chocolate!!!!!!!!!!

94.Tennis shoes or sneakers?: both

95.Coke or Pepsi?: pepsi

96.Video games or board games?: Board games

97.Rap or country?: Country!

98.Death metal or pop?: none

99.Rome or Greece?: Rome and greece

100.Math or science?: Both

101.World history or geography?: Both

102.Black or white?: White

103.Reading or writing?: Both!

 
104.Chinese or Japanese?: Chinese

105.Mozart or Beethoven?: I love mozart, but I like beethoven too.

106.Chick flick or bad comedies?: I don't know

107.Long surveys or staring at the celing fan?: Long surveys

~If I asked you to, could you..

108.Tell me the square root of 9?:no

109.Tell me the tangent of a 30-60-90 angle from the angle of 30 degrees?: Ugh....don't even go there

110.Roll your tongue?: yes

111.Do a cartwheel?: Yes

112.Do a backflip?: No way! I'd break my neck

113.Run a mile in under eight minutes?: I don't know....never tried

114.Multiply two 3x3 matrices?: yes

115.Write out all the parts of speech?: Yes

116.Quote Mark Antony's speech in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar?: no

117.Write in 1337?: no

118.speak in a foreign language fluently?: No

119.Tell me the names of all the generals of the American Civil War?: A lot of them but not all

120.Write a research paper in less than a day?: Yes, probaly

~Have you ever...?

121.Gotten high?: No, not going to either

122.Gotten drunk?: Nope, and I don't plan on it

123.Sang in a public area?: Oh yes, plenty of times

124.Swam in the ocean?: no

125.Searched for constellations in the sky?: Yep, found a few

126.Contemplated suicide?: NO!!

127.Pulled an all-nighter?: Oh yes

128.Been to a foreign country?: No, but I want to one day....Germany, France, switzerland, china, Scotland, Ireland.....

129.Gotten angry over stupid things?: Yes......

130.Gotten arrested?: no no no!!!

 
131.Been to a casino?: yes but just walked thru it

132.Had the measles?: YES

~Last time you...?

133.Slept?: Last night

134.Wrote for the fun of it?: I don't remember

135.Read a book?: yesterday

136.Listened to music?: Today

137.Left the house?: monday

 
138.Spent some money?: Can't remeber

139.Spent over $200?: I don't think I have, all at one time anyway

140.Felt like dying?: When I do or say somthing really, really embaressing

141.Was extremely angry?: I dont think I ever have been.

142.Had fun?: Today

143.Watched a little kid's cartoon show?: The other day

144.Saw a movie in a theater?: Back in Janurary

~What/who was the last...

145.Person you saw?: my sister

146.Person who slept over at your house?: My friend lianne1019

147.Person you talked to on the phone?: my friend Lianne

148.Person you talked to via instant message?: don't have one

149.Person you e-mailed?: My friend Ashton

150.Word you said?: "Who she on the phone with"

151.Food you ate?: oatmeal

152.Thing you drank?: Water

153.Thing you did?: on the computer

154.File you downloaded?: I don't know

155.Web page you visited?: HSB

156.Person you thought of?: my dad

~Adjective game. Do these describe you?

157.Pretty: That seems too be vain to answer.....I've been told I'm pretty though

158.Beautiful: See above

159.Crazy: Oh yes, I can be....

160.Bored: Kinda

161.Proud:sometimes

162.Talented: We all have a talent!

163.Kind: I try my hardest to be kind to everyone!

164.Friendly: Yes

165.Hyper: I can be

166.Emotional: sometimes

167.Angry: hardly

168.Sad: Sometimes.....but I try to be happy

169.Jealous: I get jealous easily but I try to have self-control over that

170.Cruel: I should hope not!

171.Giving: I should hope so!

172.Naive: Maybe about some things!

Hope you liked it.

People I tag:

Everyone

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Hello everybody, I have alot to tell you about. First it's about my story I regret to tell you that I will not finish writing my story. The other day I read a story from the american girl collection called Felicity It is much like my story. So I recmend you read that. But I am thinking about writing another story. If I do write that story I will not be posting it chapter by chapter. I will post the whole story at once.

 Anyway this weekeend I'm going to Georgia for two weeks with my friends (I can't wait). After my clothes finishing washing I am going to pack. It is going to be really fun but my dad kind of dosen't want me to go. Because I have never been that far away from before.But I just tell him I'll Be ok. 

 Next tuesday my sister is going to have surgery at vanderbilt childrens hospital. Hopefully they will only have to have an outpatient surgery, Instead of a inpatient surgery. We pray she'll have a speady recovery.

Did anyone see on the news adout the tallest horse in the world it was 25hh tall. I think her name was tracy but I am not sure. But she was huge, I once saw a horse I thought that was the biggest horse in the world but compared the horse it just looks like a baby. Well I have to go,Bye.

                                       Brittnee

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Sierramist tagged me!

Here is 8 things about me!!!

1. I love horses

2. My favorite movies are The Man of Snowy River , Anne of Green Gables , And Flicka

3. I am a New years baby (my birthday is on Janurary 4)

4. I love arts and crafts and drawing

5. I am a country girl

6. I like fishing and smimming

7. I love to read 

8. I love to act

Here are 8 people I tag.

1.countrygalu

2. jocylyn dixon

3. branded4him

4. dreamergirl

5. hanemlee

6. pinkgirl

7. kaykay

8. lianne1019

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Has anyone ever seen Anne of green gables series. I watched them all the other day and thats like my fave movie now. My favorite charecters are:

1. Anne "My life is a perfect gravyard of buried hopes"

2. Diana "I don't feel so well"

3. Gilbert " carrots carrots"

4. Marrilla " We are all very proud"

5. Rachel lynde "They certainly didn't pick you for your looks"

Brittneee

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Your name: Brittnee

4 letter word: bean

Animal: beaver

Color: Blue

Gifts/presents: book

Vehicle: Big truck (Does that count?)

Things in a souvenir shop: Balls

Boy name: Billy

Girl name: Brianna

Movie title: Beauty and the Beast

Drink: Banana smoothie

An occupation: Ballet dancer

Flower: benzolyas

Celebrity: Bradd pitt

Magazine: Don't know of one

US city: Benton county, Tn

Pro sports team: Bears ( Chigago Bears)

Fruit: Bananas

Reason for being late to work: Broken bone

Something you throw away: bills

Something you shout: Boo

Cartoon character: Bugs bunny

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sorry I had 4 chapters written and saved on my computer then the computer started acting up and I lost them. so I am trying to write them all over again.

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I am sooooooooo sorryyyyyyy!! I Promise i will post my story next week!!!!!!!!!!

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