The List

God is writing a great story, are we going to let Him? –Beth Moore

 Some girls will admit it and some will not, but every girl has a list. A list, a dream of what she hopes her future husband will be like. Some girls come up with a list a mile long that they have tucked away in a journal somewhere in the back of their closet that they haven't looked at in years. Some girls have it presently memorized so there is no need for a piece of paper, and then there are those that have it within reach to look at and measure any guy by. They look him up and down, pull out their list and proceed to decide whether he fits their image of their “dream guy.”

I have been in the writing mood the past few days. In the process of writing something God put on my heart  about a year ½ ago. It’s been a process. I sit down with every intention to write but then nothing comes. I think that is the frustrating part, it never comes when it’s convenient for me. 

 But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you –John 14:26

Being led back to moments and seasons in my life when the Lord taught me some life changing truths has been interesting and even some what fun at times.The season ,at the moment, I'm trying to figure out how to share is when I first did the Boy Meets Girls series by Louie Giglio back in Jan 2006.

There is so much God showed me and taught me that dramatically changed how I approached relationships from that point forward. But one of the things that stood out the most is something I wanedt to share on here today.

“God is not interested in your conglomerate dream person. Who by the way…doesn’t exist . God is going to bring you…Who. You. Need.” –Louie Giglio

The other day, I spent the evening with one of my favorite families from my Church, The Hollis’. I love them so much, and their daughter Sydney is one of the girls who attends the Pillars Girls Bible Study that I have the honor of being apart of. After Pillars one night I went over so the Hollis' so we could all catch up on life. Sydney and I eventually got around to talking about, what else, relationships.

One of the about 100 things we covered in terms of that topic was this: girls come up with these lists (and guys do too) of the kind of person they want to marry, but are they at all any of the things they want their future spouse to be?

Sydney mentioned of someone she knew that would make comments about how he wanted a godly wife on twitter, and then she said he'd get on Instagram and that same guy would be cussing up a storm.

I then blurted out, “a godly girl does not want a guy like that.” Same goes for girls you want a man who loves Jesus and seeks first the Kingdom? You want a godly man? Well, are you a godly women?

You can’t have a double standard. That’s what I so wish girls understood. A guy who in love with Jesus, REALLY IN LOVE, is not going to pursue a girl who is not in love with Jesus too.

One of my FAVORITE ALL TIME questions or statements that Louie says in the (original) Boy Meets Girls series is this: It’s not so much are they a Christian or not. If you are dating someone or are interested in someone and they are a Christian...congratulations!  BUT…WHAT KIND OF CHRISTIAN ARE THEY?

This is what I so wish I could get through the heart of every Christian girl. It is not about waiting on God to bring you “your” list, That is NOT how you know if someone is “the one.” But this is what your list needs to become. It’s a lot shorter a WAY easier to spot,

“You need a passionate pursuer of God, You need a Kingdom-minded man, a Bible-reading guy. You need a praying boyfriend, you need someone who is about the nations. You need someone who’s got a clue, who’s dialed in and turned on and switched on.”- Louie Giglio

I remember hearing that all those years ago and thinking and praying, “God, that is what I want.”

“You want someone who is living on the edge of faith.” –Ben Stuart

A switch turned on in my soul to not only wait and pray for that kind of man, but to seek to be that kind of women. 

To be a women who is: a passionate pursuer of God, who is Kingdom-minded, who is student of the Word of God, and women of prayer who is about the nations. A women who has a clue, and who is  dialed in and switched on. Whose living on the edge of faith.

The choices you make now will affect your future. Period. Praise the Lord for his grace. But the truth that today is a domino that touches tomorrow and that domino ultimately touches my future husband, dramatically changes things. I want to think very carefully about today’s domino because God has a future for me.

God knows the plans he has for you and I, and that includes our future spouses. God is not detached from the future. But here is the thing we have to surrender to and trust God with: it may not happen when you want or how you want. It may not come together the way you always imagined it would. We want to have some kind of control over “how” its suppose to happen and “how “it’s suppose to look and come together. When really, we don't. 

What He (God) wants to know is it OKAY with you that He knows even if you don’t know. Is there a measure of peace that comes to you because even though you don’t know, you know the One that does?- Louie Giglio 

Prepare the way now. Allow God to mold and shape you into the man or women he has called you to be. Make seeking after His kingdom, and His agenda your main priority and He will add to you what you need.

This is one of my favorite things Louie shared in term of knowing if someone is “right” or not. He said, “God will help you with clues!” hahaha

You and I just have to PAY ATTENTION!

Just realize the person God has for you maybe nothing like what you imagined but God knows what you need. Allow God to dream for you.

I read this the other day, “We don’t follow God just because he is God, because he is boss. We follow God because he builds beautiful stories, even if they are not easy. –Anything